A HOTEL LICENSE.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 60, 20 June 1910, Page 4

A HOTEL LICENSE.

HOTEL MAGISTRATE'S CORRECTION, sfj Telegraph—Press Association. Hastings, Last Night, t At the Magistrate's Court at Hastings on Saturday, Mr. McCarthy, 6.M., made a slight correction of a statement made by him as chairman of the Hawke's Bay Licensing Committee. The statement made was that the children of a certain widow had been deprived of the goodwill in certain hotel premises. "This," said Mr. McCarthy, "was not strictly accurate. The fasts are that somewhere about the year 1896 the hotel was taken up by the husband of the widow at a rental of about £3 a week. Then came the floods and, as a consequence of damage done not only to the hotel, but to the district, the rent was reduoed. Shortly afterwards the owners were compelled by the Licensing Committee to rebuild a portion of the premises. Afterwards the rent was raised from time to time, until it reached £8 to £9 a week. During the wholetime, there was no lease, and all the interest the husband (and subsequently his widow) had in the business was a monthly tenancy to that extent, and to that extent alone would it be correct to say there was no goodwill. It is, however, within my own knowledge that tenants with monthly tenancies have sold out their goodwill, finding persons that are willing to take the business on thos" terms. After the widow's death the executors had arranged to sell out, including the furniture and goodwill, at somewhere about £i>oo. The owners intervened, and pointed out that there was no goodwill, and the sale was not eomp'eM. That transaction consequently fell through, and ultimately the owners leased the premises .to the person with whom the executors had been in trentv.-and the executors only got about £l3O for the furniture."