THE EVENING MAIL. WEDNESDAY, MAY 2, 1577.

Oamaru Mail, Volume I, Issue 320, 2 May 1877, Page 2

THE EVENING MAIL.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 2, 1577.

" Words are tilings, and a droj) of ink falling upon a thought ma}- produce that which utukca thousand think."

By proclamation in the New Zealand Gazette of the 19th ultimo, his Excellency the Governor has appointed the Corporation of Oamaru to execute " The Common Lodging-houses Ordinance, ISG'2," and " The Common Lodging-houses Ordinance Amendment Ordinance, ISG-i," within the town. As the Act may now he Slid to be in force some information in relation thereto may not be out of iilacc, more especially as, in all probability, a very great majority of our readers may not be acquainted with the terms of the Ordinances. We may premise our review of the Common Lodging-houses Ordinances by saying that the Amendment Ordinance of ISG4 simply enacts that the provisions of the original Ordinance of 18G2 shall apply to licensed public-houses. What we have, therefore, to deal with is the "Ordinance for the well-ordering of Common Lodging-houses within the Province of Otago," passed by the Council in 1862. The powers conferred by this Ordinance are very great, and its provisions are of a most stringent nature. The Ordinance starts by saying—" Whereas it is expedient, for the welfare of a large class of the inhabitants of Otago. as well as for the general health of the community, that provision should be made for the well-ordering of common lodginghouses," &c. The interpretation clause defines the meaning of the words "common lodging-house" to be any house where any number of persons, save the occupying tenant and his family and domestics, ordinarily sleep, paying hire so to do. Clause 6 requires that, within two months after the appointment of any local authority to administer the provisions of the Ordinance, the keeper of any lodging-house within the jurisdiction of such local authority " shall register such house, by delivering at the proper office of such local authority notice" in the form prescribed by the Ordinance. and shall be registered on payment of a fee of ten shillings. The next clauserenders it necessary that any person applying to be registered shall send in with j his v application a certificate signed by six respectable householders in the town, certifying that the applicant is a fit and proper person to have the management of a lodging-house ; and failing the production of such a certificate the authorities may refuse to register the lodgiiisr-house. The power is given to the administrators of the Ordinance to determine whether or not a house is a common lodging-house, aud whether the provisions of the Ordin- i ance should be applied to it. The executors of the Ordinance are required to keep a register in which shall be entered the names and residence of the keepers of

id the numbe received Ordinance lodgingf lodgers uses, for itilat ion pection •ictions ay be ouse is j to any he isinfectj pay the .nts. The vhe adminisnas the power to aches of the reguiii case of deaths oc-ging-house, the keeper .rod to give notice in writing the nearest Coroner within .ours after their occurrence ; and .ne case of any inmate being ill with any infectious or contagious disease, the lodging-house keeper is required to give immediate notice to the administrative body, and the administrative body are empowered to make proper provision for the prevention of the spread of the disease. Access is to be given at all times to any properly appointed officer or police constable. The keeper of a common lodginghouse is required to thoroughly cleanse all the rooms, &c, to the satisfaction of the local administrators, as often as may be required by any regulation. Common lodging-house keepers must furnish, when required tj do so, " the name of every person who resorted to such house during the preceding day or night." The next clause is one of very great importance, and one that every lodging-house keeper would do well to bear in mind. It enacts that

"If the keeper of any common lodging" house or any other person having, or acting, in the can; and management thereof, shall omit to cause hi- house to be registered as aforesaid, or shall attend against any of the provisions of this Ordinance or any of the liegulations made in pursuance of tin* Ordinance : or if any person shall have died in any common lodging-house : or if any person in any common lodging-house shall have been con lined to his be I for forty-eight hours, !>y fever or ;my infectious or contagious disease, without the keeper of such house having given notice thereof respectively, as required by this Ordinance, every person so offending shall, for every such offence, be liable to a penalty not exceeding five pounds, and to a further penalty not exceeding forty shillings for vvery day during which the offence continues : Provided that this Drdiimnee shall nut exempt, any person from any penalty or liabiiily fo which h2 might be subject, irrespective of this Ordinance. "

Where the keeper of any common lodging-house, or any person having the management thereof, is convicted of a third offence against any of the provisions of the Ordinance, the Justices of the Peace before whom such conviction takes place may adjudge that he shall not, withirTa period of five years, keep or have the management of a lodging-house, without the jirevious license of the administrative body, and that license may be withheld or granted only on such terms as the administrative body may think fit. The Ordinance contains several other provisions relating to the manner in which the Ordinance is to be administered, the indemnification of persons acting under it, and the manner in which penalties are to be recovered. Altogether the Ordinance is a most stringent one, and, although its coming ito force here may possibly be deemed a hardship to many lodging-house keepers, circumstances which have occurred lately seem to point to the necessity of strong measures being resorted to in order to protect the interests of a large section of the community.