The New Zealand Times (PUBLISHED DAILY.) WENDENSDAY DECEMBER 19, 1877.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 5224, 19 December 1877, Page 2

The New Zealand Times (PUBLISHED DAILY.) WENDENSDAY DECEMBER 19, 1877.

At the meeting of the Licensing Commissioners yesterday a slight discussion took place between Inspector Atcheson and tho Bench as to a number of publichouses in the city which refused accommodation to travellers and others, in fact that the houses were merely drinking saloons, kept open solely for the profits arising from the sale of drink, and with no desire on the part of their owners to derive an income from any other means. The Inspector of Police stated that he was constantly hearing complaints that certain public-houses had turned travellers away with the excuse that the premises were already full, when the real truth was that not a single individual, other than the hotel-keeper and his family, was staying in the house. To anyone acquainted with the hotels of the city it will be perfectly plain that the Inspector of Police has not overstated the case, and it has long been a matter of surprise that the licenses of such hotels should be renewed when in some instances licenses were refused where the applicants had gone to the expense of thousands of pounds to furnish accommodation for travellers and others who have no settled homes of their own. We do not mean to say that every man who builds a large house and furnishes it well is entitled to a license. The surrounding circumstances, and. above all whether the hotel is needed for tho travelling public, must bo taken

into consideration. But it does seem to us an anomaly, as long as the present law exists, that a man should year after year get the license renewed for a house wljioh is in no sense a public convenience, and which does not even fulfil the requirements of the law, while another man is refused a license in the same neighborhood who has gone to large expense in erecting and furnishing premises of a kind which it would not pay to keep open as a mere drinking saloon. There is a growing feeling in this city, and all over the colony, that it would bo a wise step for the various Licensing Benches to close those houses which offer no other facilities but to enable parties to got drunk. Yet we are told the owners of such houses have vested interests. It is nonsense to talk of the vested interests of an hotelkeeper who perhaps has made a considerable fortune in no small measure by shirking tho obligations of the law. There is, we believe, a fine of £lO attached to the offence of a publican refusing accommodation to a traveller; but this law is persistently violated, and the publican is never prosecuted for this violation of the essential condition on which he obtains his license. It is a mistake to look at the question from a Good Templar’s or hotelkeeper’s point of view. Licenses are not issued to enable a publican to become rich in the shortest possible space of time; neither should they be refused because a section of the community hold strong opinions as to the evil effects of alcohol. The Licensing Bench have simply to decide in accordance with the requirements of tho law and the general convenience in each particular case. It is certainly not in the interest of tho public that a bad class of houses should be kept open while licenses are refused to reallygood ones. The Bench here, by many of its decisions, have virtually endorsed the principle that the man who has done a roaring trade and made money in utter disregard of the requirements of the Licensing Act, has a better standing than the man who has shown a bona fide intention of adhering to every condition under which he would obtain his license. We will give an instance of what happened some time ago in this city. It was customary for the police to go round to the various public houses, inspect the accommodation in each, and report to the Licensing Bench. At one of the houses the inspecting sergeant noticed an entire absence of any provision for lodgers, and asked tho publican to explain, which the latter did, saying quite jauntily, “ Lodgers 1 I don’t want them. It don’t pay. I am better without them.” The police pointed out to the Bench that the man was not fit to keep a public house, as he had not the slightest idea of the duties of a hotelkeeper. But the Bench scarcely appeared to take any notice of this, and granted the license on the condition that he would add another room or two to his hotel. They overlooked the fact that if that publican added a score of rooms to his house he might still refuse to keep lodgers. But had he not established a vested interest by making money in dispensing liquor over the bar of his hotel 1 He might never at any time have invested fifty pounds in the business, but still in the eyes of the Bench his vested interest was greater than that of the man who had spent thousands of pounds in erecting a suitable edifice. We trust that the police authorities in this town will take energetic steps to prosecute those publicans who shirk their responsibilities by denying accommodation to travellers on inadequate grounds, and that should the offence be clearly proved the Commissioners will on licensing day refuse to grant tho renewal of licenses to those who so wilfully ignore the law. Such a course would be in the interest of the public, and particularly in the interest of the respectable licensed victualler. There are now forty-four hotels in Wellington, and this number should be ample for the requirements of the place if reasonable accommodation were provided in each ; but that such accommodation is not afforded by many of them is patent to the most ordinary observer. The sooner the law is enforced the better, for it is highly desirable that the wretched drinking shanties should give place to hotels which would be conducted with a view of affording suitable accommodation to the public, and thereby meet the growing wants of the city.