CORRESPONDENCE.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XV, Issue 153, 28 June 1880, Page 4

CORRESPONDENCE.

: To the Editor of the "Evening Mail." Sir— We are n °t often surprised in our < r .quiet village^ but we certainly were a week or so back when we heard that our old friend Ruffell was about to lose his license Surely /we; Joust' be drifting back to the old days of tyranny and persecution when a few men in a;conimunity are to be allowed to take awaya worthy man's means of, existence without anycanse assigned but. that they do not think .-,. his trade or occupation necessary for the Vpublic good. In my humble opinion they might have waited until the public had made , some complaint as to the manner in which Mr. Ruffell's business was conducted^ no such complaint has been made, but I believe * something was said about insufficiency of furniture. Now, strange to say, Mr Ruffell "was actually renovating and adding furniture to., his. house, increasing the number of rooms for public, use, as well as building a new stable, while the Licensing Bench were sitting. This, I believe, he represented to thetn^ but was told there was no fault found "with' him, and the only reason they had for - refusing the license was tbat tbe bouse was not required for the public. They must have overlooked the fact that the " Plough "Inn" is the only house in Richmond having /piaddooks attached suitable for turning stock into while on a. journey, and this I take it is one of the inbsfc important requisites in a country hotel. It seems strange to me that in these days of economy and retrenchment : our wise Government should decline to accept £30 a year from a number or public houses, when, at the -same time, they are cutting down the already miserable salaries of their clerks ; surelyj if any man cap afford to pay fora license and keep- a quiet and : '/respectable house he should be allowed to do r ; so. Competition,. we all know, is the surest means of obtaining a good article, and what article is more necessary to have good and pure than alcoholic drink ? A number of Mr Ruffell's friends and customers are signng a petition to the Licensing Bench, asking them to reconsider their decision, and, trusting that they may see their way to do so, lam, &c, Jtjstitia. Richmond, June 24, 1880.