LICENSING COURT.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XII, Issue 289, 6 December 1877, Page 2

LICENSING COURT.

[Beforo L. Broad (Chairman), J. W. Barnicoat, C. Hunter Brown, and W. Wells Esqs., Commissioners.] ' The quarterly sitting of the Licensing Court was held this morning. Mr Pitt rose to present a memorial signed by 123 householders against any increase in the number of public houses in the towu Mr Bunny, who appeared for Mr Fell, for George Thompson who was applying for a license for a house to be erected near the Oddfellows' Hall, objected to the petition being received as the Act required that notice should be given of any objectious to be raised.

Mr Pitt was not aware that Mr Thompson was to apply for a license, as he had not given notice in a newspaper of his intention to do so, as required by the Provincial Act, and as tnis was not repealed by the Colonial Act, it still remained in force. The Chairman : I should like to know Mr Pitt, what locus standi you have in this Court. What right bave any number of householders to be represented here by counsel ? Mr Pitt: Tbis is a Court of conscience, a Court for regulating the licensing of houses and preserving morality, and any citizen has a right to appear and to appeal against these applications.

The Chairman: The Act provides that any householder may appear in person if he gives seven days' notice of his objection. There can be no doubt that the Court ought to receive auy petition and to give it consideration but we are not here to listen to technical arguments.

Mr Pitt : I only adduced arguments in support of myself against technical objections raised on the other side. Mr Buuny objected to Mr Pitt reading the memorial. It was all very well for him to say that he did not know Thompson was going to apply for a license, but if that was the case why was he there? The Chairman : I rule against you, Mr on the technical point you hava raised, although lam sorry to have to do so, for I think the provision of the Provincial Act requiring the intending applicant to advertise his intention of applying for a liceuse an excellent one, as I think the public ought to know what is going ou. Tha Act, however, is sufficiently elastic to allow of our using our discretion, and we will therefore receive the memorial.

Mr litt then read the memorial which petitioned against auy increase in the number of public houses, showing that there were already 24 houses, which was one to every 1/7 adults in the town.

Mr Bunny said that the circumstances under which the present application was made were as follows .- ~ The applicant, George Thompson, who had for eleven years been a publican in Nelson, and had always borne an escelleut character, had been turned out of his occupation of the Wakatu Hotel through no fault of his own, but through the action of the lessor. Ho waa not asking for any increase to the number of licensed houses as it stood on last licensing day, but merely that one house should be substituted for another that had been removed. Where Ihompson had carried on business before there was a perfect nest of public houses, and it was really for the advantage of the community that the trade should be spread over a larger surface, as it was now proposed

John Scott stated that the proposed house was to contain two sitting-rooms, seven bedrooms^ and a dining-room, and would be ready tor occupation by the end of January. George Thompson stated that he had been over two years in business in the Victoria Hotel and eight in the Wakatu, which had been sold over his head.

Ihe Chairman: The Commissioners will deal with this case apart altogether from the memorial, and will decide it upon its merits We fiad that within a radius of ten chains there are no less than eight houses of a similar character to tbat sought to be established. Now ive are bound by section 24 of the Act to consider whether there is a necessity for a new licensed house, and to be guided in our decision by this consideration We consider that there is no such necessity and must therefore refuse the anplication! With regard to the petition and its general request that the Commissioners would pledge themselves not to increase the number of licensed houses, we decline to bind ourselves to anything of the kind. The law requires us to deal with each case upon its owu merits and it might be that some strong reason might exist for granting a new license, such for instance, as for a first-class hotel with good accommodation for visitors from a distance. This would he quite another matter, but the Bsnch will not license any more mere drinking houses. A transfer of the license for the Bush laveru from James Fieldes to Mrs Hurfitt was granted.

The Chairman stated tnat he was glad to find from the police report that all thn licensed houses in the town were well conducted.

iir [1 a ™ ount of S° ld obtained from the Wealth of Nations claim during ten months is set down at 4188ozs. The November return bids fair to be the largest one of the year and together with the December parcel will add another lOOOozs., maki ig 51*350z5. retorted gold for the year 1877, aud a grand total of 22,0000z5. since the claim was opened —about four fifths of a ton of gold, value in round numbers £86,000. The number of dividends declared is thirty-ouc, and the amount so disbursed is £29,900. Another £1000 is certain to be paid before the end of the year, when the dividend account will stand at £30,900. Since the machine was started five years ago, dividends to the amount of £11,500 in excess of capital called up, and within £1600 of the aggregate capital of the company have been paid to shareholders. Tho all round avera-Je yield of the stone may be set down at Hdwts. sold per ton.