REMOVAL OF LIQUOR LICENSES

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 285, 26 August 1920, Page 6

REMOVAL OF LIQUOR LICENSES

p ALLEGED EVASION OF THE \ : i DISTANCE LIMIT BILL TO STOP THE PRACTICE !■' The Hon. J. Bafr's Licensing Amend : ment Bill, .which was read a second tinii ! in the Upper House, was thus explainer in an, accompanying memorandum:— ■-; -' The purpose of the amendment in sec (■■'■'• tion 128 of the principal Act is to preveiil v the evasion Of the law which prohibit: ;.','■ .;tho removal of a licenso beyond tin j . '/limits .prescribed by section 127 of tht [:■-. principal Act, The present provision ii ,' Motion 128 applies only where a liceusv !". ' lapses "by reason of, non-application foi . renewal or of the withdrawal or refusa! ...of. such application," and a practico hat '/.recently been adopted of applying for a •'license for a houso and neglecting to pay i .'the fee required, causing, a lapse f,or a ■; reason not specified in section 128, and then applying for a license beyond the limits prescribed by section 127 for removal. The amendment proposed, will ;■■ present the grant of a new license be- '[.': yond the limits prescribed \ by section 127 ;'■ : ,in place of a license which for any reason whatever ceases to exist. - The amendment gives effect to the intention of the law as expressed in sections 127 and 128, and removos the defect which enables ,;. that intention to be frustrated. The only ' new.:provision is the addition of New ■-Zealand iwine licenses to tho class of 'license already dealt with by section 128. The repeal, by section 8, of section 14-1 the, principal Act, is necessary by "reason of the repoal of tho law islntiug to local no-licenso by the Act of 1018. The amendment of section 30 of the Act :'■'■- of 1910 . the provisions of that section by. making it applicable to nc- . commodation licenses, Now Zealand winii licenses, and wholesale licenses, as well ■'.- ,/as to publicans' licenses. With regard to licenses, the limit of distance 'for the grant of a new license replacing a. forfeited license is'not applicable. ■". Mr. Ban- said that the'object oi the ■'Bill was simply to see that the intention of■tKe present Act was carried out. ■- ■' He hoped that members would refrain 'from introducing into the Bill anything iii the way of new licensing legislation. Members would be aware that inl9lo there was something in the nature of an agreement -between the 'tri>'l" s-Mion end the U. temperance Section. At that period it was • ' ■• clearly:'understood that there would be i.o' !''''..'. .extension"-of licenees and that renewals 'would be granted, but alone given;lines. 'Mo had "no hesitation" in saying that the majority" of' the members of. the trade -with w'hom he was acquainted desired, 'to-'see the provisions of the law carried' out in their entirety; These men were 'against "taking any advantage of weak-, hessesin the Act, because they considered that such action would;, work ..harm te the trade, -""Sir Francis Bell said that the Government wag prepared to support the Bill if it was: confined to tho remedying of , the* two matters dealt with. If,'-how-ever, -■ an attempt was made .by either party to introduce into the Bill oilher ;■-,•. amendments of the law, ■ such amend-, luents would be opposed by the' Government in both Houses. He .had Tea-son-'to believe that i.the! Bill if confined. ,to:-the points under notice, • would not be opposed. by the trade. The first ! matter dealt with in the Bill was eim- . .plyvthe prevention of the method by , -which evasion of the spirit and effect, plainly expressed, of section 127, • had been; successfully carried through. It was '.obviously the duty of the Legislai 1i.1iT07.-if its intention had been misun- ; • derstood by the Courts, to express its intention, again in unmistakable language. The second part of the Bill , restored the law to the position in twhicK' it had been before tho passing '.-' of tho Act of 1918.- The 1918 Act did away with the holding of local no-license polls in districts in which licenses existed.But dhe Act incidentally repealed a? section "providing that in the event of. a proposal for local no-license being defeated'the number of licenses subsist- . ing at the date of the poll should com' 1 tjnue as it was. The repeal of tho* 'section- r - meant that there was no Eection left in the law prescribing that licenses should remain as they were, •■though tho law before tho passing of . the _1918 Act! expressly provided that if .continuance was carried in a district in ...iv'liicii licenses were granted, the number of licenses'should not bo increased. '■'The Hon. O. Samuel objected to tho ~ use which had been made of the words "evasion" and "error." 11l was surely reasonable, he submitted! that subject to tho condition that the nnmber of licenses in a .distinct was not increased, provision should be made for the necessities of growing populations in particular parts of the district.' He in- , tended to oppose the first) provision in tlie.Jiilj. With regard to the second poiivt, ho argued that it did not follow that because the law had consequences whicii had not been anticipated by Sir Prancis Bell or Mr. Barr. it must! bo assumed that the; consequences had not fieen anticipated by the Legislature as a whole. Tho proper thing was to assume -what what tho. Legislature'did it did with deliberate intention. Sir Francis Bell: I have heard you say yourself that ill was a plain mistake. Concerning tho request thnt members Bhould abstain from introducing into the Bill matter extraneous to ilho two raised, Mr. Santuol 'remarked: 'There is scarcely a member of Parliament who is not longing to introduce .. some amendments of our licensing law." The resulti of introducing the Bill would, io predicted, inevitably bo turmoil, and a Licensing Bill fight. Sir Francis Bell: Well, that doesn't matter, does it? Mr. Samuel deprecated piecemeal ' amendment! of tho licensing law, and the introduction of proposed amend- i ments to this law by any but members ; .of the Government. Mr. Barr, replying, repeated thatl his Bill was merely an attempt to rectify a weakness in tho law that wag regrettfed both by the trade and by the oppo- • site side. Tho law which it was proposed to amend was not in accordanca with the spirit of the agreement ar< -rived .at between Hha parties, and the Bill would have the effect of ensuring that the spirit of tho agreement was observed. The second reading was' carried on . ,'the voices. ■, The second read-lbs 'debate in the Council upon the Legislative Council Amendment Bill was to have been opened on' : Tuesday. On tho motion of the Hon. i',Ti''B. Gow the debate was; however, ad iouraed till Thursday week. - ■' - Tho Legislative Council on Tuesday read a second time the Agricultural and Pastoral Societies' Amendment Bill, which is designed to prohibit societies under the principal Aot from disposing of lands granted by the Crown except -«r«h * tte pons/mt of the Cro^m,

! BUSINESS OF PARLIAMENT TWO MONTHS MORE. . The Prime Minister made the prediction in the House that the session would come to an end about tho beginning of November. Ho enumerated some of the business to be done by the House before it can disperse. After a passing reference to the, Bills already on the Order Paper, he mentioned a few of the important measures that havo not vet made their appearance. As it 1 happened his statement contained no surprises. Ho mentioned the Bill dealing ' with land arid iricomo tax which is now ■ before the Finance' Committee,' and • which will be fully considered by the > time the committee has had one more i day.upon it. This will'be tho main tax- . ing Bill of the session. Oilier financial i .proposals will be contained in tho ■ Finance Bill; which in late years has becomo a sort of Financo Washing-up Bill, the Loan Bill, to deal with the loan , to be issued later in the year, tlio Death Duties Bill, and a Bill dealing with stamps. There will also bo some bankin? legislation, but this Bill is being promoted on behalf of the Bank of New Zealand, and Mr. Mossey 6aid that it would not be taken until the Government finance proposals had been fully deal with. In answer to a question Mr. Massey said that there might be a licensing Bill, but perhaps not tho sort of Bill the questioner (Jfr. Ngata) had in mind. ' Mr. Massey did not satisfy the curiosity' of the House further about ■ this Bill, In a final word. Mr. Massey said that members would be able to look back on this session as one of the most important that Hie New Zealand Parliament had yet seen. governmenThouses TENDERS UNSATISFACTORY. Inquiries _ about' tho Government's schemes for housing, under the control of iho Labour Department were asked by Mr. S, G. Smith in tho House yesterday. Mr. Smith asked the Minister of Labour (Sir William Herries) what tho result had been of the call for tenders for building homes throughout the Dominion, tho tenders having closed on August 10. ■-. He was' especially • anxious to know regarding New Plymouth, where the housing conditions of a number of people could be properly described as deplorable. -The old drill hall which had been sheltering several families had now been sold by the Defence Department, and these people would havo to get out. Thy had nowhere to go. He wished to know whether the Housing Department hnd any scheme for' tho erection of houses in the town of Npw Plymouth, where houses were so badly required. ;Mr. Massey: Has the council built any? ■Mr. Smith said that the number of houses built by private persons during the last year had been 111 in excess of the number for the previous year. The council had obtained a loan of JilO.fiflfl, and was pushing on with the building of honies. It had also made application for another loan of JIO.OOO for tho same purpose, Tho council and. he local bodies had done their utmost, he said, to meet '.he difficulties. The Minister said that he had; not at hand the full report regarding the tenders received, so that he could not say what the position 'regarding New Plymouth was. He had been informed by the Department that the tender* had been unsatisfactory, and that in a great many of tho centres no tenders had been offered at all. It was now a question whether tho Department-would: not be wiser to do the work itself. If no tenders had been received from New Plymouth, it was possible that this course would bo followed by the Department there. v telephonelharges -. ■ ■AN AMENDED SCALE. Many against the new seale of telephone charges have been made in the House during the present session, and tho Poslmaster-Geiieral (Mr. Coates) promised recently that the scale would »be reconsidered' before it was finally adopted, Yesterday Mr. Hockly (Rotorua) asked if the Minister had • yet reached his final decision. ■Mr. Coates replied that he had reviewed thd scale, which was now ready to be placed before Cabinet. He had not reduced the-amount of revenue to be collected, but tho scale had been adjusted in- some respects. He hoped that it would be adopted and would give general! satisfaction. ROLLmTsTOCK . tenders called for more, A question was asked of the Prime Minister by Mr. T. K. Sidey in the House yesterday regarding supplies of railway rolling stock. Mr. Sidey said that tho Minister must bo aware that tho business of the country was being seriously hampered for: lack of rolling stock for the railways. Would the Prime Minister state what steps were being taken to deal with the situation? Mr. Massey said that he was aware that' there was a serious shortage of rolling stock, especially of, wagons, and that a great deal of inconvenience was being occasioned to city and country pooplo in consequence. The position at present was due to the lack of supplies coming forward during the whole of the war period, when it had been impossible to. fulfil the complete rolling stock programme. Since the war there i had been a tremendous demand for manufactures. Some time ago the De- ' partment had asked for tenders in England, the tenders to be rrturnablo on the 18th of last month. Tho?p tender* had been so unsatisfactory thnfl the timo had been extended to September 10, and he believed that now other firms intended- to tender for rolling stock. Tho Department was asking also for tenders in this country. .What the Tesult would be.it was impossible for him to say. Tho amount of rolling stock that was being osked for by tenders in this way was outside of the amount that could bo manufactured in the Department's own workshops in this country. LOCAL BILITFm COUNCIL The following local Bills wero yesterday read a second time in the Council: Lyttclton Harbour Board Loan Bill, Napier Harbour Board Empowering and Loan Act 19U Amendment Bill, Ocean BeacTT Public Domain Amendment Bill. Tho Masseurs' Registration Bill was yesterday passed by the Legislative Council. .The Crimes Amendment Bill, giving a right of appeal against sentences passed bv the''Supremo Court, and extending the functions of tho Prisons Board, was committed, an( ]) without any amendment of consequence. The Agricultural and Pastoral Societies Amendment Bill was committed, reported without amendment, read a third time, and ua«6e4<