The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-09-30
TOBACCO MEN IN A FIX.
THE CIGARETTE LAW COVERS TO-
BACCO IN ANY FORM.

to Minors - Representative Reilly
Explains How the Act was Heant
to Read, but the Lawyers Say There
is No Doubt About its Construction.
Be it enacted by the general assembly of the
state OF Georgia, that from and after the pas
sage Of this act, it shall not be lawful for any
person or persons. either by himself or them
| selves to sell, furnish, give. or provide any
minor or minors with cigarettes, tobacco, or
cigarette paper, or any substitute therefor.
The bill, the substance of which is
given in the above section, has been
passed by the legislature, has been
signed by the governor, and any
dealer who sells minor tobacco in any
form is now guilty of a mis1emeanor. 1t
was the intention of the author of the bill
to prohibit only the sale of cigarettes or
their substitutes. The wording of the bill,
however, is such that tobacco in any shape
is now a forbidden luxury to the young
man VINO has not passed his 81 summers.
80 confident were many of the tobacco
dealers here that the bill only prohibited
the sale of cigarettes that they made no
especial inquiry into the matter, and, not
having received copy of the bill, they have
been only refusing to sell cigarettes to
| minors. When MORNING NEWS reporter
exhibited copy of the bill to many of
them they were astounded to find that they
were debarred from selling tobacco in any
| description to ''the BOYS"
| why, they are our best customers said
one dealer, land if We cannot sell any kind
OF tobacco to them we will have to change
our line of business
WHAT THE DEALERS SAY.
Tie majority Of their customers, tobacco
dealers say, are boys from IS to - years
old. Wheu they are pre- bited from smok-
ing, the cigarette trade viii become a thing
of the past.
Levi j. Gazan said: 81 have never seen q
copy of the bill. l did not think that it
prohibited the selling of o5acco other than
cigarettes to boys. / hald y know what 10
think about it as it now stands. | was
under the impression that the import of tt g
bill was merely to prevent us selling cigar
cites to boys undtr 81 l believe that the
| boys Will smoke all the same. IL is annoy
lug to the dealers as it now stands. We
don't know who is 81 years old, and who is
nos u years old. Ana to go through a
long examination Of ages when young
man comes In to buy cigar, tobacco, or
maybe cigarettes, causes a great deal of
worry
j. b. Fernandez was.loath to believe that
the blll prohibited him from selling all
kinds of tobacco to minors. He thought
the bill only prohibited the sale of cigarettes
ana cigarette tobacco to boys. After read
ing the bill carefully he said: Eyes, accord
ing to the bill, 1T surely pr Jnibits us from
selling any kind of tobacco to minors" lie
added, however, that he was rather pleased
with the cigarette bill, which only pre-
hlblted the sale Of cigarettes to the yys.
nat Is the way, he unde stands, that tue
bill was first drafted. In this way, he said,
the dealers are freed from having to wait
on every little boy VINO toddles into the
store. Some of the dealers, he understands,
| have been selling cigarettes on The 1-cegt
| plan. He deprecated the existence of such
a weevily business, and said that the cigar
cite law dissoives it.
"Will the passage of the bill affect the
cigarette busiuess~
THE BOYS WILL SMOKE ANYWAY.
II do not believe that it will. Boys will
have them. No law can prevent it, When
| the dealer refuses to sell to them they will
get grown person TO buy for them" Some
boys have been adopting this plan already.
| Ramon Molina, at the Screven ouse
said that he Is not hurt by the bill. He has
never made practice of selling to boys
His customers are a different class He
refused to sell to minors even before the
passage of the cigarette bill.
Emmett OConnell, at the Marshall house,
SAID that the bill cannot hurt the business,
and he anticipates no falling off from il.
| The boys, he believes, will have the cigar
cites. If they cannot buy them, they will
make others buy for thsm. Not many of
the very small boys buy their cigarettes
any way, he SAID. "Young men buy them.
Now whether they are of age is a question.
IL they are under age, niue times out of ten
they viii not say So, AID what are we to
do!n
Byck Bros. have the bill posted up in
their store. But even they had not read it
close enough TO find out that the sale of all
kinds of tobacco is prohibited. The section
| outlining the penalty which is q $500 fine,
| Imprisonment in the penitentiary, or both,
| they have underlined SO that it may stare
them in the face. Whenever minor enters
| and asks for cigarettes the clerk points to
| the law
Harry Karger, under the Screven, is in
line with the other dealers, and he looks
upon the matter in practically the same
light.
NO DOUBT ABOUT THE LAW.
A talk with the lawyers brought out the
fact that it is unlawful for any Kind of to-
| bacco to be sold toanvbody except mon over
81. They say that the word tobacco III the
bill includes every form of the plant, no
| matter how prepared or for wGat use, and
until another law is passed repeating the
present law nothing can be done to change
its construction. There is not the slightest
doubt as to the construction of tue law.
There are serious doubts, however, as to the
practicabillty of enforcing it.
AN ERROR IN THE BILL
Representative Reilly explained to a
| MORNING NEWS reporter why the bill ap-
pears in its present shape. The provisions
are decidedly broader than Representative
Johnston, who introduced the bill, intended
that they should be. 1t was his intention
to prohibit the sale of cigarettes or the
material out of which they are made to
minors. "The bill as it passed the House and
as it was sent to the engrossing clerk,
Representative Reilly said, ''reads, 1T shall
not De lawful for any persoa or persons,
either by himself or themselves, to sell,
furnish, give or provide any minor or
minors with cigarettes, cigarette tobacco
or cigarette paper, or any substitute there
for The word cigarette before the word
tobacco was left out by the clerk in pre-
pairing the bill for the signature of the gov
ernor. 1t was signed as the clerk engrossed
| it, and has hence bacome law"
Some of the tobacco dealers here, since
they have been informed how the error in
the bill was made, 1t is understood, will
make an effort to have Ii repealed