The Nelson Evening Mail. WEDNESDAY, JUNE 18, 1873.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VIII, Issue 146, 18 June 1873, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. WEDNESDAY, JUNE 18, 1873.

"Publicans' licenses are issued- for the protection of public morality, ; and as a means of raising a revenue." So it has been stated by a high aqthority at". home. Let us see to what extent this theory is carried into practice in Nelson. Of course it is at once admitted tbat the fees, in the aggregate, form a very < sensible and acceptable addition to the revenue, but* it may' be well to enquire how 'the public njiorality isXprotected by lhe : issue of licenses. We presume that it was originally intended that the manner in which the morality part of the business was to be affected was by the exercise of the power placed in the hands of the Bench of Magistrates of refusing to grant licenses to any objectionable persons, or of punishing those who kept disorderly houses. The pleasing delusion which those, who have hitherto believed :that such was the case in this province, have been laboring under we shall proceed to show. The form of application fbV a I license is as follows :— "I, A.8., do hereby give notice^that it is my intention tp apply at the next licensing meeting for a license for the sale of' spirituous liquors, &c, in the house and appurtenances thereunto belonging situated at," -fee. Here follow a description of the house; the names of the person from whom it .is rented, and of . the present occupier; a statement whether it is now licensed, and of the sign by which the house is known. In order to bear out our assertion that in the present system of licensing, the " protection of public morality" is in no way considered, we propose to select for comment one or two of the most glaring of the absurdities to which the Bench of Magistrates were a party at yesterday's licensing meeting, simply prefacing our remarks with the assurance that it is with the existing law, and hot with those who administer it, that we are finding fault. An application for a license for the Motueka Hotel in the form quoted above was presented by Mr ,T. BXouisson, a well known and respectable citizen of Nelson, to whom, did he seriously Mend to "turn hotel keeper h nofc_a single objection could be raised, indeed, the popular, and probably the magisterial, verdict would probably be that ;he would make a very capital host. Buteyerybody knew that Mr, Louisson had not the slightest idea of pumping beer from the cellars of the Motueka Hotel, arid if any doubt had existed upon this point, it would, have been satisfactorily dispelled by the applicant's reply to a question put by the Magistrates . whether he was making the application for himself. The answer .was that he had no intention of availing himself of the license, nor did he know who was going to do so. In other words' he had simply allowed himself to be made use of as a dummy. But here the absurdity only commences. The next form 'that had to be filled up on the " application " sheet was a statement of the names oi those who were to be the sureties for the good conduct of the applicant for whom a license was asked, and " T. B. Louisson " probably found no difficulty whatever in finding two substantial householders to enter into the required recognizance, both he and they knowing at the time that they were merely taking part in as ridiculous a farce as was ever put on the stage. It appears, however, to be very necessary that every precaution should be taken .that the person to bo licensed is a "fit and proper" character to assume the management of a publichouse, so, in addition to the sureties, it is provided that a " householders' certificate" shall be presented to the. Bench, and this is the form thereof :— - " We, the undersigned householders residing at blank do hereby certify that T.'..;81 Louisson ia a person of good fame and, reputation, and fit aud proper to dbe licensed for the sale of spirituous liquors," &c. Here follow the signatures of /five respectable householders who act the parti of the choruß in this amusing play. On the strength of this application, these sureties, and this certificate, the Justices solemnly attach their signatures to the license, knowing full weir that the:

licensed party is to have no more to do with the hotel in question- >t,h an the chairman of the Bench, and' |hat\ A the permitXfh^y h£yelthuß%igtied IS|y^ai|the VqptionJTofjfthe dinner ofi th'e hous^i^ejXTexTgvr, or " :? Sa[t^y s -^ e may think fit to place in possession, the " protection of public morality," of course, being the chief object he has in view. In another .ibase, a clerk" in £ merchant's office appliedifor. a license:for /one of theprincipal hotels in the town, baviDg, as by law provided, procured his sureties, and furnished his ■■householders' eertificatei" and although he acknowledged that he had no intention of occupying the house, and mentioned the7 name of the probable landlord, the license was granted in his name without hesitation, the terms of the Act, havingb^en, fully., complied ; witb. How many*moYe such in-' stances there were we are unable to say, but these two are; quite sufficient t<|) show the unsatisfactory working'of the present Act. The question will very naturally be put: Does not the person to, whom the. license, is granted render" himself 'responsible for the good conduct ofth,e, house of which he is the nominal landlord ? Let us see what the Act says on this head : — Any person chay iqg*, a license ior vthe,. sale of fermented? and ipiritousf ? liquors who s : hall willingly or knowingly permit drunkenness or disorderly conduct, or knowingly Buffer gambling or any unlawful games, in the bouse or premises mentioned iu such • license, shall for every .such^offence forfeit the sum of &c, &e. Now it is not likely that T. B. Louisson, who has the license, . but who resides, and probably will continue to reside some thitjty miles? from-. Motueka'; ; will' ever;*"" willibgly or&hbwfngly permit "?' Xdruukenness or any of the other offences abovementioned to take place in the house for which he has taken out a license, and as no provision is made for anyone else being punished, it is reasonable to suppose that "drunkenness, disorderly conduct, and gambling," may' be carried on in the Motueka Hotel after the Ist cf July next with a certain amount of impunity, - i: . And so'the "public morality" is protected. It is a disgrace to our Statute Book that such a law as th'e " Licensing Act " in its present form should be allowed to remain upon if, •and it is an insult to our Magistrates to ask them year, after year to sit on the bench, and expose 'themselves to the ridicule of all who. take the trouble to look behind the scenes and seq what is ihe real state of the case. In 'ine interests of " public morality" >:we trust that the. Government will at the next session of the Council . bring down a Bill to .amend the Licensing 1 Act, and that the Council will be able to devote an hour or two to making it : law. .••-. - 7 ;.