Lynchburg daily Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1852-1861, 1854-03-13
LYNCHBURG IlRGINlAN.
MONDAY MORNING MARCH II, 1851.
Licenses for Houses of Entertainment, and for
the Retail of Liquors.


spirits and the power of the court to grant or re
fuse licenses for the same exciting much dis
cussion in our community ut this time, we deem
il Inappropriate and proper to publish the laws ap
PLYING to the subject. The code of 1910, chap
xcyI. contains the following enactments:
Sec 3. "For a license to keep house of en-
tertanment. the application shall be, when the
house is in a town having corporation court
to such court. ard when it is not in any such
town. to the court of the county wherein 1t is
II the court be Of opinion that the applicant Is
sober AMI of good character. and will probably
keep house orderly, useful, and-snch as the
=. law requires, it may grant such license; and II
the house be in town. the court, when IL
"grants the same may, if the applicant desire it,
dispense with the necessity of his providing
- for horses If any such application be Fused
the refusal shall be entered of record, and Ii
cense shall not be granted to the applicant be-
I" fore the next May term, unless by court com
..posed of the justices 10 whom the first applica
- ton was made or a majority of the acting jus
"a tices of the county corporation.
Sec l. Every person licensed to keep
binary or house of public entertainment, shall
=. constantly provide the same with lodging and
a. diet for travellers and their servants, and I'M
less it be dispensed with aforesaid with
stahleage and provender, or pasturage and
proyender. las the may required
for their horses. ANY such person may,
at the place of muster or public sale,
distant mile or more from another ordinary,
with the consent Of the proprietor Of such
place. vend meat or drink at his ordinary.
Sec. ). Upon the motion of the common
weallh's attorney for the county or corporation,
~ or of any other person, utter ten days notice
to any person so licensed the court which
granted such license may revoke it. 1t SHALL
ai,cdgs revoke the same, whenit is satisfied that
the object of obtaining the license is not TO pro-
a. vide lodging or diet for travellers, but to use Il
merely as "A facility for selling wine ardent
spirits, or mixture thereof, 10 be drank in or
- at the place OF sale.
The discussion in this city turns mainly we
believe. upon the question of power in the court
TO grant or withhold licenses. ono party main
tain that the word may" in the Bird section Git
may grant such Incense Is designed Ia be
mandatory and imperative. and TINT the court
have no athority to refuse license, il the appli-
cant come within the provisions laid down in the
preceding portions of the section. The oppo-
site party contend that the law vests discretion
in the court q that may Is used in optional a
discretionary sense-giving to the courts an alb
solute power OF rejection, when for reasons salts
fact 1ry to their own judgments and conscences
they choose to exercise it. Being ourselves of the
latter opinion, we have undersoorcd certain words
for the purpose of fixing attention upon them
To us it seems clear that wherever ''mny" oo-
ours in the sections quoted it is employed in n
discretionary optional sense-thus The court
"may" dispense with stubleage, &c Any such
person may under circumstances stated '',end
meat or drink" elsewhere thnn at his ordinary /:
Tie court may revoke the license after ten days
notice, &c. When the law intends 10 impose an
obligation. and take away disoretion,it knows very
wen how 10 employ language importing obliga-
tion-thus The application "sh0H he" TO the
county corporation court wherein, he. "lf
any such application be refused Does not
this prove that the courts were expected to en-
ploy discretion, and refuse,if in their opinion the
public good required it-oyen though the appli-
cation were such the law prescribes ; the
refusal 'shdif' be entered of record, and Ii
cense .'shdH not be granted, unless, &c: Eve
ny person licensed "staii' constantly provide
&c. But the most convincing evidence of the
construction designed to bo put upon the word
''may' occurs in the 9th section. Upon subse-
quent inquiry into the circumstances under which
a license may have been grantedor the character
OF the house kept under it, the court may re-
woke it:that is,may may no. revoke it rs circum-
stances render proper But note the sentence
Immediately following; at shall always revoke
the same, when, &c. If may means must" or
was so used with regard to granting licenses
why not have continued to use it, when their re-
vocation provided for Why not have said
''the court may always revoke the same when"
&cl Really, with all respect for the intel
lgence honesty and legal learning of some
who know have placed different CON
struetion upon the language of this law, we
think it too plain to puzzle child Some of
them, we apprehend like the most noble
Festus," mad with ''too much learning
But we continue our transcript of the statutes
eatng to liquor licenses, understanding as before
such words as seem to strengthen the opinion
that the courts are endowed with a discretionary
power 1t may serve, however, to throw addi-
tonal light upon the meaning of the sections
given, 10 quote that which Immediately follows
under the same chapter, but relating to differ
ent matter
Sec o. A license to keep bowling saloon or
alley, in town having corporation court may
81 be granted by such court and when il is to be
' kept not in such town,by the court of the coun.
'ty wherein it is to be kept. Such license may