Tales from the Past - a look at the history of HANZ Chapters 6-7

Chapter 6:

At the end of 1938 Tom Coltman took seriously ill and it was necessary to co-opt members to the emergency committee. Long serving vice president Maurice O'Brien of Otautau in Southland, who had the enviable record of not having missed an annual general meeting in over 20 years, stepped in and was immediately the recipient of good news.

J C Griffin the Auckland president attended an emergency committee meeting in Wellington signaling that Auckland wanted to once again come back into the fold. Greymouth were still diffident but a favourable liquor referendum in the 1938 election had added confidence to the trade and there was a distinct indication of a national bonding for the first time in many years. Wellington president Sam Dunn called for united action in stamping out counter lunches, eliminating "house shouting" and designed a matrix to illustrate to price cutters the effects that this had maintaining profitability.

The new regime was working well and with the anticipated return of Coltman after his serious illness the future looked rosy. A state of the art typewriter was purchased from Armstrong and Springhall for 49 pounds and ten shillings ($99), and for the first time ever it was resolved that there would be no need to make application for the extra 500 pounds ($1,000) from the National Council.

The Association mounted strenuous opposition to proposed legislation banning driving a motor vehicle within 30 minutes of consuming alcoholic liquor and made a Press release setting out that "the Association would make the strongest representation to oppose such a proposal becoming law not with standing that our views would not be accepted by those desiring such disastrous and draconian steps!!" The proposed legislation did not reach the House of Representatives.

Although the war had dampened many activities the Association was involved in the 1940 Centennial Exhibition celebrations and Coltman was elected to the Early Settlers Association on a committee tracing the settlers who arrived on the "Tory" and other founder vessels. He was also asked to consider other suitable activities and given the conditions prevailing at the time he performed credibly in organizing special liquor licences for various events and celebrations.

A severe blow to the industry was the practice of traffic officers picketing hotels. Some hoteliers openly accused them of not being suitable candidates for the Police Force and had joined the Transport Department to avoid going to the war. To add to the problems tests revealed that several breweries were short changing publicans by not filling kegs. Tom Coltman, who had stood down from the presidency following his illness took the major breweries to task and received a rather generic apology without an admission, but the practice ceased.

The merchants and wholesalers had not helped either when it was discovered that some had been deducting 1% from invoices and paying the amount direct into trade union funds. Other Unions were urged to follow suit but the new president James Mackenzie from Tattersalls Hotel in Christchurch threatened police and government action. After long discussions involving all sectors of the trade it was agreed that an automatic levy be applied to all liquor purchases from wholesalers, merchants and the brewers at a rate of one penny in the pound payable quarterly to the Association and ratified by resolution annually at the annual general meeting. As a bonus the levy was apart from the annual grant from the National Council and suddenly the financial worries were over. The levy scheme, referred to loosely as "the golden bucket" remained the live blood of the Association for almost half a century.

Restrictions and regulations hit most industries hard but a war time amendment to the Customs Act imposing a 15% increase on duty for wines and spirits was a severe blow. The adjusted prices were submitted by the Association to the Price Investigation Tribunal for consideration by the Minister of Industry and Commerce under the war time Price Stabilisation Emergency Regulations. The result was not the one hoteliers wanted to hear. The 15% increase would stay but bar prices must remain the same. The fact that beer had not been included in the increase led many to believe that the contribution made by the breweries to the war effort had not gone unnoticed, but the concession that had been made with the levy nullified any protest.

There were rumblings too about Coltman's emergency committee which initially had worked well. Several branches showed dissension with decisions and policies made and several implied threats of seceding from ULVA were made. The committee had been engaged in several "secret" meetings with the union executives and though there was general talk about a plan that had been agreed upon, it was all kept under wraps. The "plan" obviously centered around the collection of union levies and although it is not recorded it had some bearing on the introduction of the automatic levy The new President was not happy about the negotiations and several of his South Island mates supported his stand including Otago's past national president James Young. Young referred to the committee as the "Willis Street Gestapo", a dangerous comment given the time, and severed his connection with the Association and as an assessor.

Dunedin withdrew from the Association because of the treatment Young had received and for a while Association meetings were returned to full executive status without input from the emergency committee. The meeting agendas covered mainly union matters, pricing and duty although there was massive support for a National Service edict requesting all bars to display posters under the National Service Regulations 1940 for compulsory enrolment on the roll of the 1^st Division of the General Reserve.

A delegation to Dunedin returned optimistic that the southerners would re-join and although Auckland had indicated their return no substantial progress was made with a reconciliation. Unfortunately in 1941 Pat Brodie the loyal former Auckland president who had fought hard to retain links with Wellington died suddenly, 2 weeks after the death of his wife. This sad event weakened the efforts to get Auckland aligned with the majority of the country.

Times were bad with the majority of hotels struggling to trade profitably. Association meetings were poorly attended due to members having difficulty leaving their properties, and blackouts and rationing made business intolerable at times.

New Years Eve in 1941 saw the retirement of one of the most respected men in the industry. Frank J Oakes was the licensee of the Duke of Edinburgh when he joined the Association in 1910. In 1911 he was elected to the executive and took over as secretary in 1919 upon the death of the original secretary H J Williams. Oakes was primarily a musician and was conductor of the Wellington Professional Orchestra and a church choir conductor at St Marys of the Angels and later at St Gerards. While serving as secretary he helped out at various times as a relieving manager at several Wellington hotels and was described by historian Pat Lawlor as "a man who left his mark as one devoted to the best traditions of the liquor industry".

In his farewell speech Oakes intimated that the change of culture in the Association had influenced his decision to retire although he knew he could have served for a few more years. He knew he could not be honest with himself by agreeing to compulsory unionism and the 40 hour week and publicly stated that he had apprehension about the future of the industry under a Labour government. He was made a Life Member of the Association and given a year's salary of 220 pounds ($440). Miss C H Gillespie who had served as assistant to Oakes for fifteen years was rewarded with a gift of 20 pounds ($40). Oakes was replaced by Charles H Suisted, the Association's auditor, and he also proved a stayer by serving as secretary until 1960. He retained the services of Miss Gillespie in the office. Mr A E (Ted) Tarrant was subsequently appointed auditor.

As the war dragged on it was proposed that a Trade Defence Council be formed representing wholesalers, brewers, retailers and hoteliers to assist any war emergency matter, covering stocks and glass shortages, hours of trading and other matters of vital interest to the trade generally. The Association appointed Mr Coltman and Mr J D Power as their representatives on the proposed board. Mr Arthur Young of T & W Young, president of the New Zealand Wholesale Merchants Federation, was also written to requesting two nominations for the proposed board from the wholesalers. Unfortunately Coltman fell ill again and Power too was hospitalised so vice president Sam Dunn not only took over Coltman's position as treasurer but also managed Power's Royal Oak Hotel during the crisis. Eventually the prospect of establishing a Trade Council fell through.

The Association discussed the advisability of securing registration of the hotel industry as an essential industry under the War Regulations and arranged to meet with the Hotel Workers Union to discuss the matter. Union leaders Fred Young and Frank O'Sullivan were aware of the financial loss of some units, particularly accommodation houses and were sympathetic but rank and file union members were not at all helpful. They were more concerned about the casual workers clause in the award and payment in lieu of suspension of annual holidays. The Association proceeded alone and the application was subsequently granted.

Not so successful was an application to the Price Tribunal for a bar price increase. The Tribunal were in the middle of a massive enquiry concerning hotels over charging, particularly in areas frequented by military personnel and would look at no applications until those issues were dealt with. Complaints from the Military Police concerning soldiers under 21 years of age drinking in hotels had also bought criticism of hoteliers, and the Association issued a circular to all licensees and the unions to co-operate with the Provosts in their endeavours.

Due to the difficulties associated with the War the emergency committee was resurrected and Mr R McMullian of Wellington's Regent Hotel was co-opted on to the committee depleted by the ill health of Coltman and Power and the retirement of O C Cox of the New Commercial who subsequently moved to retirement in Christchurch.

A major issue during the darkest period of the war was the activities of "sly groggers" - people selling liquor without a license. Hoteliers took exception to being blamed for their actions, not to mention the effect they had on trading, while the illicit traders purchased their liquor from wholesalers and in some cases direct from the breweries. A special general meeting was held in Wellington and addressed by the president of the National Council Mr D W Madden who stressed the importance of lawful obedience and gaining respect for the hotel industry. As a result the following resolution was carried unanimously:

All members of the Tradeﾅ.

1. to take such steps as are considered necessary to bring about the rigid observance of the law in its entirety.

2. to reduce to a minimum drinking by Maoris on licensed premises and maintain the strictest supervision over off premises sales of liquor that may be intended for Maori consumption

3. to prevent any indiscriminate meetings of men and women in hotel lounges etc, and to aim at the complete abolition of excessive drinking by women

4. to aim at the elimination of excessive drinking by members of His Majesty's Forces in uniform and excessive off premises purchases of liquor by the said members

5. to eliminate entirely the supply of liquor to youths under 21 years of age

6. to advise all bar staff immediately as to their responsibility in these matters.

This is the resolution as written in the official minutes of the special general and certified as a true and correct record!! The resolution was reconfirmed at the Association's 40^th annual general meeting held in Wellington on 28 October 1942 where some very important decisions were made.

It was suggested for the first time that the President and members of the executive be reimbursed expenses for traveling to Wellington to attend meetings. President Jim Mackenzie refused, as did the others involved, and in a moving address Mackenzie said that the only reward he wanted was unity among all members and a 100% financial membership. He reminded delegates that union members paid union dues of 2 pounds and 12 shillings ($5.20) per annum and licensees less than half at one guinea ($2.10). The grant from the National Council helped to make ends meet and he urged all delegates to vote for the adoption of the automatic levy. There were some who viewed the surprise God send with suspicion, but the resolution was unanimous and continued to be so.

At the same meeting Mr A J Baker of the National Service Department addressed the gathering on "Denial of resources to the enemy" and outlined methods of complete destruction of all liquor if the enemy landed in New Zealand. Co-operation was assured.

Under general business a momentous decision was made and carried without dissent that:

1. Head office in Wellington collect all subscriptions from individual hotels

2. Circulars to be sent to all individual hotels - not just to branch secretaries

3. Encourage affiliations of all outlets to their local branch

4. Keep secretaries and local presidents informed of all national matters.

This decision proved to be the corner stone of the Association's process for many years.

Members observed a minutes silence for those who had fallen during the war and although many hoteliers and hotel staff were serving overseas, special mention was made of two leading Association executive members Mr Aspell of Christchurch and Mr Paape of Dunedin both of whom had lost sons killed in action.

And following al the turmoil of previous years the N Z Licensee magazine was back in favour and the annual meeting made a grant of ten pounds ($20) for the listing maintained of license transfers throughout the country. Not such good news though was the announcement that the United Kingdom exporters of Scotch whisky were no longer going to absorb the 25% exchange paid by them and this cost would be passed on to the importers in New Zealand and in turn on to the hotelier. There were problems with gin as well. The berry used in the distilling process came mainly from war torn Italy and the export from gin from England was now totally prohibited. It was thought that the import of gin from Australia would be possible, but they too needed access to the Italian berry and furthermore the switching of licenses from England to Australia would be practically impossible in the economic climate of the day.

The election of officers saw Wellingtonian Sam Dunn replace Jim Mackenzie as President and Frank Drewitt and Dan Sloan were elected to the revitalised emergency committee to cover for the temporary absenteeism through illness. Dunedin was represented at the meeting but Greymouth and Auckland sent apologies together with their support for the Association.

At the 42nd annual conference held again in Wellington there was some surprising dissension at the appointment of Percy Coyle to the Tourism Development Committee. Coyle had been a successful publican and in his position on the National Council had done a lot to make the Association a strong and financial body. There were snide comments that he had been a Labour Government appointment and many had seen that as something of an insult to the trade who had suffered somewhat since the 1935 election. Labour was entitled to appoint who they liked and in Percy Coyle, whatever his politics, they had made as good choice. A remit was presented requesting that a holder of a publican's license be a pre-requisite for a member from the industry to be eligible for election to the Tourism Development Committee but this was defeated. Coyle was obviously hurt and a lot of encouragement was necessary to restrain him from resigning. In view of the fact that there was reliable indications of a Royal Commission on Liquor and the Licensed Trade being set up when the war ended, it was essential that the Association and the National Council work in unison, particularly from the perspective of the strength of the Association and the loyalty that had developed during the war years. The remit was a rather foolish act that could well have set ULVA back for many years.

Chapter 7:

Back in peace time again, the 43^rd annual general meeting was held in Wellington on 23 October 1945, the day after the Labour Day break in case it was necessary to go into another day.

The agenda contained a long list of obituaries including all of those from the industry who had fallen in the war. Others included Mr J M Coffey from the King George Hotel in Christchurch, a long serving executive council member and a valued assessor at award negotiations. The minutes describe him as "a great sport with dog and gun and loved by all in the trade." He was a great supporter of sport, particularly amateur athletics and helped many charitable institutions.

Others who had passed on were H E Card from the Station Hotel in Wanganui and well known in racing circles, and Alex Stewart from the Law Courts Hotel in Dunedin. He had been the proprietor there for over 40 years and was probably the oldest licensee in New Zealand at the time of his death.

Auckland was still not represented although there were optimistic vibes that they would re-join. Sadly, it was to be a long period before that came to pass. Of equal concern were the unsavoury and anti trade submissions made to the Royal Commission set up as promised when hostilities ceased. The findings of the Commission were due to be released in February 1946 - election year - and the trade were apprehensive given the submissions made and the unfriendly press and media reports. In fact the "Licensee" magazine printed a special supplement of all the proceedings during the Royal Commission. This was very much appreciated by the industry in the light of the very narrow and biased media coverage.

The subsequent findings of the Commission actually covered many topics that would be seen today as trivial but appeared to be very important in the post war years. For instance the Commission insisted on retaining the five year maturity period for spirits when most of the world outside of the United Kingdom were happy with three years. An exception was made for brandy which was left at three years, as it was an essential medicinal drink for the elderly provided they had a doctor's certificate. Although ULVA had strong support from many quarters to legalise distilling in New Zealand it was not even considered as a possibility by the Commission. The breweries submitted that there was not enough barley available for brewing beer let alone distilling spirits.

However, before the Commission's findings were released, the Government did revoke the Licensing Act Emergency Regulations 1942 (No.2) and recommendations were made that restrictions be lifted in the matter of licensees entertaining their own guests. And further, with the approval of the Minister of Finance and the Commissioner of Taxes the special exemption for the wife of a licensee actually engaged in the management and control of licensed premises should be lifted from 50 pounds ($100) to 250 pounds ($500). Both provisions were subsequently enacted.

The Commission however, made no recommendation on later hours of closing and the tenure of licences, both major Association issues. Witnesses before the Commission were highly critical of the "six o'clock swill", and the absence of chairs and tables. The Invercargill Licensing Trust formed in 1944 after restoration the year before, came in for severe criticism for filthy bars, overcrowding accommodation, accompanied by claims that the people of Invercargill had had their heritage stolen. Evidence was tendered that a bona fide traveller was herded into a hotel room with three other unknown and unrelated travelers of both sexes and lost a large sum of money during the night. The offender was a hardened criminal sharing the same room.

Obviously, reform was long overdue and one of the better issues resulting from the Commission's findings was the formation of the Licensing Control Commission eventually formalised by the Licensing Amendment Act in 1948. The Commission also recommended the nationalisation of the breweries but the government decided against this course and their reluctance of tampering with the legislation was probably justified with the overwhelming vote for the retention of 6 o'clock closing in the 1949 election.

Rationing was still an issue and at the 1945 annual meeting a remit was presented requesting an approach to the Rationing Controller to increase quotas on all rationed goods, particularly meat, to cater for the travelling public. However, several delegates did not agree because of the urgent demands on New Zealand produce for the United Kingdom. The remit was lost.

The late forties saw the introduction to the President's chair of Francis Hickson Drewitt, a man who made a magnificent contribution and brought great credit to the industry. Frank had been in the trade since 1928 and his father had set up the Timaru Branch of ULVA. An older brother was one of the few New Zealanders to fly in the RAF in World war One and was a decorated war hero. Frank was the national treasurer when elected president, a post he held for the then record period of eleven years and eclipsed only in later years by Jim Ewart and Gerry Power. He also served as Wellington president for many years and was a life member of both the national and local branch.

At his first annual meeting he delivered a quote that made national headlines and many hoteliers had the epistle printed and framed and placed on the wall of their establishments. It went like this ﾅ.

A licensee must have the following qualifications - the dignity of an archbishop, the levity of a comedian, the tact of a schoolmaster, the hope of a company promoter, the benevolence of a charitable institution, the eloquence of a cabinet minister, the cheek of a parliamentary candidate, the elastic conscience of a magistrate, the legal knowledge of a lawyer, the sporting knowledge of a sporting guide, the smile of a film star, the voice of a sergeant major and the skin of a rhinoceros !!

Frank certainly extolled all of these virtues during his long service to the Association. Under his leadership with great diplomacy he dealt with difficult union issues, dominance by the breweries, wayward Association branches and managed Wellington's top hotel, the St. George Hotel. Here he entertained the rich and famous including the All Blacks and every visiting international rugby team, Prime Ministers, Royalty, and even the Beatles on their 1964 tour of New Zealand. He also played an influential role in eventually having all of the war time emergency regulations revoked although it was the mid 1950's before all street lighting in towns and cities were able to beam all night again!!

Wage issues were a problem too. During the war years efficient employees had been hard to come by and hoteliers were forced to negotiate above the basic award and apparently in some cases outside the provisions of the Tax Department. A wage increase under the Standard Wage Announcement of 1947 issued by the Court of Arbitration revealed that there had been an increase of 100% in wages since the beginning of the war in 1939. Casuals employed for 2 or 3 hours a day were required to be paid a daily wage rate and the hotel industry like many others suffered. The Otago branch of ULVA sought help from the national body to stage their centennial celebrations in1948 when, among other set-backs, two southern hotels were burnt down and under the law of the day they had to re-open immediately with a temporary bar. In the most important year of Otago's proud history there was little suitable accommodation, insufficient labour and no readily available building materials or permits.

And to make it worse for a city settled by the Scots, and indeed for the whole country, scotch whisky was a scarce as the proverbial hen's teeth. The distilleries in the United State closed for 60 days to help the drive for food for Europe and Great Britain, and this shut down affected the whole world. To frustrate matters even more, at the time there were 60 million gallons of scotch aging in the United Kingdom and 350 million gallons of whiskey under going the same process in the United States.

However, Dunedin had an unexpected bonus when ULVA held their 46^th annual general meeting in the Board Room of the Public Trust Building on 30 September 1948 to coincide with the centennial celebrations. It was only the second time the conference had been held in Dunedin after the first in 1936. In the intervening 12 years there had been some unpleasant moments between the southerners and the head office in Wellington. However, the Otago F J Fay welcomed a large assembly of delegates from every area but Auckland. The occasion was saddened with the passing a few days before the conference of A A Paape of the Grand Hotel in Dunedin. He had been a long serving executive member of the national body and had remained loyal to ULVA during the difficult times when Otago's loyalty wavered.

The meeting also recorded the death in office of vice president J K Popple of Gisborne and his place was taken by T P Smale of the Coronation Hotel, also in Gisborne. Mrs M J Green of the North Bank Hotel in Kaituna, Marlborough died working in her hotel at over 90 years of age having held a hotel license for over 50 years. There was some bright news - an indication from Auckland indicated that they were keen to get back in the fold and it was resolved to endeavour to have the annual conference in the North and South Islands in alternate years.

Back at emergency council meetings the Association had plenty of matters to deal with. There was a major difficulty collecting the levy from Ballin Brothers, the Christchurch brewers and President Frank Drewitt undertook to take the matter up with close friend and the Board Chairman Otto Ballin. Ballin assured Frank that the matter would be rectified but after numerous unanswered requests the matter became serious. To complicate the issue Otto Ballin died suddenly in his office a few weeks after the undertaking he gave to Frank Drewitt. Former national president and Christchurch stalwart Jim Mackenzie volunteered to contact the new Ballin's board chairman, Mr J Mawson-Stewart, who rectified the matter promptly. However, Otto had the last laugh when the national secretary Charles Suisted and president Frank were mildly reprimanded at an executive meeting for having spent 2 pounds 3/6pence ($4.35) for a wreath for Otto's funeral. It was claimed to be a gross over charge and one anonymous Association council member was quoted as saying that it would have been cheaper to buy the entire nursery from whence the floral tribute came!!

The Price Tribunal was a constant source of annoyance to many hoteliers, although from the correspondence available there was certainly fault on both sides. Price Order application No 889 sought an increase in authorised accommodation tariff but the Tribunal refused until details of liquor trading sought from some establishments were received. The hoteliers involved objected, probably with some justification, to the Tribunal's demand that ULVA, or the individual hotels, pay for the accounting work in putting the required figures together. Mr J L Bennett of the Empire Hotel in Palmerston North was taken to task for raising his accommodation tariff without prior approval from the Price Tribunal. The Association appealed his case and won when it was revealed that he had obtained verbal approval but the issue did little to enhance the relationship with the Tribunal who in turn requested that ULVA produce licensees to give evidence against each other. The application was declined and witnesses were hard to find.

The Masonic Hotel in Gisborne hosted the 1949 conference and the industry faced the first National Government which swept to victory 46 to 34 over the Labour Party who had ruled for 14 years. The formalisation of the Hotel Clerical Workers award was settled amicably but the Licensed Employees award struck many difficulties particularly in the area of extra pay for weekend work. There was massive support for Trust Control particularly in Ashburton, Geraldine and King Country but the option applied only to the first two areas. At the conference President Frank Drewitt warned all attending to tidy up their act or suffer criticism from the public about the image of the trade. Customers, guests and the public were all to be given priority if the hotel industry was to compete with the new cultures emerging in the licensed trade.

The newly formed Licensing Control Commission also flexed its muscle by asking small country hotels particularly in Central Otago and Southland, to submit reasons why their licences should not be cancelled if the operators could not afford expensive up-grading. There was the inevitable uproar and the public sided with the industry pointing out that the Commission's function was not to reduce or increase the number of licences but to re-distribute if necessary. The Commission did have a mandate to administer the Trusts though this proved to be a more difficult task than at first envisaged.

The Emergency Committee was enlarged to help fight these problems with eight members resident in Wellington and an additional three from each island. Taking his place on this committee for the first time in 1949 was another who was to leave his imprint on the trade. James Emery Ewart commenced his long association with the executive and later served as national president from 1959 to 1972. He operated several successful establishments in the Capital and died in 2001 just a few years after the illustrious Frank Drewitt. Both men were into their 90's when they passed on which says something for the stature of hotel keepers of that era.

29 July 2002