REPORT. (Hansard, 20 June 1865)

THE MARCHESS OF CLANRICARDE
, having presented a number of petitions for the restoration of Clause 5, which had been struck out of the Bill, said, that it was undoubtedly a great grievance on market gardeners, cattle drovers, and others who were legitimately employed between the hours of one and four o'clock, a.m., that they could not procure refreshment during that time. The habits of society in all large towns required that hotels should be kept open until a late hour in the night for the purpose of balls, 516 concerts, and other entertainments; and it was monstrous and absurd that the middle classes should be precluded from amusing themselves, because the authorities, in whom the power lay, refused to grant licences for the hotels to be kept open after one o'clock in the morning. The power vested in the police was often exercised in an arbitrary manner, as in the case of the town of Liverpool, where it was publicly announced that no licences whatever would be granted except to St. George's Hall and the Town Hall, which were the property of the corporation. The law was of an anomalous character, and the power of granting licences to certain persons so as to give them an advantage over their rivals required to be exercised with great delicacy. There was a very strong feeling upon the subject, and he hoped that Government, upon further consideration, would allow the Bill to be restored by inserting the clause which the House of Commons had agreed to after much discussion.

§ EARL GRANVILLE
said, the object of the Act of last year was to prevent disorder, immorality, and drunkenness by the suppression of what were known as "night houses," and had been very effective in that respect, and he (Earl Granville) was very unwilling to assent to any proposal calculated to diminish the good that had been obtained. But it was found that the Act occasioned great inconvenience in certain cases, and this fault the Bill now before the House proposed to remedy, by giving the police authorities power to grant licences to certain houses to remain open during certain specified hours for certain particular purposes. The object of the clause which their Lordships had struck out was to vest this discretionary power in the magistrates instead of in the police authorities. No complaint, however, had been made of the manner in which the police authorities had acted in the matter, and as they were intimately acquainted with the character and requirements of their neighbourhoods, it would be better to leave the power of granting the licences in their hands.

§ THE EARL OF DERBY
said, that the object of the Act of last Session was to remedy a crying abuse existing in certain parts of London. The Act was intended to apply to London alone; but power was given to different counties in England to 517 adopt the provisions of the Act if they thought fit. A great many of the counties did accept its provisions, and upon the whole the law had done away with much abuse, and had met with approval. There were, however, many occasions, especially in country towns, where country balls, concerts, and other meetings were held, where it was desirable that the opportunity of obtaining refreshments within the forbidden hours was very desirable; and these cases had been met by giving power to the police authorities to grant "occasional licences." It was, however, found that, in the case of certain trades and certain localities, the public-houses could not be closed during the specified hours without considerable inconvenience being felt, and it had been held that the power of the police authorities extended only to grant licences for a particular and specific occasion, and not to cases where continuous exception was necessary. Accordingly, the present Bill was introduced giving power to suspend the operation of the Act in certain cases. The question in dispute was, whether that discretionary power should be vested in the police authorities or in the magistrates at petty sessions. With all respect for that very useful body the police, he thought that the more they were confined to their executive functions, and the less they were intrusted with judicial discretion, the better it would be for the community. The proper tribunal to exercise the discretionary power conferred by the Act was that consisting of the magistrates in petty sessions. He had himself seen a notice issued by the chief constable of a town declaring that he would not grant any licences whatever —under any circumstances whatever, in a certain district—thus rendering the law a dead letter. This was probably an extreme case; but it was easy to conceive that in large towns the granting such licences would throw great additional labour upon the chief constable, and that therefore he might be very unwilling to grant the licences, or to make the necessary inquiries even in cases where there was very good ground for the exemption. Then, again, the hardship upon the hotel-keepers was great in cases where the chief constable did not reside in the town in which they lived. For instance, the hotel-keepers in the town of Chichester had to go to Petworth, where the chief constable of the district resided, a distance of fourteen miles, in order to obtain permission for a party of ladies and 518 gentlemen to remain in their houses after a certain hour. If the power to grant the licence were vested in the magistrates, the hotel-keepers need never stir out of the town to obtain a temporary exemption from the provisions of the Act. As the House of Commons had expressed a strong opinion upon the subject by their vote given in opposition to the Government, their Lordships could not do better than restore the clause which the House of Commons inserted, and which the House of Lords, without fully discussing the matter, threw out.

§ EARL GRANVILLE
said, that if the noble Marquess would consent to the omission of the metropolis from the clause he would not object to its being restored to the Bill.

THE MARQUESS OF CLANRICARDE
said, he would assent to that arrangement.

§ THE EARL OF DERBY
understood that the arrangement was that the clause should be restored to the Bill; but that another clause should be brought up exempting the metropolis from its operation.

§ EARL GRANVILLE
assented.