THE LICENSING LAWS.

Te Aroha News, Volume XXVI, Issue 43072, 23 March 1907, Page 4

THE LICENSING LAWS.

t*. ' The' WaamT (Nelson)' 0 Licensing ' ’-‘ OonmialrteeL are gkskiflg to hare their : vyj of‘.all licensing comty' extended by an amendment of ", ;ihi&''Lsoensinig! A&t. : : iVhat : they want; 7, ia to be able to dose any hotel which 74% h^: ; m tiheir" opinion solely, a; suit-' . 7■ anfcir building." Thialt is perhaps'a 1 : - v ' blunt way of putting, it, Ibrasfc' it is 'the gisfc.of . a resolution they have passed >7 and! circulated among other commit- 1 7 tees. with! a request for 00-ope&tion. - Beside® their, powers under: , the No--license,. and Reduction issues, they; 1 - wish to be able to pronounce on their;: - , own account, at any of their quarterly : sittings, as id whether or .not any- hotel in the district provides satisfactory ; •' travelling ’ accommodation, requires enlarging, pulling down and rebuildingl, etc. Thi? proposal for seeking these arbitrary powers was brought before the Caversham Licensing Com--7 matteie recently by the chairman, Mr Widdowson, who explained that it could be traced back for its origin to the action of Penny v. the Wairau Licensing Committee, in which Mir Justice Cooper decided 1 that such action on- the part of a licensing committee could not be taken without their taking evidence on the condition of_anyparticular hotel, .and bdng'gGided in ~——Hhear decision by that. “The difficulty arises;” commented Mr Wdddowson, “as to how that evidence is to come before the Committee.” One 7 7 of the members of the Caversham Committee remarked! that Wairaui’s mo-ve semied to - step in the right .direction:- The other members concurring, the Committee officdallv decided on -co-operating with the Wairau Committee in the