A COST LICENSE

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 17, 15 October 1919, Page 2

A COST LICENSE

WHAT HAPPENED TO!HERIOT. '"- A petition relating to an hotel license lost owing to an alteration of electoral boundaries was discussed by the House of Representatives' yesterday' afternoon. The boundary commissioners, in.making tho last adjustment of boundaries, transferred the township of Heriot from a "wet" ■ district to a, "dry": one. .The effect of this chaiiße was to extinguish the license of the Heriot Hotel, and-the licensee had petitioned Parliament for relief.' A committee reported- that ■it had no recommendation to make. Mr. R. Scott (Otago. Central) moved that tho -report- should be referred back to the committee for further considera- • tioii: He argued that a grave injiistico was'being done-the licensee by the extinction of his license without'a vote of the electors. ,■; Sir Joseph Ward (Leader-of tho Oppo- . sition) saidit had never appsnrcd to Inm just that an.hotel situated in a district where the-people had voted continuance should l>c closed by transfer., to .a dry . district. There should be'some provision to meet'cnses of the kind. -. . Prime Minister- agreed with the Leader of the Opposition. He pointed out-that the Licensing Amendment Act,, 1914, contained a provision: inserted at the instance, of the-late Captain Bell, ' thntr the. electoral commissioner should., avoid, ;>'hpi'ever forcing. li- ;■ censed.(louses into prohibition'areas^'and " that When such a transfer "could not be avoided, a statement of the circumstances • should be included'in their report. The licensee • certainly had suffered a hardship!' '.' Mr. Massey said he would support the. amendment'.in the hope that some solution of; the difficulty would be found. ~ Mr. A. S. Malcolm (Clutlm) said there was another side to the case. ' Heriot had been 'included in Clutlm when prohibition was carried in- that--elec-torate in. 1894. The votjng in -Heriot 051 that occasion was: No-license. 58; Continuance, 1. Subsequently Heriot had. been moved into a wet district by tho., electoral' commissioners, "and the .-license, had'been'restored.' The prohibitionists had believed this restoration to be illegal, bill they had not been in n, position to contest the matter.. This was.. 0 * of the injustices that the prolu.m-. tionists had suffered, without. receiving much sympathy from the House. ". -. 1 Tho report was referred back to the-, committee, on a division, by 40 votes to 19. ' ■:■'■'■.