THE Grey River Argus. PUBLISHED DAILY SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 1875.

Grey River Argus, Volume XVI, Issue 2040, 20 February 1875, Page 2

THE Grey River Argus. PUBLISHED DAILY SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 1875.

We have to complain that the Cerk of the Provincial Council does not forward to us copies of the various Bills and papers laid before the Council. It is highly necessary that the public should be kept well informed of what is going on in its local legislature, and that the opportunity of discussing outside the Council the measures introduced should be afforded. There is now a Bill before the Couacil which affects, and must interest, a considerable portion of the community, but of which we hav9 no copy, and have tr> depend for a description of it 3 provisions upon information supplied by the " West Coast Times." Our contemporary thus describes the Weadand Public House Bill, the measure we have referred to : — "Though the Bill is, in nearly all it 3 clauses, a mere condensed recapitulation of former Acts, there are one or two clauses having special reference to the amount of fees for licenses, and in respect to what shall be termed a hotel, which are already causing an excitement in the minds of those who hold licenses, believing as they do that their interests are being too much pressed upon for the sake of increasing the Provincial revenue. The Ordinance is one the objpet of which is to better regulate the fees payable for li» censes, and likewise with the view of improving, if possible, the management of hotels. The scale of fees as set down in the fi^st schedule is as follows : — Publican's license, £50 ; publican's hotel license, i>4o ; publican's country iun license, .£2O ; midnight license, £10 ; wholesale or brewer's license, i>lo ; packet license, £5 ; and bottle license, ,£2O. Among the new clauses is one to the effect that if the Chairman of the Court certify- -that tho house in respect of ~wKich a publican's license is about to be issued is a hotel or a country Inn, then a publican's license shall be issued on payment of the amount set opposite the words ' publican's hotel license,' or 'publican's country inn license. What ia meant by an hotel, as laid down in the second schedule, is a house containing a bar, a bar parlor, a dining-room, two private sitting-rooms, at least ten suitable bedrooms for the use of the public ; all such rooms to be conveniently furnished ; at least two necessary closets in the house or yards, and stabling for at least three horses, unless there be a livery stable within a distance of half a mile from such house ; and what is described as a country inn is a house containing a bar, a bar parlor, a dining-room, at least four bedrooms for the use of the public ; all such rooms to be conveniently furnished ; a necessary closet in the house or yards, and stabling for at least four horses, unless there be a livery stable capable of affording the same accommodation for horses within a distance of one mile from such house. No house is to be considered a 'country inn' unless the same shall be situate at a distance of at least two miles from any other licensed publican's house. Another clause which is complained of as being too stringent on the trade is that specifying that no publican shall knowingly permit any wages to be paid in his house or upon his premises save only the wages of persons employed as servants therein. In what is termed special licensing districts, the fee for a publican's license is to be .£4O, and the same as above quoted for that of a wholesale or business license, and likewise for a bottle license, being ,£lO and £20 respectively. It ia also provided that the Licensing Officer may attach to any publican's license in any special licensing district such conditions to the exercise of the license as he may think fit. The other conditions in respect to transfers, to lights over the door, to having the name painted on the house, and as to the hours for keeping open, are similar to those already in force. It will be also imperative, as heretofore, that the publican reside in his licensed house, that only money is to be taken for liquor, and no drinks to be supplied to intoxicated persons. These and other clauses in tegard to the power of entry to a constable, and as to the production of the license when required, and in reference to the prohibition of gambling on the premises, are already complied with, being in force at the present time." It appears that the alteration in the scale of license fees doe 3 not find favor with the publicans of Hokitika ; but of course no one likes to bear increased taxation. But the object of the Bill is to encourage the better class of houses, and at the same time to prevent any serious I lobs to the revenue ; and although we cannot see that the publicans have much to complain of, there is the danger in increasing the license fees of promoting sly grog selling. It is probable that the scale of fees will be altered in Committee ; and, to tell the truth, we think that whilst the motives of the Government are quite praiseworthy, the Bill imposes conditions which are not only in advance of the requirements of the Province, but are likely, if sustained, to lead to infractions of the law.