MANAWATU LICENSING COMMITTEE.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXII, Issue 851, 11 June 1910, Page 3

MANAWATU LICENSING COMMITTEE.

ANNUAL MEETING

The annual meeting was held at Marton on Thursday. Present : Messrs Kerr, S.M. (chairman), B. P. Lethbridge, H. Sutcliffe, R. K. Simpson, A. C. Perry and F. Purnell. FOXTON HOTELS.

H, S. Munro applied for a permanent license for the Family Hotel.

Mr Baldwin, for Messrs Bell, Gully and Cooper, appeared for applicant. Constable Fitzpatrick, who was in charge of the police reports, referred to certain proceedings in Court within the last three months, for alleged breaches of the Licensing Act, and for which no conviction had been recorded. Mr Baldwin entered a strong protest against such procedure, pointing out that where there was no conviction there was no offence, and therefore it was not right to assume there had been misconduct in the house.

The chairman pointed out that the licensee had been previously warned by the Committee as it was then Considered the hotel was not being satisfactorily conducted,. The recent information against him had been dismissed as the evidence against him was not sufficiently strong enough for g con l viction, but there were circumstances which raised a strong assumption that was against his fitness in conducting an hotel.

Mr Baldwin declared that the licensee had adopted the attitude suggested by the Chairman, by removing a man from the hotel when under the influence of drink. He was subsequently charged with permitting drunkenness on the premises, and Mr Thomson, S.M., dismissed the information. If the Committee were going to depend on this case then it would be necessary to go into the whole of the evidence, which he claimed would be an entirely wrong procedure, and he therefore entered a protest against such a suggestion.

Mr Kerr : “ We are concerned in safeguarding the people as far as possible in this matter. In view of past unfavourable impression made on the Committee it is necessary that we should be satisfied the hotel is to be conducted properly.”

Mr Baldwin contended that if 60 charges were brought against him surely it would not create an assumption. It was rather hard for a man who had gone to the expense of successfully fighting the matter out in Court that he should be again subjected to further trouble and expense. In fairness to Mr Munro this incident should be waived by the Committee as it was contrary to what the Act required. At the request of the Bench, Constable Wood (Foxton) gave evidence relating to the recent case in question in which a conviction was recorded against a person for excessive drinking. The Information against Munro was dismissed as it was not proved the man obtained liquor at the hotel, although a lodger. The Chairman: ‘‘Well, then Munro was not to blame.”

Evidence relating to another alleged breach of the licensing Act on a recent Sunday was also given.

Mr Baldwin said he would ask no questions as the course suggested by the Chairman had been carried out by the licensee. H. S. Munro, applicant for the license, deposed that Mr Thomson, S.M., had expressed himsef satisfied that the man never got drunk at his place. He only got two drinks a day and he made no secret about it. He declared he had been harrassed by the constable. —But the Chairman took strong exception to this statement, mentioning that the Magistrate had made some reference in justification of the police action. The Committee suggested an adjournment for three months in the granting of the application but as the Act did not provide for this the application was granted and the licensee was cautioned.

A transfer was granted from W. Dalzell to W. ‘F. Gray for the Post Office Hotel.

A renewal was granted to F. Hadfield for the Manawatu Hotel, it being shown that the sanitary improvements recommended by the Health Officer had been out. '

A renewal was granted to W, J. White for Whyte’s Hotel. In connection with this application the Chairman intimated that the house required to be painted. They had asked six months ago that this should be done.—lt was pointed out that the landlord required, in terms of the lease, that the hotel be painted in December next, and the licensee promised that the work would be finished before the next half-yearly meeting of the Bench.