DRINKING BY WOMEN

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 989, 4 June 1930, Page 12

DRINKING BY WOMEN

SERIOUS COMPLAINTS TO LICENSING COMMITTEE ANNUAL MEETING HELD “The committee is grieved to find serious complaints about drinking by women. There is no doubt that it is a growing evil and should be met in every possible way. It is possible that the supply of drink to young girls takes place more outside than inside hotels,” said Mr. E. C. Cutten, S.M., in reading the report of the committee at the annual meeting of the Auckland Licensing District held this afternoon. Mr. Cutten presided and the police were represented by Inspectors Lander and Mcllveney. There was a large attendance of licensees. In continuing the reading of the report, Mr. Cutten said: “There is no power to deal with the licensees of hotels if they should provide liquor to women, because the law permits it and «a general prohibition of it might not have the support of public opinion. But if a report upon an hotel shows that it makes a special business of supplying women with drink, particularly of supplying it to young girls, the Licensing Committee will be in a position to regard this as bad conduct of the hotel and to deal with the licensee accordingly. "We ask the police to give special attention to th 6 matter,” continued Mr i Cutten, "and to report to the comrrh’aln. tee the cases of any hotels in which the supply of liquor to women has reached a position which, in the opinion of the police, will justify the committee in regarding the hotel as being badly conducted.” Inspector Lander said that there had been a considerable amount of drink - ing in certain hotels by women, but he had not the information to show’ that any of the women served were under age, that the women were in the hotels longer than necessary, or that they were in a state of intoxication. But continual drinking at the hotels had reduced those women to a low’ state and a number of them were finally rounded up and convicted. The*inspector held that the licensees should exercise proper supervision and consequently check much of the drinking. The police had noticed that in most cases the women who frequented certain hotels were over the age of 24 years and recently there had only been one woman under age convicted for drunkenness.