American telegraph. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1851-1851, 1851-11-21
AMERICAN TELEGRAPH
Communicated.
Licenses to Retail Ardent Spirits I'm
Washtngt ton.

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Corporation Attorneyystp the Mayor, on the
subject Of licenses ffof taserns and liquor shops:
That opinion is stsfsd3to be, in substance, that
the Mayor hasfull power and authority to grant
licenses to the former, under the regulations
and forms prescribed by the old law of the Cor
poration; and to the latter, under the forms and
regulations prescribed by the late liquor law
and that both licenses carry with them the
right to retail liquors, and in quantities less
than pint.
1t is not denied that in law there is clear
distinction between tayern and liquor shop;
but if the tavern shall sell or barter liquor, &c..
in quantities less than q pint, it is impossible
for me to see how it can escape from the plain
and positive requirements of the late law, as it
expressly repeats all other laws authorizing Ii
censes for that traffic, and it is the only existing
law under which it can be carried on No
subtlety or sophistry can, l humbly conceive,
get around this plain, stubborn fact.
What is o tavern? Mr.. Webster, in his Die
tionary says it is "house licensed to sell
liquors in small quantities, to be drank on the
spot In some of the United States tavern is
synonymous with inn, or hotel, and denotes q
house for the entertainment of travellers, as
well as for the sale of liquors"
Tomlin, in his Law Dictionary, calls tavern
an inn, and says that "inns were instituted for
lodging and relief for travellers; and at common
law, any man might erect and keep an inn or
alehouse to receive travellers, but now they are
to be licensed. Every inn is not an alehouse,
nor every alehouse an inn but if an inn uses
common selling Of ale, it is then also an ale
house; and if an aehouse lodges and enter
tains travellers, it is also an inn.''
eff the keeper of an inn harbors thieves or
persons Of scandalous reputation, or suffers fire.
quent disorders in his house, or sets up new
inn in place where there is no manner of use
for one, to the hindrance of other well governed
inns, or keep it in situation wholly unfit for
such purpose, he may, by the common law,
be indicted and fined"
These definitions show plainly what tavern,
inn, or liquor shop is. They are in accordance
with the common understanding, and cannot
be mistaken. | have not access to our Corpo-
ration laws, but take it for granted they are Of
the same import.
There is then in law and in common sense a
clear distinction between q tavern and an ale
house or grog-shop-though there is little diff
Guilty in the one running into and merging itself
in the other. So long as the tavern, in the
sense above given, is confined and restricted to
ers-feeding and lodging sojourners, boarders,
&c.-they are useful establishments and an ad-
vantage to the community in which they are
located. | make no war against such establish
ments; on the contrary, they are meritorious,
and deserve to be cherished and protected by
law as well as public opinion and that whether
they be kept in marble palace, with its splen-
did saloons and hundred rooms or the more
humble and unpretending brick, frame, or even
Bodybuilding, with its three or four rooms and
beds--all are equally convenient if not necessary
to the wants of the people, and are alike enti-
tied to protection and respect.
Now, for such establishments as these, have
no doubt our Corporation laws provide; and
the Mayor is right in giving them licenses, un-
der the forms and regulations of the old laws
on that subject. But if these taverns degenerate
into the ale-house or grog-shop, by embarking
in the sale of liquors in quantities less than n
pint, then the new law comes into play, and no
matter what name you give them, they must
be licensed under the forms and in the mode
prescribed by it, for it is the only law in force
which authorizes the traffic.
1t is doubtless true that license for a tav-
ern, under the old law, carried with it, by au-
thority of that law, the right to retail liquors
in quantities less than a pint. What / maintain
is, that that old lar was not like the laws Of
the Medes and Pcrsians-fxed, unchangeable,
and irrepealable-but an ordinary law, subject
to be altered, amended, or repealed by the au-
thority which enacted it, in the usual and ordi-
nary mode in which other laws are amended or
repealed-that is by passing law directly re-
ferring to it and repeating or modifying it; or
by passing an independent law on the subject,
with different and inconsistent provisions, which,
under all the rules of construction and interpre-
tation, must supersede and take the place of the
old law. The general rule is, "that subse-
qucnt statute, comprehending and confined to
the same subject-matter, and containing pro-
visions clearly and necessarily repugnant to
those of a prior statute, operates as n repeal Of
such prior statute by implication, though the
latest statute contain no repeating clause" (See
Dwarris on Statutes
Now, il the holder of tavern license seeks
to escape the provisions Of the late law by in
sisting that it does not refer in terms to the act
under which his license was granted, but was
designed and intended to amend another and
an entirely different law, still he is met by the
stubborn fact that the new law contains provis-
ions utterly repugnant to the law under which
his license was granted, and must therefore su-
persede it. 1t contains the last will of our law
makers in relation to the sale of liquors in
quantities less than pint, and it cannot be
lodged or evaded.
maintain, then, that this faculty Of selling
liquors in quantities less than o pint is not a
fixed, Interchangeable fact, but may be given or
taken away at the will and pleasure Of the
Councils; and that the Councils, by the passage
of the late law, have changed the system, and
provided, in terms too plain to be eyaded or
misunderstood that no establishment-call it
by what name you pleaso-hotel, tavern, inn,
ordinary, ale-house, confectionery, or porter
cellar, possessing the faculty to sell or barter
spifituous or malt liquors, wine, cordials, or
cider--can be licensed by the Mayor Of Wash
ington without strict compliance with the
forms, terms, and conditions Of said law. Here
plant myself, and on that point appeal to
the deliberate and enlightened judgment and