Manawatu Herald. THURSDAY, MARCH 26, 1896. Our Licensing Laws.

Manawatu Herald, 26 March 1896, Page 2

Manawatu Herald. THURSDAY, MARCH 26, 1896. Our Licensing Laws.

» Like all New Zealand legislation the differeut Acts relating to the sale of Alcoholic liquor seems to be as clear as other Acts, and capable of being read opposite ways by even intelligent men. This is decidedly inconvenient and one man, a Mr Searl, of Eketahuna, has learnt how great the inconvenience is. A conditional license was needed by Mr Searl for a booth at the Masterton Show and Ram Fair. In the old Act it was a

simple matter to secure this license an application to two members of the committee authorised the granting of the license. Under the last amend* meat Act, passed last session, a clause* nunjber 20, was inserted to alter and considerably amend the old practice. The clause is as follows;—" All the powers by the Licensing Acts conferred upon the chairman or any two Members of a Licensing Cotamittee to deal with licenses shall ba exercised by such Chairman and two members jointly, and not separately." The clause seems clear, but Mr R S. Hawkins, a Stipendiary Magistrate in the South Island, and Mr 1\ Hutchison, the S.M. for the Wairarapa, read it Very differently. How Mr Searl suffered was in this Wise, he applied to the Masterton Licensing Committee for a conditional license, and Mr Hutchison, as chairman of the Committee, refused to sign the certificate and the clerk therefore declined to furnish Mr Searl with a blank cer tificate. No reason is given why Mr Hutchison refused, nor is it stated if the Committee was called together to consider the application. This is an important point for it is not possible for the Chairman to usurp the powers of the Committee and refuse to sign any document approved by the majority of the Committee. Apparently Mr Hawkins does not deem it necesßary that the Chairman's signature was necessary to all certificates, and Mr Hutchison appears to think it is and that he can exercise his individual will even if the majority is against him. We hold that clause 20 of the last Act clearly directs the Chairman to sign documents even if he personally objacts to them, provided he and two members have jointly arrived at a decision, that is to say the majority rules. Unfortunately for Mr Searl he was led by his solicitor to sell on the strength of the certificate signed by only two committeemen, and on ! being prosecuted this week at Masterton before Mr Dutchison, he was fined by the Mr Hutchison, the S.M., who, as Chairman of the Committee, had refused to sign the certificates, the extraordinary penaly of £65, being £25 on one charge and £40 on another. Mr Searl appears to be an unfortunate man and means to appeal ngainst the judgment. We hope he will ,and that he may do so successfully.

We thank Mr West, the courteous secretary for the Mauawatu Early Settlers' Association for a ticket for the picnic to-mor-row on the Polo grounds, Palmerston. Mails close at Foxton as follows :— Via Brindisi, Thursday, 25th March, 3 p.m.; via Eio de Janeiro, Wednesdoy, Ist April, 3 p.m. ; via Frisco, Wednesday, 15th April, 3 p.m. The open season throughout the North Island for shooting native game commences on Easter Saturday, 4th April, and closes on the 30th June. The season for shooting imported game (also in the North Island) commences on the Ist May and closes on the 30th June. The death is announced in London of Judge Thomas Hughes, the well-known lawyer and author. On Tuesday morning a man named John Newton, aged about 25, was found in his house at Palmerston, dead from a gun wound. Deceased had been melancholy of late, and it is suposed to be a case of suicide. The police authorities in Sydney reiterate that there are hundreds of liberes and escapees in thai city, and deny the Consuls contention that the men are not of a dangerous class. The heaviest floods for years are reported on the Buller. Several land slips have occurred on the roads, and the mail coaches from Reefton to Nelson and Westport have been detained. A London correspondent writes :— New Zealand flax is looking up, and 211 bales were sold at sales. Prices ranged as follows :— Fine Auckland, £17 ; fair Wellington, £15 10s ; good Lyttelton, £16—common, £15. Messrs W. Weddel and Co. tell me that the present stock of flax in London amounts only to 2050 tons. Last year at this time the stock was larger by 25 per cent. "He that takes what isn't his'n, when he's scotched goes to prison," That at least is what the old adage says. At present someone is helping himself to trifles belonging to others and not being scotched has not gone to prison. It is, a place where he would behave best however. Further works on the Central Trunk Line are to be put in hand which will give employment to a number of men. The formation is now complete some distance beyond Makohine and in a forward condition up to the Mangaweka, 33 miles from Marton. A cable has been received in Wellington reposing the iale at Adelaide of the Globe timber mills bought by a man for slightly over £50,000. This was one of the New Zealand Estates Company's properties, and the sale is considered a very good one. We regret to learn that Mr T. U. Cook, a very old resident in the district, is seriously ill. This morning the town clerk accompanied Mr William Wilson to the Palmerston Hospital. Mr Wilson a few years ago ran a flaxmill at Carnarvon, lately he has not been doing anything. A week or two ago he was taken ill, and it is said he is unlikely to ever get well again. A -Bill before the Missouri Legislature purposes to tax bachelors on an ascending soa'e, from £2 a year for bachelors between the ages of 30 and 35, to 25 per cent, upon the property owned by bachelors over CO years of age. The art of paper-making has reached the point where it is possible to cut down a growing tree and'eonvert it into paper suitable for printing purposes within 24 hours. It is calculated that 33 per cent, of the cigars sold in London are not made of tobaoco at all. Great Britain pays £1,000,000 each year for imported foods. Prince Albert of. Monaco has renewed the concession for gaming in Monte Carlo for a period of 50 years, but the payment for this right has been increased from £50,000 to £80,000 per annum,

Mr Llowellen Smith, Government aur- • veyor, and party of four journeyed to Shannon from Otaki by last night's (Monday) train, says the Moil. The party in- < tend to start to-day on a trip across the ranges, in order to make a report on the ] practicability) etch, of a road between . Shannon and Eketahuna. The Venezuelan warship Avaouohe has I been burned off Margarita Island. Eight Of the ofew perished. 1 Admiral Bridge has quashed, on techni- 1 cal grounds, the sentence of three years' Imprisonment inflicted on a marine of H;M.S Ringdove by court-martial at Wellington for striking a petty officer. According to the Westminster Qazelte a piece of steel was driven into the eye of ' Joseph Brown, of P^ainfleld, New Jersey. 1 It was embedded deep in the eye, and ' could not be extracted by cntting without ' the entire loss of the eye. At the Eye and Ear Infirmary they applied a wonderful ] magnet, which will hold up one hundred , pounds. When the magnet was brought near the eye, the piece of steel was drawn from its bed and attached itself to the magnet, and the eye was saved. \ Sergeant Wakelin, the rifle champion, is an inveterate smoker and a moderate drinker. Ho has been 13 years in the Colony. ! The tennis match between Otaki and ' Levin resulted in a win lor Levin by 45 points. Wa shall be having a time of it soon. The Mail says : — We have it on good authority that Mr A. H. Rollo, for eleven years postmaster at Otaki, and latterly a farmer on the Manakau Road, intends to contest the Otaki seat, in the Liberal interests, against all comers at the next general election. Our Agent-General is distinguishing him- | self, the oablegrammer thinking it worth while to state he has denied a statement made in the House of Commons that colonial cheese is adulterated. Mr W. B. Rhodes is prepared for any European complications, for he has on sale breech-loading guns at half-price besides powder, shot, &c. The man Mr R. Walden kindly under, took to find some light employment for at Moutoa no sooner had enjoyed the ride out than he took it into his head to walk back, and has since been sunning himself in bis accustomed nooks.