LICENSING COMMITTEE.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XII, Issue 3827, 5 June 1891, Page 3

LICENSING COMMITTEE.

J*ASTERTON BOROUGH.

i The statutory meeting of the MasI terton Borough Licensing Commit--4.' tee was held m the old Courthouse at 11 o'clock this morning, there being present Messrs E- Feist, G. ' % Heron, 0. E. Daniell, B. P. Perry, and G. W. Woodroofe. On the mHon of Mr Perry, by Mr Woodroofe, Mr Feist was elected Chairman for the ensuing three years.. it ANNUAL MEETING. I The annual meeting was held at F ij-noon, the whole of the members I -SI being present. ' The miouteß of the last quarterly and statutory mjg&igs were read and confirm ed.4jj|^ 1 The police report upon the licensed houses in the borough was submitted, and was favorable in all M cases. _

7 The application of Emma Leonard IjjL for a new license for the Star Hotel was first considered. Mr Pownall ||t appeared in support .of the application. Sergeant Hannan stated that the s&ti- applicant was the widow of the late HI George "Williamson, and he considered ohe should have applied as such. If [5 she was not the widow, she was riot | • fit to hold the license.

Mr Pownall :The application been made on the grounds that proV bate of the will has been granted in the name of Emma Leonard by Mr i ' Jnstice Edwards. The Chairman asked how the change of name 3 came about. . Mr Pownall explained that the application had not been made in the name of Mrs and 2t was not advertised as such. There were : good reasons fo£ her having applied as Leonard;, a deal of property •having beea thus saved. He had [ given Mrs Leonard . professional advice to apply under the name of ■-EmmaLeonard, and she had acted perfectly bonesfr.in the matter. Hedid noc think that by an incautious step the woman should be -grained. There were no objections to r; the granting . of. the license, and he thought the change of names was not grounds, for the refusal of ptifcie license. ' T • T": The I have not got an i *nswer to the question as to how her . name came to be Emma Leonard.., . Mr Pownall: 1 tbirnk I have made 'it sufficiently, clear. She never had other name. Sergeant Hannan submitted that licensd should not be granted to Leonard, as it was known she lived with Mr Williamson.

l :¥r Woodroffe: How long have Boa been in the town ? V Sergeant, HannanOnly four or Ifive months. I do not think there is ■sufficient proof that Emma Leonard 0s Williamson's^execatrix. Mr Pownall explained that that the l probate had been granted and Mrs > Leonard appointed exeputrix. 't- Mr Danieil: May I ask who has been carrying on the business sincelie death of Mr Williamson ? Mr Pownall: Mrs Leonard, The name of George Williamson has been .above the door. It is quite in ac» cerdance with the Act. The Chairman thought the Act had not been complied with. Mr Pownall admitted that the position was aijftnfortunate one, but le hoped the Bench would favourably consider the application as there I were other persons interested, and if Vwas not granted others would be i«ban:ed .from making application. r Mr Beard,-who appeared on behalf Jof the owner of the property, asked 'lhat the. owner bis given an opportunity to take some steps to remove 4he difficulty. It was plain that the present applicant and Williamson were not legally married, but he thought there might be reasons for ■i ttiia being so. If. Mrs Leonard was s now conducting herself in a proper he did not thinfc she should be prevented .from obtaining a I license. A liceffee could be granted P' -provisionally, and could be transferred afterwards to another p person. .If - the application was - the' owner of the property would be debarred from making c further application.. Mr Woodtoofe : Is there a clause " in the Act which enables the Bench C * to do this ? - , Mr Beard ; Oh, yes! > 4 1 Sergeant Hannan: Excuse me you cannot grant a - transfer within three months. Mr Pownall; Excuse me I -*2~- Sergeant flanhan: But you cannot. ' The Chairman : Mr Pownall, was {he applicant ever, married ? Mr Powmtfl: Yes, I might ex- * plain that she is the widow of a merchant in Melbourne, and that is partly the reason ior making the -application as at present. ""•* -» Sergeant Hannan read the Act on the point of transfers, k Mr Beard .contrtoßd that a - temporary transfer co3d be granted. The Bench then rewd to consider their decision. --./BR? After retirement, the commis- ■ ■ ■gioners returned, the Chairman announcing that they had arrived at ■ the following decision " We bave not yet absolutely, decided that the license for the Star Hotel is necessary, and therefore grant the license for the year. ' But the present ; impression is that it is unnecessary. ~ Our minds and we shall be prepared, as 11 will be our duty, in 1892, to consider fully any evidence which may be adduced to us then, to - show that this license is necessary. "We do not in any way prejudge the matter now, but we intimate that if • . the circumstances in 1892 are not - materially altered frem those now our present view ifl that - Btrong evidence will be required., iij - : - - 892 to convince us that this hotel A 8 necessary." This was the decision of four members, Mr Geo. Heron to the wording of the samp. " A ten o'clock license was next —granted to MB A. Thompson for the f ~ prince of Wales Hotel, the chairman stating that the written resolution ' " already read applied to this case. L*- Mrs A. Ottaway, of ihe Royal *, 'Hotel was treated similarly. , =" - Mr A Elkin's application was next - heard. Mr Beard, for applicant, f:l- pointed out the adyisability and pro- - : priety of allowing this-Hotel.-to be |ttl|ept open later than some of the

| others, as it was especially used by | the travelling public. Mr B. P. Perry said that Mr Elkins was a friend of his and he should like to ccncede the point, but he thought ten o'clock late enough. By allowing one house to remain open longer than another they would not be acting rightly. Mr A. A. Elkins, by permission of the Bench, said that all he asked for was justice and an unbiassed decision. He should be satisfied with 10 o'clock. If left open, those who were coming home who had perhaps had toomuch at other houses,would come in tohishotel and he should be obliged to call the police, a thing he did not care about doing. . The application was then granted on the same terms as the others.

Mr T. Thompson's application for the Empire Hotel was dealt with in a similar manner.

The last application was that of Henry Phillips, for the Occidental Hotel. Mr Phillips was -epresented by Mr Pownall, who said that he supposed it would be useless to apply for any more than had been granted to other houses. It appeared from the resolution read that the Committee had decided to close the hotels in twelve mouths. (The Chairman declined at this stage to sav anything more than was written in" the resolution). Mr Pownall, continuing, said that he did not think it was fair to holders of property. From what had transpired it appeared that they had not come there as a tribunal to hear the cases and judge accordingly, but had prejudged the matter, and come with a written resolution. The decision was the same as in the former applications. Mr Geo. Heron again remarked that he objected to the wordmg of the decisioo all through.

; Mr Phillips enquired if they were all the on same terms as the Star hotel, and the chairman replied in the affirmative.

This concluded the business, and the meeting adjourned.

Xbe "Wellinfirton BenchWellington, Friday. At the annual meeting of the Licensing Bench Mr. Wiilesfcon, (Chairman) commented on the Sunday trading which was known to be carried on, and reflected somewhat on the police. It was announced that in future licenses would not be granted to single women, the present holders excepted. Inspector Thompson took exception to the remark re the police, saying it was almost impossible in the present Btate of the law to secure convictions, and the police were not supported by the Bench at> they ought to be. The Committee agreed with the latter remark. Th<J Chairman also stated it was intended in future to classify the houses.

The appointment of Arthur Uoss Thomas Evans,Samuel Bolton, Gtorge Whitcombe, Charles Edward Tvler, and Charles M. Campbell as ranger" for the district cf "Wellington, under " The Animals Pro tection Act,] 880,"is gazetted A telegram from Auckland to«day statesthat the report that Chemis, the Kaiwarra murderer, attempted suicide in the Auckland eaol, is correct. He inflicted a wound on himself with an ordinary tin knife,and loßt a pint of blood.