LICENSING COMMITTEE.

Globe, Volume XXIV, Issue 2477, 15 March 1882, Page 3

LICENSING COMMITTEE.

CHRISTCHURCH WEST.- 1 The first meeting of the Licensing Com- < mittee for the district of Christchurch West, ‘ was held to-day at noon, in St. Michael’s • schoolroom. Durham street. Present— j Messrs E. J. 8. Harman, E. Westenra, J. E. . Parker, O. A. Pritchard, and P. Cunning- j ham. j Mr W. G. Walker, clerk to the committee. , announced that Mr Harman had been elected ( chairman. MIDNIGHT LICENSES. 1 Applications for an extension of their 1 licenses until twelve o’clock from the follow- ! ing publicans were withdrawn Peter Connell, Rowland Hill, W. H. Porter and Charles ( Deal. . , . . ( The Chairman said it was the intention j of the committee to take the same course in . regard to these applications as they had done | in the case c F similar applications in other licensing districts. 1 TEMPORARY TRANSFER, Mr Loughrey appeared to apply for a temporary transfer of license from J. Toovey to J. F. McKendriok in respect of the Zetland Hotel. The licensing committee had decided at Christchurch Bast that, according to the terms of the Act, notice of the intention to apply should be advertised. This had not been done, and ho wished to know whether the committee were still of opinion that it was necessary. He did not so read the Act, and thought it would be sufficient to give notice to the clerk. The Chairman was inclined to adhere to the decision on the point already come to by the committee. The application was accordingly adjourned for a fortnight, to enable the required notice to be given, WHOLESALE LICENSES. Wholesale licenses were granted to the following persons :—Thos. and E. Pavitt, Leah Davis, and Wood, Shand and Co. WANT OF ACCOMMODATION. The Chairman said the committee wished him to repeat the warning which had been given in the other districts of Christchurch in regard to those houses, which, though ostensibly hotels, persisted in carrying on only a bar trade. The oases would bo carefully gone into, and the committee would take such steps ns might seem advisable to them for remedying this state of things. Of course, the committee by no means intended to say that this warning was needed by a very large number of the holders of hotel licensee, but in the case of those who did require a caution it might perhaps be as well to mention that the course which the Licensing Committee would probably pursue at the annual meeting in June would be as follows:—The committee would, in all probability, of their own motion, treat these houses as houses the licensing of which was not required—as houses which wore of no public convenience except for the purposes of drinking, and in regard to which the public received no equivalent for the monopoly giver. The hotelkeepers would see what a risk they ran if, by persisting in their present course, they compelled the committee to take such stringent measures as these, and the committee hoped that the warning which was now given would be suffi dent to obviate the necessity of dealing with the matter in the way indicated. In order that there might be no mistake about it, he might state that the committee would probably Act uuder clause 63 of the Licensing Act of 1881, the effect of which would be that the first notice that an offending hotelkeeper would get of the difficulty he had to meet —apart from the warning which he now received — would be when he came into Ocurt ’ and learnt for the first time that there was a probability of his lioense being taken away. The whole onus would be thrown upon him then of proving that his house was a oonve- * nience to the public—in fact, that the public , got some equivalent tor the monopoly which

the Act practically granted to the metnb® r ® of the licensed victualler! trade. With respect to this district itself he might also repeat what had bean said m other districts as to [the determination of the committee to support the Board of Health in its endeavours to see that the closet accommodation in the houses was such as was consistent with the public requirements and as afforded proper security for the public health. This matter would also bo specially dealt with at the annual meeting. _ The committee then adjourned for a fortnight at the same hour and place.