ALLEGED EXPLOITATION.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLII, Issue 2101, 11 March 1920, Page 4

ALLEGED EXPLOITATION.

JUDGE GILFEDDER CONDEMNS : THE LEVIN HOTEL. At the quarterly meeting of the | Otaki Licensing Bench at Otaki on Friday, Judge Gilfedder made strong comments anont the Levin Hotel. He said he was a judge of the Land Court, and in consequence did a. deal oL travelling. He wished to* complain of the exploitation by some publicans. No doubt the cost of living had gone up, and the value o! money fallen, but exploitation ex- | isted. For three days he slaved at j the Levin Hotel (Mr SuhanV), and ! found the accommodation was not | whal it should have been for the j charges. A ’notice appeared that the tariff was 10s per day, morning ; tea fid extra. These charges he | considered exorbitant. He was givt or. a small room with no wardrobe, i no cites! of drawers, only one hat peg, and a lied that did not oven i have a post on which to hang Ids ’ trousers. The value of the whole I furniture of the room would be about £l2, ami would only probably | bring £lO if put in an auction room. I The place was not lighted by deej trieity or acetylene, but this he did not mind. He did object, however, to being supplied with a eaudio, with no matches, which was inconvenient to non-smokers and ladies, and reminded one of the stone age. . There were not even newspapers to read. He had called the licensee’s and the constable’s attention to the slate of affairs, and the licensee said ’ ho was complaining before ho was ■ hurt,’ He, however, had been charg|ed 10s per day. In the'interests of ! the travelling public he considered such a thing should he stopped, and contended that if hotelkeepers wore to he allowed to charge what they liked their houses would soon be- ! come drinking dens. He was no prohibitionist, but lie objected to ! such a slate of affairs. He coni tended also that very little attenli!on was given to guests. In poorer

! classes of holds lie did not mind | when there wore no newspapers and I lire like —they wore not looked for, I but Mr Suhan was a wealthy mam 1 < t j ami had recently bought a native j block in Iho vicinity of‘Levin for 1£4,000. He thought Mr Suhan shoI aid pay more attention to his hotel, j and suggested that the police reports in June should show what accommodation was provided at hotels, and the charges. At present hotelkeepers charged what they liked, and this led to exploitation. Judge Gilfedder emphasised the fac-i that he had no objection to pitying 15s per day for good accommoda- ! lion, but did object to pay IDs when 8s was quite sufficient. Snub a, tiling was not right. Mr Staveley, at this* juncture, said lie had received a telephone message from Mr Suhan, who asked him to attend to the complaint. Mr Suhan admitted that the aecommiff da lion was not what it should have | been, but this was due to Mr Gil--1 redder not telegraphing, as usual. I .« ■ j for a room, while members of (ae. Chautauqua occupied the main j rooms. As for morning lea, no one i could say they were charged for it. i Judge Gilfedder: Xo one .look it,' lienee no charge, j Mr Si a veiey, continuing, said f matches bad been left in the candlej stick, but .bad been taken by mi-- | lake by the servant. | .Judge Gilfedder said this Was not i-o— tiie matches taken from the j candlestick were his own, and not I supplied by the publican. | The Chairman considered complaints .should he put in writing, when investigations could bo made, aild then dealt with by the Bench. It i was doubtful if the Bench had the power to fix the tariff, but if the ! protest was published it might have the desired effect, it seemed that the hotelkeepers wanted to gel rich quickly, and he ,had uo doubt but that there was a lot in what the judge said. Judge Gilfedder -aid he would think the matter over, and probably put his complaint in writing. No doubt the press would publish his remarks, and this would do good. The Chairman, in conclusion, said the Act gave the Bench very little power to deal with such matters Otaki Mail.