LICENSING REFORMS. Better Hotels and Early Closing.

Free Lance, Volume III, Issue 141, 14 March 1903, Page 8

LICENSING REFORMS. Better Hotels and Early Closing.

THE leport upon the hotels of the city, which the Inspector of Police submitted this week to the Wellington Licensing Committee, at its quarterly meeting, is a bugle-call for reform. It practically condemns eight of the existing hosielnes as being out of date and unfit, to be further licensed. Such warnings have been given before, and been quite disregarded. Take, for instance, the notorious instance of the old Oriental Hotel, m Willis-street. The police again and again drew attention to its imperfections, and Fire Supeimtendemt Hugo, in March, 1900, reported to the City Council that it was in a dangerous state. Yet, both Council and Licensing Bench paid no heed unti), in November, 19D1, fire swept down upon the Oriental and wiped it out of existence. *• * ♦ Then w ere the w arning w ords of the police and the fire superintendent sadly verified, for the hotel proved a regular death-trap. One inmate perished in the flames, others escaped in. a more or less maimed condition by jumping from the windows, and all the survivors got the severest fright they ever experienced Now, we want no repetition of that sensational event, and, therefore, the public will watch with close attention the treatment which this latest report, from the Police Inspector receives. The outgoing Committee has decided to send copies of the report, without comment, to the various licensees who are affected And it will devolve then upon the new Committee, at the annual meeting m June, to take whatever action may be deemed desirable. * * * The time is gone for paltering any longer with this question Hitherto the Licensing Bench has been far too indulgent It has, fiom year to year, lenewed licenses for premises that would not have passed muster as hotels in any other lar^e town of the colony. They served in the day of small things, but are quite unworthy of the Empire City now-a-days. Old wooden buildings, advanced m w decay, or badly constructed, poorly equipped, and run more for the bar tirade than to accommodate travellers, cannot now justify their existence. Unless their owners are prepaied, like hotel proprietors elsewhere, to keep pace w ith the times by building piemises that will answer the public re-

quirements for accommodation and aftoid security, then the license should be cancelled. Meie drinking shops are a nuisance, and an unmitigated e\ ll The public may be trusted to keep a watchful eye on that police report And, our hotels must eithei rise to a higher standaid or go undei altogether. * * *■ One word more. The early-closing movement for shops lias made gieat progress in lecent years The employees benefit, and the public does nob suffer Why not extend that earlyclosing movement to hotels 9 They need it more than ordinary shops, for their business operations start at a far earlier hour than is the case with ordinary tradesmen. Of the two sets of candidates now out for election, one party pledges itself to 10 o'clock closing. The other party, calling itse/lf "the Moderate Committee," declares for the continuance' of 11 o'clock closing. But the reasons it advances are not even plausible, let alone convincing. It says to close earlier than 11 pm. in a seaport like Wellington "would be subversive of the best interests of the public, especially the travelling section." Fudge' The proposal is only to close the bar, and let the barmaids or bar-tenders to bed at a decent hour. r - •* Sea-borne travellers w ill be put to no inconvenience. They can obtain all the lefreshment they need before they land. No real passenger trains arrive after 8.30 p.m. As for the stay-at-home public, it will be an advantage to have the streets quiet by 10 o'clock. People w ill get to their homes at a reasonable hour for retirement There w ill be less temptation to diunkenness and kindred vices, for it is at the late hours of the night that men are most prone to relax self-control and forget themselves. The hotels, of course, will nuss the trade 1 which flows from the theatres, but that loss will be a public gain in other ways. # *■ * Auckland, by the way, has been under 10 o'clock closing for many years, and, although its population is much, larger than that of Wellington, tlieie is no public outcry for a change. Quite the contrary. Curiously enough, even the candidates nominated bv "the trade" pledge themselves to 10 o'clock closing. And yet, at the inception of this reform, 'the trade" was violently opposed to it. One other reason urged against it by "the Moderate Committee" is that ifc would offer some inducement to licensees to break the law . That is a poor aigument to use. If tJie public decree early-closing, the publican who breaks the law will do so at his peril. On the whole, there is a strong case for reasonable hours. There w ill be less sweat--mg of hotel hands. The city will get earlier to rest. Fewer drunken men will stagger home undei the friendly cover of night.