The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1888-05-16
JUDGE pAxsou,S OPINION ON
THE QUESTION OF LIQUOR
LICENSES.
Quafter Session Courts Have the
Right to Refused or Grant any
License.

A~tC<tt]Ss
| The PisiFaieirL;z saloon keepers who have
been refused license hare made their fight
and lost The Supreme Courts decision
ss,ssains the Cour. ofQaarfer Sessions. which
has knocked out two-thirsis Of The saloons
The case on which The fight vas made was
thar OF Wallace O. Banslenbuscb. Of No. Is
North Twelfth street. He has sold hqnor
for five years, conducted respectable place,
and there were no renousfranees against
him. He asked that the Quarter Sessions
Judges be commanded by an alternative
~manlamus to snow cause why the applican.
shoald not be granted license. and, second,
By perenspsory mandanius 10 do fully
all that Is required to be done By said act
and by justice
4 Judge Paxsou, who delivered the opinion.
quoted the seyeth section Of the high Ecsnse
act to show the judges bad a right 20 rriecs
applicants wien no; necessary for the ae-
consmosafion for the public. aiiing:
The petitioner assumes that be : eniitled
to llcrilse upon complying with heprosis-
iDns Of the acf of iss-, in the absence of any
/ allegation thai he Is an improper person 10
( be 30 licensed This + the Eallacy which IN
derlies his clse He has no such absolute
right. nor has any other man in the common
wealth. II IS not needed 10 review the Il
cense legislation Of this state FOR the last half
century. That was thoroughly done by Mr.
I Justice Agnew in ScllaEdeckerFs MARSHALL.
Il i sufficient to say that prior to the act Of
1857 the law was by no nlears uniform,
there being many local acts in existencr.
differing essentially from each other IN
Philadelphia any citizen could procure a T.
eense upon payment of the license &c 10 the
county treasurer. In some counties licenses
we're granted by the court Of quarter sessions
when in the opinion Of the court the public
accommodation required them. The whole
history Of our license system and tie lsz,is.a-
ton attending il shows thar the unrestricted
sale of liquors has for 4 bong time been 70
gartlel Is a great evil Ii i ospe xiseh states
men and many earnest men and sonien have
been Wrestling with from the organization
of the goyeumen;- When, therefore, the
legislature came 10 enact the law % fss. they
were seeking to cure and regulate this evil
This clearly appears from the tile ofthe act
IL re-ais. = An sc; to restrain AMI regulate
the sale Of vinous and spiriiuOus. matt CT
5Fewed liquors or any mixture thereof
The mode Of restraint adopted by the le,,isla-
ture was two-fold- One was to increase the
price Of the license. by which many saloons
would be closed and Others rendered more
respectable the oiher was 70 substitute The
discretion Of the court of quarter sessions for
the mere ministerial duty ofgraHtiag licenses
by county ireaslrers. a. il had iherrtos,re
existed in Philadelphia and some other
places. If the construction Of the act eoa-
teEdcd for by The petitioner be tie eorrect
one, then the title Of net should rad. An
act 10 increase the sale Of liq1or and 10 de-
rive revenue therefrom-T In other uonis. Il
would give every man in the state the right
to sell liquor who ooaid pay for his license
and comply with the act
This would Do violence to iis letter AMI
spirit Tie petitioner bog the whole case
when be ASSUMES that be las z rish, g. .
license hecanse be i n r~aecfai,le nam. has
always kept respectable ios,-e aad fi.as 10
reHloIrstranccS have been flied a-linss him.
II = IN error 10 supF-lse that the -lle laty o.
the eosIri : coniinc'l % th. iiifr.iry wlleiher
the sFPiicznf Is 4 cifinen ef TIE Cniie,l States
and 4 man q good moral eaaracier. Blek
of all this Is g. Necessary FOR tie accoma.sda-
ton Of the pabiic and the Piain ,lniy u
all this r the question whether tie petition
eT's house i % neoe-zary for the sucomos...-
tiou of the public and the plain dairy of
the e1Ert of quarter sessions. aa.ier the act
% assembly,. 10 - exercise ~ discretion =
70 restrain rather than increase the al.
Of EqRoS- We ID hot know how many
public houses there in the ninth ward Il is
not meteFiai that We should We are bound
70 presume that the iuaigss below have a.
eertaiDed the number in ju,licial manner
and iesi'iel l.o~ many are neesSs-ry for TIE
Pablic accommodation. An investigation u
tbis question has no particular bcarir- upon
the petitioners fitness 10 keep saloon ff !
i general one. with which Le has no more
legal concern than any other citizen OF the
ward The question Is one Of public Gun
Germ; the petitioner Is 10 party TO il in The
ssnse that persons aDd parties to private
litigation II may thus happen tha: licenses
are refused TO persons arains; whom there IS
no possible objection on personal grounds.
Thus If ward has one hundred public
houses, where only iiffy are required by TIE
public wants, L i plain thar ifiy houses
must be denied license, although every one II
the applicants Is worthy man and keeps
respectable house. and though there be Meth
er Tenenstr1nce nor objection on the score Of
want OF fitness. The denial Of a license IN
der ss:eh circumstances may seem arbitrary.
The trouble is there are more persons who
want to sell liquor slian the legislature e1n-
sidered ii sor the public good 10 license for
that purpose
wiz rot consume time With sn-exfeasied
discussion oflhe right ofiaisgs ofthe coar
Of quarter sessions to exercise their discre-
ton in the granting Of license. 1t has been
exercised by that oourt almost tine ont Of
mind and the power has again and azain
beer affirmed by this eunrf This discretion
to be exercised wisely and not arbitrarily.
4 judge who refrses al applicants. unless
for eaHse shown. errs Is widely as the judge
who grants al applications. In either ease
it is not the exercise " judicial discretion
bat Of arbitrary power The law Of TIE land
has itcisle,i that license shall be granted to
..,.,.o ex-..-.s -...t f.- -,,,....,.f -.
the court of aseeraining ais,i the Instances (
in which the license shall be granted In I
order to perform this duty properly the act 4
Of assembly has provided means by which 4
;he conscience Of the court nla- be informed I
as to the facts: il may hear petitions. Teuion- I
strances or witnesses And We have no /
doubt the court niay in some instances act
of il owns know ledge The mere appear
aIsce Of an applicant for license, when lie /
comes 10 the bar of the court, nay be sniff /
cient TO satisfy the judge that be Is not ft +
person 20 keep public horse,
The object Of evidence in such i 10 inform
the couscience Of the eourt >, that il can act
intsIIisrntly and justly IN the performance
ef pabiir duty While the at Of deci.iin-
in such eases IS PERHAPS quasi judicial. The
difference between granting or Withholding
a iieense s.sd the decision cf question be-
tween Fariies % private litigation Is mani
fest. Neither the Peiitioner nor any ether
person in this state has any property n the
right to sell liquor Il : needless 10 cite the
numerous cases in which this eosirs has n