Litchfield enquirer., 1874-12-24
Construction of the License Act of
 1874.

Construction of the License Act Q i8z4. @
 CAN THE DECISION OF THE ELECTORS Ol ANY TowN MADR AT AN ANNUAL Tow MEETING IN CONFORMITY TO THE PRovI VISIONS OF THE AFORESAID Acr BE SEE ASIDE AND ANNULLED BY THE VOTE OF SPECIAL TOwN MEETING SUBSEQUENTLY
 CALLED TO CONSIDER THE SUBJEcT?
 10 4. 2. Hubbard, Esq, GreeH,cica, c Sm-While on the cars last Friday P. II.
 returning from New York, yOu propound ed for my consideration the foregoing in terrogatory. You stated briefly that a the last annual town meeting Tn Green wicn,, the electors by decisive majority
 voted that your Selectmen should no
 recommend any person or persons to sel
 or exchange any spirituous or intoxicating
 liquors, ale or lager beer at any place il
 your town, and that subsequently the,
 had been induced to warn a special tow
 meeting to be held the day succeeding our interview-that is to say on Saturday
 the 18th ult. ito reconsider the subiec and set aside the proceedings of the an nual meeting, if such should be the pleas ure of the majority; and you wished tt know whether, in my opinion, it is within the competency of special town meeting to exercise any such power. In reply have to say that if the vote of your annua. meeting adverse to licensing was taken il conformity to the provisions of the act oi the present year, that is to say, if it WAS taken by ballot and if the polls for the re ception of the same were kept s.open dur ing the same hours as for other votes o1 the same meeting" Gas was no doubt the fact), it is my unhesitating opinion that the vote of the annual meeting settles the question for an entire year, and until the electors shall have an opportunity to aei on the subiest again at the next annual meeting. Hence it follows that the vote of g special meeting called for setting aside ths determination of the annual meeting is absolutely null and void, and any board of Seleetmen who shall venture to take proceedings on the contrary hy. pothesis, will in my judgment incur very serious responsibilities z-,sE zssi,
 And here l observe that the considera- tions arising out of the provisions of the act of the present year in support of this opinion are much more cOgent than those to be deduced frem the act of 1872. But was it 8 question arising under the last named act, and, under that only, could have no serious doubt on the subject; but if we group tbe two acts together, or take the act of the present year by itself, the purpose of the general assembly to confer on the electors at any annual town meet ing voting in the manner pointed out, the absolute power of legislating on this sub iect for the entire year according to their sense of right and duty becomes so glar- ingly apparent that cannot see how any man of sense can have particle of doubt on the subject.
 Let us attend with view to more full development of the matter, to the coinci- dence and the differences of the two acts As to the former we remark:-
 I. Both acts make it the duty of the board of county commissioners in each county to license and authorize in the manner pointed out any suitable person or persons to sell spirituous and intoxi- eating liquors, ale or lager beer in the sev- eral towns of the same county.
 II. Said license or licenses only to be given to such person or peynups aa should be recommended by majority of the SC lectmen of the town wherein the business Is to be carried on as suitable and fit therefor.
 III. Such person or persons before re- ceiving a license, to file with the board 8 bond to the treasurer of the county in the sum of 1000 with good and sufficient spreties for the due observance of all laws made or to be made respecting tayerns, spirituous liquors, ale and lager beer.
 ". The license to specify the towns and building or place where such liquors may be sold, and no sale elsewhere to be protected by such license. -.s..
 V. Every town authorized by a major vote of the electors to instruct the select men of the same, not to make any recom- mendations for the granting of licenses for the business aforesaid.
 VI. Selectmen of any town making recommendations contrary to instructions, to be deemed guilty of misdemeanor, and each on conviction to be punished by fine not exceeding one hundred dollars, or by imprisonment not exceeding sixty days, or by both. ......-..
 So much for the coincidences. We now come to the differences between the two acts and note them as follows:
 I. According to the act of 1872 the electors could, by a major vote, give to their selectmen the instructions adverted to at any town meeting, duly warned and held for that purpose. Whereas by the act of the present year, they are to act on the subject at the annual town meeting. Tho language is that 'sany town may at it's annual town meeting in each year de- termine," Sc.
 II. Under the act of '72 the sense of the electors when convened had to be talk an NYar x,v o1 oe |. l., or division of the assembly, with no pos sibility of calling the yeas and nays; whereas in order to conform to the act of the present year poll has to bs opened and the pleasure of the electors expressed by ballot, and can be in no other way.
 TIL Under the former act no time is assured to the electors for deliberation. If the subject be named in the warning for an aunual town meeting, no elector could tell when it would be called up, nor how long it would be held under consid- eration. and ordinarily not one out of ten of the electors would have any proper op- portunity to act on a subject of such vital importance. We all know that our annu- al town meetings are often characterized by great excitement and are not unfre- quantly attended with no small disorder. Questions appertaining to town affairs are numerous and are rapidly propounded by the presiding officer; and are often settled and disposed of by mere handful of the electors out of the whole number voting for town officers. In the midst of SO muc6 hustle and confusion up would come this deeply interesting question of the liquor traffic, and instantly it would be commit ed to the chapter of accidents. The re- suit may and ordinarily would under such circumstances be decidedly in favor Of king alcohol, while an overwhelming ma joritv are in fact opposed tt, his sway. The last legislature had the good sense to recognize the fact that this is of all ways the most wretched that could be adopted to ascertain the true sense of the electors on such 8 subject Hence they provided m the act adverted to that the electors in disposing of this question should not on. ly vote by ballot, but that the polls fol reception of such ballots should be open during the same hours as for other votel of said meeting. This placed the whole subject on an admirable footing ond sub stituted for partial vote, full one:< fol
 disorder, calm consideration of the sub Ioctq and aSsuro6 fo nvo--, .:&:..- .- -