Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-04-20
which needed the change to take advantage

which needed the change to take advantage
of il.
Judge Fetterman thinks there is no welgnt
in the objection to having the judges hold
License Court, and says that the advocates
of an excise commission admit the necessity
of legal knowledge in its administration oy
proposing that at least ore member tnereot
be learned in the law. Mr.. Fetterman holds
that the objection that the hearing OF ap-
piications for license is not Judicial
junction would apply with equal force to
much other work judges are required 10 per-
form. He says the objection raised to the
present system could be easily obviated by
amending the law so as to require all the
six judges to sit at once, and either at the
September or December term. SAID he:
''They could divide the county, and
each Judge SIT by himself, and
if they met the first week In De-
cember, the work could be finished in
time to allow successful applicants to renew
leases or make new ones" and he seems to
think the judiciary would be as we'll en-
ployed in this way during that week as in
any other.
1u conclusion Judge Fetterman referred
to time when Allegh eny county had an
excise commission which worked in
a manner that caused an adjourn
ment to Claremont, about 20 years ago.
He thought the work more likely to be
satisfactorily done by the judges than by
any commission that can be devised, and
seemed to think that it wasn't at all likely
that any bill would be devised that could be
satisfactorily construed by any save those
learned in the law.
SEES SOME GOOD IN IT.
n. W. Shafer, Esq, sees some good in the
Brooks law requirement of good character,
as it eventually becomes capital in a deal
er's hands, and he is encouraged to the cul-
ture of the amenities and decencies of social
lie and the practice of the cardinal virtues.
In other words, Mr.. Shafer appears to think
that the spectacle of a thousand men
In Allegheny county labeled Reward
of Merit" will become the cvnosure of
all eyes, and the antithetic of the
Spartan custom of showing their children
manhood degraded is the fruit of 1000 or
5000 years more experience than those
heroic savages possessed. But Mr.. Shafer
does not believe that the cause of morality
is advanced by having the judiciary made
arbiter. He saws there have been bad
judges, and it is Just possible that in large
cities a combination of the vicious ele-
ments may give corrupt judiciary in
future. He would simplify their work in
some other respects, and in this he has the |
concurrence of the judges themselves. Judge |
Stowe has expressed himself, within year |
or two, in a manner that indicated that if |
the Legislature were to determine that he |
should umpire baseball matches, the duty |
would not be more unpleasant than some |
already imposed.
D. F. Patterson, Esq, is not enamored of |
the Brooks law, so lar as it requires the |
judiciary to sit and hear applications. He |
thought it idle to hope for any license law |
or regulation that would give perfect satis- |
faction, but said he believed an excise COM
mission in New York gave about as good |
results as were had anywhere else.