THE LIQUOR TRAFFIC IN DUNEDIN.

Evening Star, Issue 3395, 8 January 1874, Page 3

THE LIQUOR TRAFFIC IN DUNEDIN.

To the tklitor.

Sill,—l am very glad to see that Mr Fish so' entirely disapproves of the course taken by the; Executive in the matter of the liquor licenses ■ Mr Fish has put the case well a,nd, fairly as it rdatek to the Act of '1873, buf -he 1 has: ftot stated what appears to me to be the nvorst feature in the conduct of the.Gt>veynm r eht.S'Nbft only have the licenses complained of been granted in opposition ,tp the, enactments of tho ; Act of 1873, blit the Executive has acted..wptroryjto the the ; Ordmance of 1865, by which they claim any power to" act at all in the matter. The, justification of the interference of the Superintendent and his Executive with the licenses is sought for in the 20th clause of the Ordinance of 1865, quoted by Mr Fish, and which provides that “If there shad not be a quorums in attendance at any such quarterly meeting, any Resident Magistrate appointed tp, and -usually holding, a Couijt within the licensing district for which the licensing meeting should have been held, or any Justice of the Peace who attended at the place of meeting should forthwith signify to the Superintend dent of the Province that no meeting was held] from want of the necessary number of Justices,' and it shall then be lawful for the said Superin* tendent, with the advice and consent of the Ex-' ecutive Council to perform nil acts in grant- 1 ing and transferring licenses and otherwise; which the Justices in any such quarterly meeting assembled are empowered to perform under the authority of this Ordinance,” It is very clearly set forth here, that it is only under cer-i tain circumstances and conditions that the Superintendent and his Executive can intermeddle with the licenses, even provided this clause of the Ordinance of 1865 stands unaffected by the Act of 1873. These conditions are Ist, if there shall not have been a quorum in attendance at any quarterly meeting; 2nd, that the Superintendent shall have received instruction from the Resident Magistrate appointed to and usually holding a Court within the licensing district, or any Justice of the Peace who attended at the place of meeting that no meeting was held from want of the necessary number of Justices. Then, in these circumstances and under these conditions, the Executive is authorised to step in aud perform all acts which the Justices in any quarterly meeting assembled are empowered to performi In the case now under review, the necessary circumstances and conditions to justify thi interference of the Executive did not arise; and Im . ve in granting the licenses failed to perform the acts the licensing Justices are required to do before granting certificates for licenses, they have failed to perform a condition precedent to the granting of certificates ; that is to receive, hear, and consider any objections there may bo lodged ot made by any of the ratepayers, to the granting of any certificate for cither transfer of old licenses or for the obtaining of new ones The Ordinance gives the ratepayers a ri<dit to object, and requires that the Licensing Justices shall hear and consider the objections before granting certificates; and I contend that right of objection is not taken away by the transference of the licensing authority from the Justices to* the Superintendent Well, the Executive has acted in one case at least in disregard o£ the right o£ objectors to be heard and

|\vithout giving them any intimation of its in--Mention so to.do. A memorial, signed by fifty-' ;ninc, or thereabout, of the residents in the of a house now supposed to, be licensed, being with six or seven exceptions the entire adult population of several blocks adjoining that in which the house is situated, has been : utterly disregarded, and the rights of the objectors to bo heard ignored; the license to which they objected having been granted by the ■ Executive, and the first intimation many of them received of the fact being the opening of the house for the sale of liquor.' But the necessary conditions.to justify the interference of the Executive did not arise. There was more than a quorum at the quarterly licensing meeting, aud it was not from want of the attendance of the necessary number ofJustices that licenses were not granted, but because the Justices were unanimously of opinion their powers were taken away by the Act of’73. It therefore follows that it could not have been signified to the Superintendent that no meeting was .held; and the Superintendent—to use the language of Mr Fish—had no more power to issue licences than you or I, How the Executive will justify such action as this—such setting aside and utter disregard of both the letter’and the spirit alike of the Ordinance of the Provincial Council , and the’ Act of the Assembly, ! am at a loss to understand, —Tata, &C., t ; I ~ _ • , Ratepayer. ininedin, January 1874. '