Mr. WINTERTONasked the Undersecretary of State for the Colonies whether, in view of the fact that when a licence was granted for a hotel on the beach at Suva, Fiji, there was a clause in the title of the land that on any breach of the Liquor Ordinance the licence would be cancelled, and that the then Acting Governor was asked and refused to delete this clause, he will say why the clause has since been deleted and by whose authority?
§ Mr. LUNNI have been. asked to answer this question. I assume that my hon. Friend refers to the recent grant of a licence in respect of premises in Princes Street, Suva. The lease of these premises originally contained a clause, usually inserted in leases of land in that area of the town, rendering the lease void if any breach of the Liquor Ordinance, 1911, were committed upon the premises. The lease had, however, been issued in exchange for the surrender of a freehold title to a much larger area to which no such restrictive covenant applied; and my Noble Friend was advised that, in the special circumstances, the insertion in it of such a restrictive covenant was improper, and the Acting Governor was so informed. The Liquor Ordinance itself provides heavy penalties for offences under it, including forfeiture of licence for a second offence, and the rigorous enforcement of its provisions should be an adequate safeguard against offences.