BILLIARD SALOORS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVI, Issue 166, 13 January 1914, Page 8

BILLIARD SALOORS.

A VilfOiiOCS HtOTEST. AiIAIXSX a. LATKII CLOSIXC-ilOUil. Should tlu; huuv fuv closing billiard millions in die Jjoroiiifh t'lieii' nig-IH, be extended until ]] p.ni.v xjiiit was the ijiii-.stJon ivuicli formed the subject 0 i a discussion last night between tho Jiorough Lmuik-U and a depututJoii of citizens.

Keccnth u voi'iiosi reached tliu Council that tii lime lor closing .saloons be extended. The Works Committee recommended that this be done, and the deputation last night was the outcome of I lie publication of that recommendation. Eventiul]y jt was decided to grant the extension. ■l'lio Ue\. T. 11. Koscvcare was spokesman for the deputation, which numbered ."ill, ineiiding several ladies, ami rcp"tsented the Ministers' Association, the quarterly mooting of 1h" Methodist Church, tin- ve.-tn- of St. Mary's Church, iitnl the citizens of \ e w Plymouth. The l!ev. !|. 'l'. Koseveare stated that ; tin' deputation came to expp -s what it lielievcd was (he opinion of the majority ! of the pcoule of New Plymouth' who I had the highest moral interest of tile (own at heart to protest against the ■ ! proposed extension 0 f time, and hj" liad 1 therefore every confidence in staling (he j views of the deputation. He rroognis-d 1 that whatever might he (lie actual elToct on a young man from frouuontlng liilliaril saloons, there was no' doubfthat there was a tendency to "rovide laoili--1 ties for gambling. An increase of faeiiiI tics for frecmenting lilllinnl saloons would mean that whale.vpr gambling we„t on would also I>. increa-ed. Further, the deputation felt-.that in any ease the atmosphere 0 f a. billiard saloon was not the most healthy moral surrounding for young men, and that ten o'clock wis a reasonable hour for olosill"' saloonrs. He understood that it ha 1 boon the experience of towns in the nast that the extension of the time for closing billiard saloons .. vond the hour I'ixod for flosiiuj hotels meant that men who had alreadv as much drink as was good for them took a further supply of ilriuk (o the saloons, and continued 1 h-iv ilrinking there. To offer further facilities for (his sort of tiling, whether il was taken advantage of or not. would he detrimental to the moral* of the vouth of the town. Ho pointed mil tliav (he Chrisfchurch City Council Ind vorenMy refused lo extend the hour for closing saloons, and its example might he followed hy (he tfew Plymouth Council. The vestry of So. Mary's Church had just passed a recolution protesting , against the proposed He I hoped the Council would reconsider the motion.

Mr Hal finodacrp, speaking as an employer of labor, protested against «rant,n o I'li-tht-i- facililbs for gambling ami pending money. Tt wa.s, lie said, a fact that the question of gambling anion" vonng men seriouslv affected tlie number of criminal convictions in New Zealand. He asked for an nnnortunitv to pres»nt a petition from the town. The Rev. J. W. Burton protested aaainst the extension, because he thought it w>i unreasonable, jr.. '.. u i nothing against billiards, but thought a >i'«n could play all the billiards he wanted to by ten o'clock at night. Mr R. "vV. Sl,a\v, on behalf of the vesiry of SI. Mary's Church, added his prolct to (hose of the previous speakers. Billiards was a fine game, i,„t should be conducted on sane lines.

I A J.IVKI.Y DKCUSSIOX. [ After the deputation had withdraw:!, j :i lively discussion took place us to whether the decision arrived at bv tlic I Work* Committee should be. adhered to ) or not. , <'r. Wilson opened 'thu ball, lie pointed out that .it the present time billiard saloon proprietors in Now Plymouth were being charged the mximum'licciiselee—£,-> per iinmim—and tlmt the Council must either reduce Chef,, ( . 01 . extend the hours accorded to them in which to earn a living Personally, he did i-M consider that billiard saloons wore such , hotbeds of vice as members of the deputation would have the Council believe. Sincere as (!,<> deputation was, it had spoken merely from hypoihesis. Tiic saloons were under -once supervision, and were properly inn. Cr. Johnstone: How lon,' have these saloons been closed at 11) p.m.': Cr. Tabor: For about 10 -ears. They were first closed at ten when that ho.'v was fixed for the clnsin" of the hotels. Cr. Ambury pointed out tlmt the deputation was a representative one, and the i)iies(ion involved was n vcrv serious one. There was no doubt that manv voting fellows wasted in billiard saloons time which they should spend in equipping themselve. for the battle of life, lie personally hud had very painful experiences with vnung men who irc(|nontcd saloons, With regard to the license, lee, this had not altered for many veal's. The fact that hotels had been forced to dose at 10 p.m., and had given up providing billiard tables, was an excellent reason why billiard-saloons s'lould close at. th" same hour. Xor wai it reasonabb, that the Council should ".rant this extension because a few other towns did *o. lie would rather reduce the licensefee by half than extond the hours. 1 Cr. Johnstone remarked that be was not present at the meeting of the Works Committee when the .natter was discussed. There was no substantial reason way th,. extension should be granted. Cr. Wils„n bad stated Hint there wa-sno vice connected with billiard saloons. The very fact that the places had to be. '"'(•used was a proof that they required watching, H was a matter of common knowledge that billiard saloons'were, a resort for the undesirables. The deputation had made out a good ease. Cr. Maunder agreed with this. Cr. Clarke entirely disagreed. It was a hardship to make billiard saloons close at 10 p.m.. and the fact that this had Son., on for leu years did not affect the case. Tf a boy had a "yellow streak" Jt would come out, billiards or m> billiards, Saleons he had been in were just as orderly as a meeting of the Yew l'lymoutli Borough Council. Crs. Jackson. Tabor. Ilealv, and His Worship th" Mayor advocated the extension of time. TDK WriSTON'. Finally a divi-hm was takei on a motion to delete the recommendation of the Works Committee and continue to close the saloons at 10 p.m. This was lost by six votes to four. The yotin" was as follows:-For: Crs. Johnstone! Amoury, Collin, and Maunder. Against: Crs. Jackson. Healy, Clarke, Tabor, Wilson, and Mannix.