The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1889-02-28
not SETTLED YET.
President Werts Says the
Liquor Bill Is Ready
for Passage.
LIQUOR MEN PROTEST
And Say that They Will In
sist on a Lower
License.

As President Werts of the State Senate
stepped to the platform of Delaware,
Lackawanna & Western car, at Newark,
last night on his way home to Morristown,
for the week, I caught his eye and had a
pleasant little interview with him.
"No," he said, in reply to my question,
"the liquor bill did not come up in the
Senate today. Mr.. Adrain was away. and
besides the amendments to be made to it
have not yet been Incorporated in it-that
is, the bill has not yet been formally put
in shape. But the amendments have all
been agreed upon"
Then it is to be amended2n / ques-
toned
Eyes. It is to be put back in the shape
in which had it originally. The amend
ments known as the Baker amendments
were in the bill when first introduced it,
but the caucus eliminated them. There
are the amendments he observed as he
handed me roll of manuscript
There was little too much of it to read
by the dim lights that the railroad COM
pany furnishes to its commuters, and I
asked him to state the substance of them
briefly.
'sWeil, briefly he responded, s'the
amendments provide that the localities
where there are no excise boards may, by
popular vote, determine what the price
Tor license may be. You see
they can send the figure up
so high as to make it impossible for any
saloCnkeeper to buy one, and Mr. Bakers
constituents can in that way get all the
prohibition they want. The right to de
termine by vote what the license fee shall
be is not extended to cities because the
people in the cities indirectly express
themselves on the subject in the election
OF their excise boards.
Will the liquor dealers consent to aid
through bill that thus closes the saloons
in some parts of the Statesn was my next
question
"Oh, yes! They have come down off their
hlgh horses, and are very glad to get any
thing the Legislature will give them. They
will help to put the bill through
And Senators Baker, Smith and
Wyckoff-are they in line?''
Yesl The thing is all fixed for action
Monday night. There may be little
caucus on it, but thorough agreement
has been reached.
The liquor interest at Trenton has been
mainly in charge of committee of the
Hudson county liquor dealers
| attempted to find Mr.. Edelstein, the
president of the association at his factoryJ
on Railroad avenue this morning, but he
had gone out on an all day call
Mr.. Owen Farley, one of the associa-
tion's Legislative committee refused, when
seen at his place on Grove street, to say
anything about the matter.
Patrick McArdle talked quite freely.
ssWe have not agreed, he said, .tto put
any such bill through, and we will not aid
it, What we want, as much as anything
else, is relief from the high license OF
the 900 liquor dealers in this city at
least 750 are utterly unable to
pay the $3.50 license; and they have looked
for and expect some relief from this Dem
ocratic Legislature. We may gain point
or two by the bill on the Sunday closing
business: but not so big one as some
people think At least seven hundred
saloons in this city are on side
streets. They are patronized only
by their neighbors, who know them, and
they keep open Sunday in spite of the law,
because they know that none of their
friends entertained at their saloons will
give them away"