Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1895-03-22

which would put it in proper shape. On
his motion the Senate non-concurred Win
the House in the adoption OF House
amendment A and B, aud Mr.. Hume
then offered Senate amendments A ana
b. and on his further motion the Dill was
laid on the table and the amendments Or
dered printed.
Senate document No. 165, resolve IN
| favor of schools of instruction for teachers,
specially assigned for today, was taken
| from the table, read second time ana
passed to be engrossed.
House document No. 1874, report of the
committee on State printing and bind
ing, specially assigned for today, was
taken from the table. The report OF the
committee was accepted, and the Senate
then approved the contract made with
Messrs. Burleigh a. Flynt for the State
printing, and the agreement made with
Messrs. Smith g. Reid to do the State
binding.
| Senate document No. 247, an act to
regulate the purchase and sale of intoxl-
eating liquors by cities and towns, speci-
ally assigned for today, was taken from
| the table.
Mr. Hume of Washington asked for in
formation regarding the bill and stated
that his colleague said that this bill was
a humbug and ought not to pass.
Mr.. Spofford of Hancock: / will state
to the senator from Washington the princi-
pal features of this bill 1t is amenda-
tory of the present law. In the first place,
following the recommendations of the
Governor in his inaugural address, this
bill provides that the commissioner shall
80 sho of
business in the State of Maine. 1t pro-
vides further that all Intoxicating liquors
purchased by him shall be analysed and
tested at his place of business in Maine,
the existing law requiring that liquors
shall be analysed after they reach the
State. 1t further provides that the Cover
nor and Council may appointa competent
assayer, who may at any time visit the
several agencies in the State and analyze
the liquors there. They are not only to
be analysed ut the commissioner place
of business in the State of Maine, but also
they may be analysed and tested at any
time after they shall have reached the
several agencies. These arc the most i'm
portant features of this bill, the purpose
of the committee being to frame some law
whereby the people of Maine might obtain
for medicinal purposes pure and unadul
terated liquors.
Another provision of this law is that
any Justice Of the supreme court may, up
on petition of 10 residents of town that
the agency is not being properly carried
on, in accordance with this law, abolish
the agency and forfeit the liquors to the
State.
The committee have considered the
proposition to abolish the liquor agency,
and they came to the conclusion that it
was not wise and was not in the best in
terests of the State that the commissioner
should be abolished. I trust that this
answers the senator from Washington.
Mr.. Shaw Of Aroostook: am opposed
| to this bill did think of amending it,
| but found it was much more of a task
than l had expected. Anyone who un-
dertakes to frame bill to regulate this
question will find great difficulty in doing
so. l think the only complaint that is
maze is that the purchasing power is in
the commissioner, and that he can juggle
the figures and deceive the people This
bill does not remove that objection.
believe that the whole system should be
wiped out. think, more over, that this
bill is little better than the present law,
and therefore l shall not vote against it..
Mr. Savage of Androscoggin: There
were four courses open to the committee.
One was to leave things as they were, but
it seemed to US that there was a call for
something to be done. Another course
would have been to abolish the liquor COM
missioner altogether, and instead of hav-
ing one liquor agency. have as many
agencies as there were towns that pro-
posed to purchase That did not seem to
us to be wise. II there be one agent sur
rounded by all the safeguards ingenuity
could devise and things did not go alto
gether right, we thought there would be
still more liability to wrong doing If the
agencies were scattered among the various
towns. Another course would have
been to follow the suggestion of the sena-
tor from Aroostook, and change the pur-
chasing power. This power must be either
in an individual or in board, or the Gov
ernor and Council. We did not think it
advisable to transfer it to the Governor
and Council, and the most and best that
we could do was to put the business un-
der their inspection and supervision. The
last couI Sc was to strengthen the existing
system. and we thought that while we
could not make it perfect, we could throw
around 1t some safeguards. One of the
principal complaints is that physicians
say they cannot get pure liquors. Under