Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-04-24
A LIQUOR LICENSE HEARING,

Wholesale Dealers Present Their Case and
the Temperance People Are Represented.
Before sending out notices to the saloon
keepers to take out a license under the new law
or close their places of business the Commits
sioners today gave hearing TO those interested in
the matter. The saloon men were on hand in
force. and the temperance advocates had sew
eral Of their best takers to oppose them.
Mr.. HOratio Browning was the first to speak
He said that the people were beginning to think
seriously of this liquor question. A change
OF administration always affected business
interests. This new law would take out
OF circulation some s40O 600. which would
also influence business interests. until there
would be general depression. Then again
on November I the taxes become DUE and
this drain upon the banks would also tend to
hurt business interests, especially as the
business men were at that time just begin
ming TO put IN their winters supply and needed
all the money they could get. Washington is
IN very precarious condition. Already he
had received notice from several small liquor
dealers that they could not comply with the
new law and that he would have to take
back the goods he had sold them in a damaged
condition. IL the law not enforced until
the LIST of November. they whould have had an
opportunity to get rid of their stock, and re-
lieye the wholesalers of much embarrassment.
IN BEHALF OF THE WHOLESALE GRocERs
The wholesale grocers were represented by
Messrs. Frank Hume, y. II. Shea, Horatio Brown
ing and T. F. MeCauley. Mr.. Louis Schade
spoke for them. He said that
there no doubt that the Ii
censes issued under the old law were issued in
good faithV nd distinctly tated that they were
to run for the full term or until the first day
OF November. 1898. The money was received
and turned into the treasury Of the United
States. This. he maintained, was well
known to Congress, and that body did not
intend that the Commissioners should construe
the new law 30 as to force the taxpayers
to take out another license and forfeit the
old one before II had expired. He read from
section II Of the new law and argued that
the words during the preceding license year"
applied to the year which ends November /,
1893. Congress, he said. clearly did not intend
to pass a retroactive law which would be uu-
constitutional. Mr.. Shade read from the Con-
gressioual Record OF February IA, in which
the discussion between Messrs. Campbell,
Hemphill and Picker took place. The Com
missloners, he said, had no right to declare q
mans license forfeit and compel him to take
out a new license, neither had they the right to
give him credit under tho new law for the
money paid for license under the old law.
Then again he saw need for taking SO much
money from the people and thereby
increase the big pile in the treasury.
Concluding he said that the repeal
clause at the end of the new law does not
authorize the Commissioners TO commence the
license year in March. and all licenses issued
under the old Law will have to run ont first be-
fore new ones can be issued
Mr.. NJ Shea said that the bill which had
become law was not drafted in Congress. as
was generally supposed. He was one OF a
committee that prepared the bill. and he
could say positively that it was not the inten-
ton to have 1t so into effect until November /.
WHAT Nh. cASfIxLD SAID.
Mr.. y. A. Garfield, chairman Of the commit