Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891, 1877-12-28

Both sI.irklng tho Responsibility.


EDITOR OF THE BULLETIN:-I have
noticed in your paper two communica-
tions on the subject of the powers and
duties of our City Council in regard to
licenses, and the powers and duties Of
the Mayor.
Our law authorizing cities to become
incorporated and defining the duties and
powers Of the respective officers was
passed several years ago.
| Our Supreme Court about the year
1870 decided that the Mayor was not a
member of the City Council, and had no
right to sit in it's meetings, and no right
to preside over them. At that time all
the powers as to licenses was then sup
posed to be lodged in the Council. And
now the law Of the State does not any
where give the authority to the Mayor.
1t says he shall sign all licenses author
lied by the Council. It also says the
Council shall have power to grant Ii
censes and regulate and tax taverns and
houses for the public entertainment, land
to regulate and prohibit the sale of in
toxicating liquors not prohibited by
law. This is the power given by the
State law.
Our City Council has passed an ordi-
nance providing that persons OF good
moral character may be licensed to sell
beer, &c. In this ordinance the City
Council provides that any person desir
ing license shall make application to
Mayor in writing, and that the Mayor
shall not issue the license until the APP
plicant has filed his bond and the same
has been approved by the City Council.
Now in this whole business the ordi-
nance makes good moral character
prerequisite to the allowing license.
When the bond is presented to the
Council it is their duty to know if the
man has good moral character. If he
has not they should reject the bond
By approving the bond the City Coun-
Gil say that in their opinion the man
has good moral character, and by is
suing the license the Mayor says that in
his opinion the man has good moral
character; and thus any man who has
license under our present city govern
ment to sell Intoxicating liquors, the
sale of which is not prohibited by the
laws of the State, stands as approved to
have good moral character by both the
Council and the Mayor 1t is but few
days since that one of the City Council,
who is a member Of Christian church,
said publicly that he thought the moral
character of the men who sold this in
toxicating liquor was as good as the
moral character of the rest of the peo-
pie in the city. Others of our City
Council have said that they thought
that the rum class of saloonlsts were
worse than the class that stopped sell
ling Intoxicating drinks not prohibited
by law, only when they were compelled
to quit selling that that IS prohibited by
law
Now to an outsider it appears that
the Council are unwilling to try to help
stop the sale of either kind Of intoxi-
eating liquor by the saloon keepers, and
the Mayor is also unwilling to take any
responsibility on that score. He claims
that when the City Council approve the
bond they endorse the moral character
of the applicant. In that he is correct.
He claims he has no discretion but to
issue the license; in that he is not cor
rect. The fact is both the Council and
Mayor are trying to shirk onto the
other the responsibility, and each has
so far failed Neither is innocent, and
neither can hide himself behind the
omissions of the othor.