The Licensing Law.

Manawatu Herald, 31 January 1893, Page 2

The Licensing Law.

A gentle excitement has been caused by the ruling of Lieut. Colonel Roberts, the B.M. at Master ton. It appears that the licensee of the Star hotel was charged with having kept his house open on Sunday for the sale of liquor. The counsel for the defence, urged amongst other grounds for the dismissal of the case, that there was nothing in the license— which was framed according '

o the Act to show that liquor saould not b.-; sold on Sunday?-, and the penal clauses were therefore ultra vires The R.M. upheld the c intention and dismissed the information.

Clause 29 of the Licensing Act sets forth that licenses may be g .-anted of the several desciptions herein set forth, and such licenses .-shall be in such one of the Forhis in the First schedule as shall be applicable. For a Publican's License the •following is the form : — Whereas the Licen-ing Committee holding the licensing meeting afc -, oh the— day of—, one thousand eight hundred and—, have by their certificate dated the— day of—, authorised the issue to— „*&—, of a publican's license, for the-house to be known as-, situate at — , and having only one bar therein and no more : And whereas the aaid-* hath paid into my office the sum of- pounds i sterling as the fee of such license : Now I do hereby declare that the said—is. licensed to sell liquors in any quantity on such premises between the hours of six in the morning and ten at night. Che license shall commence upon/ the — day of—, and continue until the BQth,da,y .of June then next ensuing^ both days inclusive, if not forfeited in the meantime; Clause 80 further recites that a publican's license shall authorize the licensee to sell and dispose ot any liquor in any quantity, on the premises therein specified, between the hours of six in the morning and ten at night* All this reads very plainly that a publican between certain hcurs can sell every day in the year, and the mistake in* tlie ruling appears to have been made by ohft magistrate not looking in a most unlikely place for a total contradiction in the same Act. Ifc is there however, and a publican would hardly be justified in pleading ignorance of it, as he is supposed to have the Act )n his possession to avoid the many pitfalls laid for his upset.

The ruling appears extraordinary upon referring to clause 154, which declares that all licensed premises shall be closed on Saturday night, from den -o'clock until six o'clock on Monday morning as wel as on other specified days, and still more clearly puts it that these other provisions " shall not alter the hours during which such premises sball be closed on Sunday." It is evident that the intention of the Act is that no public house shall bo open on a Sunday, though the fjrm of the license might be amende^, to advantage by having the provisions of clause 154 added to it, and that a licensee has not a good excuse in claiming outside privileges simply through the wording of the license. We should not recommend holders of. publican's licenses to imitate the liceusee of the Star hotel.