Wilmington daily gazette., 1873-10-18
THR LuogWaE LAW.

CHEF JUSTICE dILFlN'g CONTRADICTION A. DIX
LIvERKD IN THn SUSSEX COUNTY coURT.
The following is the taxi Of Chief Justice OIL
pins construction Of the ellquor license law as de-
iivered In the Sussex County Courtlast week:
The purpose of this act is 10 regulate and not
to entirely prohibit the sale Of intoxicating liquors
1t recognizes the expediency and proPriety 1t not
the necessity of the trattic under certain imlea.
tions aud restrictions, and on certain specihed
conditions contained In the act
BY the present act this Court IL invested with
the power Of granting or refusing license, al
though the forms Of the law In all respects may
have been observed, bat the discretion used by
the Court should be legal and judicious, not Al
arbitrary one.
We think by ''SubstaniiaI frceholders Of the
district" are designated the class and descTip-
ton Of persons BY whom the certificate must .
signed, 10 wit residents Of the DIS riot who al
men Of substance, real and bona fdc owners Of
rO ii estate Ia the county. To attach q narrow
er and more restrictive meaning to the wOrdr,
and require the aigners TO be fesidents and free
holders Of and within the district, would be ap-
pIyinR a rigid an unreasonable construction,
and defeat the intention Of the Law, which Is 10
| regulate and net prohibit the license system.
Many Of the school districts are Of small terri
torial extent, and the owners Of land within their
bounds few and not sufficient 10 furnish the re-
gu 8 te number Of signers, while the number OF
residents in the district who own land elsewhere
ia the county may be numerous enough to make
a compliance with the Law feasible. Freehold
/ er are designated not because they represent
| the land Of the district, but because they are
| generally men of substance and hRye a fixed and
permanent residence which will enable them
from personal knowledge 10 judge Of the quail
fcatiOns Of applicants for licenses, and Of the
wants and needs Of the community in Which
| they live.
Persons who are not freehOlders are excluded
MT because they are not intellectually or morally
unfit but because il wes designed TO exclude 30
journers and others who were supposed not e
have or feel the same interest, or have as muct
at stake in the district as the more permanent
residents. Had the Legislature intended to re
quire the resident 10 be likewise q freehOlde
,Cithln the district, they would have used appTo
pirate words TO convey that idea, as has beef
done ia other statutes where somewhat simila
phraseOlogy is found. For instance, in the char
tar Of the City Of Wilmington, the qualification
of member of Council is that he must be "
resident aud freehoIder in the ward for which b
Is elected" And 20 in reference to the Assessor
he must be +" the owner Of a freehold estate WiU
in the city"
In this case, the applicant not having present
el certificate signed by twelve substantial fre'
holders Of the district, in which he proposed
keep q tavern, uEder the construction we hav
given to the law, his application is refused.
; There is another defect in the certificate
this applicant which 10 fatal. The Law require
, |, that the certificate and recommendation sha
'be sigAed with the proper signatures and in Il
"prnper handwriting Of such freeholders, but
"any such cannot write, he may slgn BY maj
4 "Which shall be duly attested by a witness su
'scribing +" whereas several Of the names to Il
a certificate before the Court have been signed
= prOcuration, which is not a compliance with h
u provision of the Law.