The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1888-05-23

The following, from the Newark Dali
| ly Advertiser, is as applicable to Lam
bertville as though it had been written
with especial reference to it;
RECKLESS EXCISE BOARDS.
I In his remarks to the Grand Jury,
! Thursday, Judge Depue administered q
grave and we'll merited-Tebuke to the Ex-
else Commissioners for their reckless
granting of liquor licenses. The law re-
quires that the licensee shall be person
of good moral character. The Excise
Commissioners, as rule, never once con-
slider the character of the applicant, as
Stunning that this is no more concern of
theirs than the solar spectrum or the laws
that govern the movements of the tides.
Indeed, one would suppose, in consider
ing the doings of most Excise Boards,
that the theory of the excise officers is
that the more whiskey-shops opened the
better for the community. Whether the
Commissioners cupidity is excited by the
tender of license fee, or there is feel
ing that the whiskey business must be
encouraged at all hazards, is not certain.
emily based on the theory that the author
tiles have no right to refuse an applica-
ton, no matter what the character of the
applicant may be. Judge Depue said,
Thursday, that it had transpired that a
large number of the gin.mills known to
be the rendezvous of thieves, burglars
and other professional criminals, ia this
city, held licenses issued by the Excise
Board. Commissioners who are guilty
of so fragrant an offence as this are liable
to indictment for malfeasance in office.
They have neglected their sworn duty;
they have failed to inform themselves
concerning the character and reputation
of the persons applying for license. Not
only so, but the records of the proceed
ings of the Excise Board will show that
licenses have often been granted to per-
sous of doubtful repute, in spite of the
remonstrances of reputable citizens who
have testified to the character of those
persons. 1t cannot be said in any one
case that the remonstrants were fanatical
temperance people, nor that they were
unreasonable in their views concerning
the cases in which they have testified. No
matter; the license mill has ground right
on, and nurseries of vice and crime have
been sheltered by the official acts OF the
Excise Board. 1t is high time that this
shameful business was stopped.
The business of whiskeX- selling, not
withstanding all that has been said against
it, is invested with a certain sacredness,
In the eyes of many men, that forbids
any meddling with it. In spite OF tue |
fact that the highest courts in the land |
have declared that the traffic is mineral, |
subversive of the morals of the commuui- |
ty and subject to police regulation like |
any other doubtful trade, men continue |
to defend and uphold the business as il it |
were nobler than any other. II is not neces-
sary that man should be a puritan, a
crank and fanatic to find out for him
self that an indiscriminate sale of intoxica-
ting fluids is highly undesirable in COM
munity. Nevertheless, il any decent cti-
zen lifts up his voice against fostering
these licensed hot. beds of vice, he is i'm.
mediately assailed as bigot and little
better than lunatic. Applicants for Ii
quor-licenses, however vile their charac-
ter and the reputation of their dens may
be, never have any difficulty in finding
glib advocates to plead their cause before
the Board of Excise, whenever their quail
iflcations as licenses are brought into
question. The man who can pay IL
cense fec can hire a lawyer, and some
members of that honored profession are
not above taking fee to prove that black
is white, even when the black is the black
ness Of q consorter Of thieves, receiver
of stolen goods or den keeper of special
vileness. The consequence is that the
police of this city have traced professional
and habitual criminals to the headquar-
tiers that have been licensed by the Elk.
else Board. Thus the reckless abuse of
the licensing power has multiplied the
labors of the Police Department, baffied
the officers of the law and increased the
cost of the administration of our munich
pal government. Nor is this recklessness
confined to any locality. The Excise
Board, of Trenton, is accused of ignoring
charges against applicants for licenses,
even when these have been preferred BY /
reputable citizens, they have not been
made the basis of inquiry and investiga-
ton. In Orange county, New York, an I
Excise Board has been prosecuted for
malfeasance, having indscriminately Civ
en- licenses to all applicants, regardless of |
the nortoriously bad character of some of |
them, until drinking places in the ratio |
of one to each 255 of the population have
been licensed 1t is timo that Excise |
Commissioners were taught that their
duties are not merely nominal.