The Temuka Leader. SATURDAY, JUNE 5. 1880. OUR, HOTELS.

Temuka Leader, Issue 263, 5 June 1880, Page 2

The Temuka Leader. SATURDAY, JUNE 5. 1880. OUR, HOTELS.

At the Licensing Court, held bn Wednesday,* license was granted to Mr J. Oilivicr for >h<» Caledonian Hotel, subject to certain conditions ; Mi Arena* »lt»o gave no. lire that he intend-d building a hut»-l it the cToer of Commerce-street, and opposite the Lkadek Office. Hie Bench approved of Mr Arenas’ scheme, nnd within six or nine months the house will probably be finished and licensed- Many will doubtless object to ait increase of hotels in our midst, because they think tfc will increase drunkenness. W« tie not agree with this opinion. It has not yet been clearly shown that additional good houses (well »nd respectably kept) does Increase drunkenness. On the contrary, it would break up the large crowds that congregate in hotels, which leads to one tempting another to drink. Once get one or two well “ on, 1 * and they are ready to shout for anybody. This goes on like a little leuvon leavening the whole lump,until the others become intoxicated. Business leads one to the hotel, and we four it will be a long while before this practice is extinct. If, then, more houses are licensed, the crowds will be more divided, and clashes he mote separated ; the temptation to imbibe'WQuld be lessened, und drinking would bo looked upon as a mark ot kindness bestowed upon one friend by awthor. Our views go further than .this : we would be prepared to curry our Free Trudo principles to the hotels, and would not object to granting a license to any applicant who provided a good house, ami could show (hat he wouhj cotidn t it properly; But we would make sure that the house.ii first class, and the licensee proved to be what lie professesa, would lmve#4uperior class of hotels, instead of the tumble-down shanties that have done duty for the pa-t twenty years. Our Free Trade principles would not lead 1

us to support having" the hotels open on Sunday. We condemn this for many rea sons, one of, which is that no publican lias a right to be allowed to sell his goods on Sunday any more than any other trades*, men. In times I appily gnne by, Temnka was notorious for drunken rows, and, perhaps, it turned out more finished topers than any oth°r township in Canterbury. Public-houses were not the chief cause of "this—there were amongst us several who were corrupters of unsophisticated young men,tnrningthem from commendable work ind making them as bad ns themselves. There is not now the amount of drunkenness by one-half, although tlm town is two thirds larger. This is encouraging, and we believe this stale of iiffiirs was brought about by some of the cliques being broken up, • We do not go so far as to say, compensate for hiss through shutting up hotels, in every instance, hut if a majority of the electors sanction t.ie opening of a new hotel, and are satisfied with the owner, etc., and If they nfterwards shut up that hotel, tnen they ought to compensate the licensee. Thi* would be another incentive to enterprising speculators to build good houses. We are prepared for a keen discussion of our views, but it cannot be shown that the Free Trade system iu Christchurch led to more drinking. The mistake made there was not in granting lie- nses, but in licensing inferior houses. None regret more than we do the prevalence of drunkenness, and if we thought more hotels would increase it we would set our face again them, but we don’t think so. Excepting the law business, none has paid so well as hotels in New Zealand. We agree with the de" vision of the ‘Commissioners to re-license the Caledonian Hotel,Jand to almost guarantee Mr Arenas’ license, but had not Mr Ollivier bound himself to make it a firstclass hotel, we would have liked to see the licensed refused. A new Licensing Bill (a condensed report of whieh appears in this issue) is now before Parliament It includes several good clauses, but the Bill is not perfect. In another issue we may point out its faults, meantime, it is satis, factory to know that a step has been taken in tiis right direction.

Mb Blackett's report on the Timaru Breakwater has caused a considerable amount of uneasiness to the inhabitants of Timaru. There is no denying that Timaru has struggled long and manfully for a harbor. Year after year their efforts to obtain Government assistance met with stern resistance, and only because South Canterbury was entitled to a share in the Land Fund (at that time a quarter of a million lay in the Provincial chest) were they able to secure the LIOO.OOO with which the work is being carried bn. One obstacle after another obtruded upon the promoters, but they persevered, ami Sir J--Iju Coode was requested to report upon ti.r ; raotieability of the work ; an engineer «iuv*yed the coast; then another year At length, Sir J. Coode reported tb >t the work was practicable, and aent a p:a: ; then more delaya while other plans wore being considered, and approved of by a Koyal Commission of Engineers. At Vtst the work was begun ; soon the great question of the travelling shingle was put to the test ; no sooner was the work com--menevd than the shingle accumulated, and prated ted the breakwater. The accumulation continued, nnd soon nil natural obstacles B“emed to bo removed, and rapid progress resulted. Already over 800 feet ore laid a>award, and a largo basin of smooth water to the north of the breakwater is the consequence. This induced the Harbor Board and others to consider the question of wharfage. For L 3.000 a wharf running out parallel with the present one would berth all 'be steamers and small craft that visit Timaru. From this

a large yearly income Would be derived, and the passenger traffic and general business more safely and expeditiously transacted. Just when this qu stion is about being settled, another formidable obstacle is raised. These annoyances arc enough to make the people angry. The stoutest opponent of the breakwater must admit that Mr B ackett has not acted prudently as an engineer. It is clear by the report that he has arrived at the conclusion that the work is doing some harm, and ealeu lated to do more damage than he has any proof to show- When Mr Blackett talks of hundreds of thousands of pounds he must be dreaming of the golden times that commenced with the Public Works period, and convinces one that he does not stick at trifles. If we were inclined to be selfish, we would join issue with Mr Blackett, because, if his ideas are worth anything, the shingle that encloses Milford Lagoon will also be washed away, if the work is gone on with. Again, this report could be used as an argument in favor of a harbor at Milford; this, however, we will not do. The breakwater has favorably progressed so far, and until its practicability is proved by the Pacific Ocean, wo will let sleeping dogs He. One thing is patent ; that the breakwater must be protected by a eloping wall of rubble work, as the foundation is not good. We are no engineers, but the letter we wrote to the Herald about five years ago, giving our experience as an interested party and at an eye-witness of the fact, is row worth, reading. The letter stated that the contractor sent doWn hundreds of truck uls of large and small stones. These were pitched over the work,

and the sea shaped them into a solid sloping wal J for the sea to run up, no water scarcely ever going over the parapet, which was only Bft deep by 10ft high. Anyone who knows the vtrength of the mountainous seas of tire Murray Frith must admit that there is nothing like them on our coast.