The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1872-09-14 00:00:00

AN EXPLANATORY LETTER.

With the desire to render the clauses which seem to
admit of two constructions in the new Licensing Act
m re intelligible and definite, the follcwing letter haa
been sent to The Times for publication :

The interest I have taken in the licensing quallon, and
the Mu, ortance of the ;object at this moment, must be my
excuse for trenbin g you with a letter With many ethers
my attention hes naturally been di ect d to tie wsy In
which the new Licensing Act hat been Interpreted at the
diderene Bre, e'er Sentient hold during the lest few weeks,
and wit n I remember the hurried way in which, at the fag-
end i ft rather laborious Portion, we had to consoler and
amend no imp Ttmt a measure, I confess Tam not surprised
to find that some of the clauses seem to have been under-
stood in a way, and to have led to decisions, totally at vari-
ance with the view taker of them in discussion in the House
of Commons, and on which view or supposed reading alone
they became law.
- ••

lot thorn, one paint especially, affecting, as it would, a
very large amount of property throughout the county, on
which, as I cannot help thinking, so many erroneous deci-
sions have been given that I should like to try and plaeo
before the public what I know to have been the
Intention of the House of Commons on the point,
and what I really believe may be taken ao the proper in-
terpretation he placed on the clause. I find that the
Ii t portion of the 48th Clams has been held to govern,
not enly the clause in which it stands, but to extend
to Clawe 45 (nctwithstimding the limitation of that
clause tots new publichouseX„ and to oblige all publiehouse
or beerhonee owners whatsoever before next year to com-
ply with the rateable qualification there required. And
magistrates In many places have come to the decision that
the words, "any premises which are licensed turtle vale of
hit •cleating Ureters at the patting of this Act are not
of such annual value Ai authorises the grant of a licence
for such premises," oblige them to give notice to all
holders of licences not qualified according to the scale kid
down in Clause 45 that before next yearn renew at they
must have raised the annual value of their houses to that
scale—a reading of the clause which, if correct, must entail
either a large outlay of capital throughout the country
or the abandonment of a vast number of old-establiehed
house., for the purpo.es of the trade. Now, I can contidently
wised that the House of Common. IleVer contemplated any-
thing of the kind the point was discustiol at some length,
and in supporting my Clause 47e, while enforcing as far as I
could the desirability of raising, it possible, the roteable and
otructural qualification, of houses in the future entering into
or being bunt for C e trade, I and all who thought with me
acknowledged that it would be an attack on existing pro-
perty an great almost as was proposed In the measure of
1871. If old houses were forced tnto complying with the new
standard of value, and the words, " premi-es not at the time of
the pasisingof tint Act licensed," were inserted with the full in-
tention of limiting thechatge to new houses alone, and under
the entire belief that by those words such limitation wan
affected.