LICENSING COURT.

South Canterbury Times, Issue 2946, 4 September 1882, Page 2

LICENSING COURT.

TIMAItU—THIS DAY.

The quarterly meeting of the Committee was held to-day at noon Present Messrs E. G, Kerr (Chairman) W. C. Beswick, E. G. Steripker,, J. 0. McKerrow, and Dr Macibtyre; 1 POLICE DEPORTS. The report of the chief-officer of police on the licensed houses in the borough was satisfactory. There had only been one conviction for a breach of the Act during the past quarter. TRANSFER.. ; A transfer of the license of the Shamrock Hotel was granted from T. Flaherty to Robert Dixon who stated that he intended applying for a temporary transfer to Mr W. Morgan, who bad leased the hotel. APPLICATIONS. Mr A. J. Parsons, licensee of the Club Hotel, applied for permission to be exempted from keeping a light burning in front of his hotel. He said the publicans in the town bad to keep their street lamps burning up till twelve o’clock, even on moonlight nights, and as the town was properly lighted with gas the lights were useless under any circumstances. He also wished to make application for permission to close his house before twelve o’clock at night. Ton o’clock was too early to close, but he, and nearly all the Licensed Victuallers in the town, were anxious to close their bouses at eleven o’clock. - The Chairman said the committee had carefully considered the application and had decided to refuse the first, namely to exempt hotelkeepers from keeping a light burning in front of their hotels. With regard to the second application he might point out that licenses had been granted to ten o’clock in the first instance, and that on separate applications midnight licenses had been granted under part 1 of section 37 of the “ Licensing Act.” This subsection gave the committee power to extend the time from tea until twelve, if they were satisfied that such an extension would • be for the “ benefit and convenience of the public.” It was just a question whether the words “until twelve o’clock ” could not bo construed to mean anytime from ten o’clock until twelve o’clock. The Committee wore not going to put any one-sided con-

but ap the licensed victuallers had asked ! permission to close before twelve o’clock, i the Committee had to consider whether 1 the granting of their application would be for the benefit or convenience of the public. The Committee considered eleven o’clock a fair and reasonable hour for closing public houses, but they could not see their way clear to fixing that hour, as the law did not permit of their doing so, consequently they granted the licenses till twelve o’clock, although they did not believe that twelve o’clock licenses were desirable. In reply to the request of Mr Parsons, the Committee had decided to allow publicans to close their houses at any time between ten and twelve o’clock, and extinguish their street lamp when they closed their house. If the street lamp were extinguished before the house was closed they would be proceeded against for not keeping a light burning, and under no circumstance was the street lamp to be extinguished before ten o’clock. This decision might be considered to be not in strict compliance with the Act, but nevertheless it would have the effect of allowing public houses to be closed at a reasonable hour. The conditions be had just laid, down would be communicated to the police, and they would be instructed to act upon them. Mr Parsons thanked the Committee for the decision they had arrived at, and speaking as president of the Licensed Victualler's Association, he expressed himself thorougly satisfied.