TREATING CUSTOMERS

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 132, 25 August 1927, Page 14

TREATING CUSTOMERS

TRAVELLER FINED LIQUOR IN KING COUNTRY (Special to THE SUN.) NEW PLYMOUTH, Wednesday. r pHE important question is . whether a traveller can carry liquor in a no-licence area, to treat his customers.” said the magistrate when John Waite, a commercial traveller, was charged with unlawfully keeping whisky for sale in such an area. A constable told the court that at Tongaporutu, on July 23, he found one bottle of whisky wrapped in cloth beside the benzine tank of the defendant’s car. After some hesitation Waite drew oiit another full bottle, and a smaller one, from his pocket, the constable said. Mr. R. H. Quilliam said that his client was carrying some whisky for the purpose of “shouting” for his customers and assisting business, a method that was adopted in all licensed towns in business deals. There was no question of payment. , . * The magistrate contended that defendant, in treating his customers, was not acting gratuitously. He expected some return. He issued a warning, in view of the statement that the practice was general, that those who attempted it were skating on very thin ice. Waite was fined £5, with costs amounting to £3 10s 6d.