The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1893-03-10
WAITS A WEEK.
Action Deferred on Druggists Bill
for a Time.
A SUBSTITUTE PRESENTED AS
LONG AS THE MORAL LAW.

! Majority Report on Partition of Poland
Accepted-second Conference Commit
| tee Appointed Bangor Hospital
Change in Savings Bank Bill-Othe,
Business.
Especial to the Press1
AUGUSTA, March 9.-Senator Peakes
who is suffering from a severe cold
was not in condition to speak for the
druggist bill today and it accordingly
went over until next week.
Representative Cover of Winthrop
who recently presented two bills amend
atory of the prohibitory law in accord
ance with the views of the officers Of the
Peoples Enforcement League. today
introduced bill nearly as long as the
moral law and which appears to be an
attempt to name and label every pack
age of liquor brought into the state
with history of its previous residence
and a statement of it's character. Under
this bill no man needing liquor fol- use in
his business for any purpose, could gel
it without holding a permit, buying the
liquor of the state agent through the
4 mum ipal officers Of his town or city
and keeping an elaborate record of ltf
use. The bill is chock full of machinery
and lays out a good deal of work for
municipal and health officers.
The bill then goes on to provide penal
| ties for Illegal transportation and finally
permits the sale of liquor by druggists
| under conditions somewhat similar to
| to those which have been discussed in
connection with the druggists bill al
ready pending.
Section one of this new bill provides
| that the State Board of Health shall test
all liquors purchased by the state liquor
agent and certify to their purity. The
! packages shall shall be consecutively
numbered and the commissioner shall
keep records thereof; and these records
| shall contain the numbers and descrip.
tions of all liquors sold by the commits
sioner and to whom, which record shall
be atsaM times open to public inspection.
1 Theabill then provides that after July
1893, no person shall have liquor for sale
! OF use in any business unless he has first
| ty of three months imprisonment and
| $500 fine. These permits are not to be
! issued to apothecaries, which are provid-
| ed for later on. Municipal officers may
issue such permits, upon application if
they believe the applicants to be telling
the truth. The permits shall specify to
| whom they are issued, for what business
| and the kinds and quantities to be kept.
Bonds in the sum of not less than $500
each shall be required that the hol ers
| will observe the law. Permits shall ex-
| pire annually and nothing in
the act shall authorize the
sale of liquor by any other
person than a duly authorized agent.
| Municipal officers may revoke permits
Then comes a provision that holders of
permits must procure liquors by apply
| ing to the municipal officers who shall
buy the liquors needed of the state com
| missioner and hand them over to the
holders of the permits. The purchase of
liquor in any other way is punishable by
three months Imprisonment and 5000
| fine. The state liquor commissioner
shall sell no. Intoxicating liquor except
to municipal officers as provided by the
act, and municipal officers shall purchase
only in accordance with the act The
penalty here is the same as under the
preceding provisions.
And here is the way man who used
liquor in his business under this act
would have to go to work. First, he
could only break the seal of the package
if he wanted it for immediate use, and he
couldn't do that until he had made a
record of the number of the package, the
price and quantity of the liquor; the pur-
pose for which used, fully stated, and
the date, which record the public could
inspect. Violation Of this provision
would render the violater liable
to the penalty above mentioned.
Novf xuo bouo bo Y,rov;oion IocinpoI
to prevent the illegal transportation of
liquors. This is amendatory Of ssction
2, chapter 1872, public laws Of of 1891. 1t
makes the penalty for illegal transporta-
tion by any person imprisonment for
three months and 5000 fine, with an ad-
ditional imprisonment of three months
in default of the payment of the fine.
Then it is provided that all liquors legal
ly transported must be the property of
the state liquor agent or in charge of a
state officer. This provision is as fol-
lows: a,3s@
s'Any steamboat, sailing vessel, rail-
road or express company, knowingly so
transporting any intoxicating liquor not
the property of the state liquor agent
and addressed to him, or in the custody
and keeping of an officer Of the state of
Maine, or enclosed in packages as pro-
Vlu0O Ill ScCuiOu Ouo u bul6 tdCtt nlldll U6
punished upon conviction by fine of
$500 and costs for each offence. Knowl-
edge on the part of any authorized agent
os such company shall be deemed knowl-
edge Of the corporation"
This provision seems to open field for
the ingenuity of the builders of hiding
places for liquors in counterfeiting the
official packages although the act pro-
vides that liquor in counterfeit packages
is contraband.
Then come the provisions for the sale
OF liquor by druggists for mechanical
scientific and medicinal purposes, the
machinery being similar to that provided
under the druggist bill, no physicians
prescription being necessary however,
and the records making provision for
the recording Of the numbers of the
packages of liquor sold.
The Hospital Question,
In the House today, when the confer
ence committee on insane hospital re-
ported that they could not agree, Mr..
prooLatt ,,oved that the Housa recede