THE LICENSING COURT.

Manawatu Times, Volume III, Issue 50, 3 April 1878, Page 3

THE LICENSING COURT.

TO THE XDITOR. ; Sir,— l read with some surprise a leading article m your issue bf the 27th lilt., Wherein :Cboßtablb ( Gillespie is censured 1 for bringing unsubstantiated chaTges against the proprietor of the Clarendon ' Hotel. ' Had; you watched the proceedings of the Licensing Court, you would probably have eeen how inconsistent are your remarks, with "the facts of the casfc , ; The constable .staled distinetlv enough that he did *nbt wish to injure the landlord, bht only to secure for him such an expreseiori of opiriibn from the Bench as would ; ihdUee him to cofiiply more rigidly wit_ the Licensing Act. He went so fkr with his charges as to attain that object but had "the Bench at this stage been undecided, the "constable Wnsj as he then expressed himself, perfectly willing and prepared to goon with tlie case. .The., assumption therefore that certain. charges were contained m the report which the. constable had no means of attesting appears to be quite^ ah warranted. Eurtliermor'S, if -the constable's forbear.ahce was riot forbearaßce j if it was to the advantage .of the landlord, that the case should have been thoroughly investigated, why did not the landlord through his counsel insist on all the charges being dealt •with, and challenge the whole of the constable's witae'sses ? This was m his piower ib^o, and;certainly a very obvious proceeding m a case suspected to be trumped up;. He did not choose to do 'it t howevei^ and lliis fact iß*perfectly s satisfactory as to the land fdepyoi the constable's torbearance. Moreover, whe-n't-he landlord had the opportunity of protecting himself against unfounded implications, and of bringing to the front all the charges contained ia the report, and did not choose tp doi t, is it fair ./fpr you to impugn those charges, wheriyou jiupw/thatihe | opportunity for tesiiug them has. gone 2 ,Is it fair that the very forbearance bf the constable, m which he had the tacit "approvai of the defehdarit and the de- ' fendant a counsel, /.should receive at your hands the worst ppssible ccnstructicn? I eaunot help thinking that ypur view of the case is peculiar, and that the unfaii'ness which job have attributed to the constable, is with more justice to be imputed to the strictures whickyoa have passed upon him.' — -I am, &c., : - : XyyXx x.,;.y i y;. -/'Observer^ :-. Palmerston North, Ist April, lß7B.