Smyrna times., 1873-10-22
JUDGE GILPIN ON THE LICENSE
fCf -f-.t- LAW. ~:--...,

The following is the substance of Chief Jus-
tice Gllpin charge with reference to the new
license law, as we find it in the Milford Ne,cS. |
The Chief Justice said: The purpose of this
act is to regulate and not entirely prohibit the
sale of intoxicating liquors. 1t recognizes the
expediency and propriety it not the necessity
OF :he traffic under certain limitations and re-
strictions. and on certain specified conditions
contained in the act The evil intended to be
remedied was doubtless the prevalence of in
temperance, which was supposed to be in
large degree the result of the sale of liquor by
the multiplication OF taverns and restaurants
under the former law. BY the present act
this Court is invested with the power OF grant
ing or refusing license, although the forms
of the law in all respects may have been OBJ
served, but the discretion used by the Court
should be a legal and judicious, not an arbitrary
one. The words "substantal freehOlders OF
the district, may bear several constructions.
They may be held to mean, lst, that the sign
ers must be residents of and owners of free
hold estate in.the district; I'd, nonresident
owners of land in the district; or, Sd, residents
of the district and owners of a freehold else
where. We have, after due consideration,
adopt ID the last as the fair and reasonable con-
struction, and which, from analogy to and CON-
parison with similar phraseology in the statues,
we believe to be the true meaning of the
words. 1t could not have intended that free.
hold interest in the district without residence
would be sufficient, for that in effect w)ud
make the land of more importance than the
citizen, and submit to the determination Of
non residents question most directly and Sc
riously affecting the domestic concerns and
welfare of each member of the resident COM
munity. To adopt such a meaning would be
to permit the owner of freehold in the dis
trict, although he might be resident of Lon
don or Paris, to take part 10 the decision of a
purely local question. On the contrary, we
think by " substantial freeholders OF the dis
trict' are designated the class and description
of persons by whom the certificate must be
signed, to wit, residents of the district who are
men of substance, real and bona fde owners of
real estate in the county. To attach a narrow
er and more restrictive meaning to the words,
aud require the signers to be residents and
fFeehOlders of and within the district, would
be applying a rigid and unreasonable construc'
ton, and defeat the intention of the law, which
is to regulate and not prohibit the license sys,
TEN. Many of the school districts are of snal
territorial extent, and the owners ofand within
their bounds few and not sufficient to furnish
the requisite number of signers, while the
number OF residents in the district who owl
land elsewhere IN the county may be numerous
enough to make compliance with the Law
feasible. Freehoders are designated not be
cause they represent the land OF the district
but because they are generally men of sub
stance and have fixed and permanent resi-
dence which will enable them from persona
knowledge to judge of the qualifications of ap
plicants for licenses, and of the wants ant
needs of the community in which they live
Persons who are not ireeholders are excluded
not because they are intellectually or moralf
unfit, but because it was designed to excIud
soOurners and others who were supposed no
10 have or feel the same interest, or have a
much at stake in the district as the more per
manent residents Had the Legislature inteu
ded to require the resident to be likewise
freeholder Uithin the district, they would hav
used appropriate words to convey that idea, q
has been done in other statues where some
what similar phraseology is found. For il
stance, in the charter of the City of WHINING
ton, the qualification of member of Council
that he must be " a resident and freehoder .
the ward for which he is elected" And so
reference to the Assessor; he must be tt
owner of freehold estate a0ithin the city"