The Globe. TUESDAY, JUNE 5, 1877.

Globe, Volume VIII, Issue 919, 5 June 1877, Page 2

The Globe. TUESDAY, JUNE 5, 1877.

Now that the session of the Assembly is approaching, and it is likely that some amendments in the Licensing Act will he proposed, there is one point to which we wish to draw attention. It is with reference to the granting of new licenses. Under the present Act, before a license can he granted the house proposed to he licensed must he erected; and certified as being in a fit condition by the Inspector of Police. The objections to this course are twofold. The first in point of importance is the pressure, to a certain extent, which is brought to bear upon the Licensing Bench from the fact of a person having invested a considerable amount of capital in the erection of such a building, which may, unless it is licensed, he thrown away. The disinclination to cause such a loss might weigh in the matter of granting a license in a locality which, under other circumstances, would not exist. At any rate it throws upon the Licensing Bench the onus of inflicting a certain amount of loss upon an individual which should not he so imposed. Another point is that it is manifestly unfair to the individual applying for the license to cause him to incur a large expense on the chance of obtaining it. The Bench cannot, until the bouse is erected, say whether or not it will accede to his application. Under these circumstances it seems to us that it would be the most equitable method to allow of the plans being submitted to the Bench under guarantee of being carried out in their entirety if the license should he granted. Due notice, as now, would thus he given to those desirous of opposing the grant, and if it were rejected no very serious loss would be entailed upon the applicant. It must be remembered that special provision is needed for the trade, and that a building erected for it cannot, under ordinary circumstances, be used for any other purpose. Besides this, the requirements of the Act are such as to entail a very serious outlay, and a man might he almost ruined by the refusal of the license after the completion of the building, ~W e commend the matter to the serious consideration of those who are about to propose amendments in the Act, as a move in the direction we have indicated would, we believe, he a right one.

The subject of increased facilities for the extinction of fires came np at the meeting of the City Council yesterday. The Tire Brigade committee recommended the putting down of two extra tanks, one at the junction of Colombo and Lichfield streets, and another in the locality of Latimer square. Some short time ago we pointed out the urgent necessity which existed for some provision being made for fire prevention in the thickly populated portion of the city lying to the southward, say from Cashel street East to the Ferny road. Now, while the recommendations of the committee are good, in so far as they go, our complaint is that they do not go far enough. The portion of the city we have indicated is very populous, and utterly unprovided in any way with the means of supplying the engines, should a fire break out. The buildings there erected are in infinitely more dangerous proximity, and afford far more facility for the spread of a fire than in the centre of the city, where water is abundant. In the latter place, by the erection of brick walls and in many cases buildings entirely built of brick or stone, obstacles are placed in the way of a conflagration becoming serious. But this is not the case as regards the part we are referring more especially to. The houses are built entirely of wood, and are of very slight construction, besides which their contiguity makes it almost a matter of certainty that before the Brigade can hope to cope with the fire, a large amount of damage must be done. In place of the tank proposed to be placed at the junction of Colombo and Lichfield streets, we should prefer to see one in the locality of, say, Cashel or Tuam street east, which, at present, is left at the mercy of a fire at any time occurring. As wo stated on a former occasion, the residents on the southern side of the city are quite willing to bear a proportion of the cost. The construction of a tank will; therefore, not be a work

of great expense, and the safety of a large amount of property would thereby be ensured. The residents in the unprotected portions of the city, whose claims we advocate, have an equal right with their more favored brethren in the centre of the city to ask that when an extension of the tank system is contemplated they shall not be forgotten. We trust, therefore, that the Council will see its way to do a work which will not only be an act of justice, but also a most efficient help to the efforts of the Brigade in preserving property and perhaps life.