THE GLOBE. THURSDAY, JUNE 1, 1882. THE ANNUAL MEETING OF THE LICENSING COMMITTEES.

Globe, Volume XXIV, Issue 2542, 1 June 1882, Page 2

THE GLOBE. THURSDAY, JUNE 1, 1882. THE ANNUAL MEETING OF THE LICENSING COMMITTEES.

Resuming our consideration of some of tl e questions which will come before the Licensing Committees, it may be taken for granted that the public wish to sea the liquor traffic carried on as quietly and as respectably as possible. It is, nevertheless, useless to burke the fact that, unless the drinking habits of tha public alter in a totally unexpected manner, there will occasionally occur in public bars scenes tha reverse of improving. However well intentlcned a

publican may be, and however determined he may feel that no liquor shall be supplied to persona who have already had more than ia good for them, those unfortunate individuals who are accustomed to indulge too freely will evade hia vigilance, and make themselves a nuisance to the frequenters of the hotel, and, too frequently, to the public at large. It ia in consequence of this that a bar opening out into the public street ia one of the greatest of nuisances. The sights that are thrust on the public view by their situation aro often disgusting ones. Drunken men will reel out into the streets, and a crowd of loafers will congregate round the half open door behaving with anything but Parisian politeness, and using language by no means Cfaesterfieldian. As the Committees have, by what is implied in the 76th clause, the fullest powers with regard to the conditions on which licenses aro granted, it would seem that one of the principal points they should look to should be that the public are not annoyed and scandalised in the manner described. There is no possible reason why a bar should open out into a thoroughfare. If a man wishes for refreshment he knows that it is kept in the hotel, and all ho has to do is to enter the premises and obtain it. A hotel does not require the advertisement of a gin palace door to show that liquor can bo bought there. In thqjr own private residences gentlemen are not accustomed to imbibe close to the hall door, and with it half open. They have a comfortable room in the interior where they can enjoy themselves. And there is no reason why it should not be just so in a hotel. Indeed, it is proved that it can be, because the best regulated and most respectable houses do not have street bars. Moreover, the sight of a gin palace door has a seductive effect on certain weak intellects. The moat truthful narrators of modern manners have painted, times out of number, the picture of the besotted creature who has determined to turn over a new leaf, but who cannot pass the glitter and the sights that are thrust too forcibly on his notice. It is to ha" trusted, therefore, that Committees will think this matter over, and come’to the conclusion that street bars are in every case a nuisance and to be put down as much as possible. The respectable publican will "not suffer from such a decision. It is only the one who makes his money by encouraging the worst drinking habits of the people who will cry out. Such a decision, too, will have a considerable effect in stopping the hankering of publicans after street corners. It is a curious fact this hankering, but it is easily explained. Street corners have from time immemorial been the spots at which men do most congregate. To bo able without moving to see down two streets, or even more, instead of one, is a great point gained for the thoroughbred loafer. A bar opening on such a spot is an acquisition not lightly to bo slighted. The loafer in question must occasionally refresh himself in the midst of his arduous labors and, by judiciously marching four or five paces to the rear, he is at once in the haven where he would be. There seems no reason why a hotel should not just as well bo in the centre of a row of houses as at one of the corners. But the former is not considered by many of the trade a desirable site, while the latter is. It may be noted that when new townships are laid out, in nine cases out of ten a publican secures the most prominent corner. Why should the advantages to be gained by a hotelkeeper be proportionately greater than those to be gained by any other trader. A corner site ia no doubt a very prominent place, but all tradesmen wish for a prominent business site. The publican, however, is willing to sacrifice more money for the object of his ambition than are other traders, and this principally for the reason to which we have alluded

Another question which will come prominently before the Committees will be that of the obligations of hotel-keepers to provide accommodation for travellers or persons who may wish to stop in their houses. Respecting this matter the determination of the Committees for the Christchurch and neighbouring districts is pretty well known already. They have given the publicans fair warning that they will not allow premises to be mere drinking shops and nothing more. It is perfectly clear that one of the obligations connected with a license is to provide, to the best of the hotelkeeper’s ability, for anybody who may wish to sleep at his house. His house is a house of call and accommodation above everything. The selling of liquor is an incident in his trade, and not his raiton d’etre. And yet what is the state of things that has obtained in many of the licensed houses of Christchurch ? In some of these, until very lately at all events, it was absolutely impossible to get a bed, although there were the regulation number of bedrooms upstairs. The hotelkeeper relied on his bar trade, and refused to bo bothered with lodgers. In one particular case which we remember, a licensee refused to let a bed to a gentleman because he had his meals at a club. He was not going to ho annoyed by a man who merely slept at his establishment ! We trust, and indeed are confident, that Committees will put this sort of thing down with a strong hand. It will bo their duty to mako regulations by which it shall be clearly shown if hotel-keepers fulfil the obligations imposed on them in this respect. The power of Committees in this matter is very great, for, amongst other powers, they possess that of summoning and examining on oath such witnesses, as they may think necessary. Nor would any decision that the Committees may come to with regard to the hours of closing at all interfere with tho public convenience and comfort in this matter. Should a man ask for a bed at any time, it is the duty of the hotelkeeper to give him one. He holds his license oa tho understanding that ho gives shelter to the man who has no shelter.

The subject of the questions which will come before the Committees cannot bo said to be in any way exhausted by what wo have said on the subject, but we have mentioned a few of the points with a view of calling the attention of the public to them. As we have before said, the Act is exporimental in many of its clauses, and tho Committees will naturally be, to a certain extent, walking in the dark. But they will possess the sympathies of the public if they do their work fearlessly and conscientiously. It is no easy thing to initiate new regulations in such an important matter as the Licensing question, but the Committees possess the confidence of the inhabitants in tho various districts, who know that the carrying out of tho law is in safe hands.