New-York tribune., 1877-08-06
THE s7RoNG-DRlNK QUESTION AGAIN


Last Summer we had two or three weeks of
agitation on the points of Sunday lignor-seii-
ing, good many arrests, numerous eVaslohS
of the law, and finally as much quiet as IS ever
consistent with liquor-sellng in general. Ihis
Summer the old question has come up III a
new form, the result of the well-knOWn decls-
ion of the COurt of Appeals III the case OF
Gibney The situation promises plentiful
crop of legal complications and variety ot
iudical opinions, If nothing more. Following
the decision, the Police Commissioners hold
that no strong or spirltuou5 liquors or wines
can legally be sold to be drunk on the premises
of the seller, unless he has obtained an Inn
keepers license. Licenses granted by the Com
missioners of Excise for the sale OF malt liquors
TO be drSlk on the premises are 10 be re-
spected by the police. The consequence oi
this Interpretation of existing statutes has been
innumerable applications to the Commits
sioners of Excise for tavern licenses. Putting
up three beds is supposed to qualify an inn
holder sufficiently to sell liquor to be consumed
on the premises; consequently there have
been sixteen hundred applications for Ii
censes to keep inns of the third class.
Very few licenses have been granted,
IL
$50 has been given to the applicant. The
Commissioners of Excise consider these receipts
20 be, pcuding decision, as good as licenses.
The police authorities seem to differ very
widely upon this point, but probably a majority
of the police Justices will respect the - re-
"ceipts" as licenses. Whether it will make any
diiit renee in the action Of the police captains
will depend very much upoa the LOCALITY Of
their several precincts The Interpretation OF
receipt" as "license,n seems a little too in
gcnious to be 4 good one, but what Is good
Law and what is not, in this connict OF opin-
ions and this multitude OF courts, we may
find out only after the Court OF Appeals has
given the subject another Overhauling; and
even then some new legislative ingenuity may
give birth to "a batch of new questions again
10 be pondercd and agiIin " "decidedn more or
less decsively.
Morally considered, all this uncertainty is
extremely damaging. 1t goes without saying,
that between the police and the excise there
should be the greatest harmony of oplnion and
action. Considering the inevitable consequences
of an ill-reguIated sale of Intoxicating liquor
in a city like New-York, the increase OF pau
persm and crime which must come of the busi-
ness loosely cOhuucUSu, tncTc OuSnl 10 Dt tHc
utmost precision III the management of the
mater of licenses We might as well have
loose laws against arson or larceny, or even
murder. But about all legislation concerning
liquor-selling there seems to be fatality. NO
matter how carefully statute affecting ii may
be constructed, some sharp lawyer or equally
sharp judge is sure to drive a coach and FOUR
horses through it, so that some times it would
appear that TO pass aud enforce a good excise
law is a hcrculean labor inconsistent with bu-
man wisdom and energy. In England the
same trouble has been encountered and over
come as little successfully as here. The
remedy for this uncertainty can only be found
in the rigid enforcement Of existing laws, that
is, by actual experiment; but in order that the
experiment may be tried to any purpose, the
existing laws themselves must have been care
fully and methodicaly framed. 1t is nothing
new, that clumsy legislation makes trouble.