New-York tribune., 1896-12-02
vorJCE OFFICIALS HEARD.
-s,nrNT AND CHIEF BEFORE THE
RAINEs COMMITTEE.

~ THE HOTEL PRovIsIONs-PENAI--
TIES CONSIDERED TOO SEVERE.
.,sn, Roosevelt of the Police Board. and Chief
r. we're the two principal witnesses before the
conn" conr,,,ee which has been appointed to in
Sehs'e tho operations OF the Raines liquor law.
ou"e on,rent Yesterday. more than on the previous
s.on, the leading questions that were put to the
oa! hy the Senators. that their intention Is d.
VIZ. mainly 10 receiving suggestions looking to an
r".,ament OF The law wherein proper dehmtions
,rcorporated as to what the Legislature really
may " =, s,ould constitute meal guest, and a hotel.
n'en", ov,sence was also elected from the repre-
Ss S.,,yes Of the Police Department as to the rea-
F o. allowing the sa.oonkeepers to violate the
rns .ho law Senator Raines again presided over
G",o,,tee which met in the offices of the Depart
"e ~ Excise at No. Madison-ave
ne conIn was The first witness called ana an
I'M Senator Raines he admitted that under the
f". ,aw the duties of the police were hShtened
.bo higher license tended to keep out or the
and '" tho undesirable element. Asked II he could
pu'o,d any modificati tions in the Raines bill Cnlef
conces,ed that all saloons should be cleared Of
Conn., OHM hoxcs and the whole bar thrown into one
s'A"' He deprecated the existence OF side doors
op,,,rg a detrimen tai influence upon the morals
- go community. Moreover small private rooms or
OF w induced ntemperance among women ne
thought. ,,orr,e
-,r. chief COnlin atteSted tnat under tne NdineS
great majority of the saloons that had haoitu-
p % s,,a,ed the law in the past had disappeared ne
aAs law was now clearly being evaded by hotels
fa'1 f. -" .rs hotels IN name only and were not meant
"".oommodate bona fide guests In proof OF this
" " r.a from a list which he had with him large
&c .,, NJ cases where propretors OF houses with
nun, ,rses had not complied with the provisions OF
no'e ,,r,s Some of these places he said were mercy
the :, sundays and saloons weekdays on
nv ,.. IN order to meet the requirements OF the
,he Mr was merely partitioned of. Although
rsrs about 900 of these fake hotels in the city.
r,s, expressed the opinion that there were fewer
Wv - rhere drink could be obtained now than when
:. ,r was in operation The witness estimated
., @ under the old regime 5000 or 1000 saloons did
s.a,v trade Questioned regarding the number OF
.,l clubs in the city he said that there were about
,.Not these but they not nterfered with on ac-
.un, o. the Davy decision in Rochester. which inter-
,,e,ed the law as non-active in the case OF social
clubs. u..
p,o.harhood who has deeply interested himself
IN the workings of the Raines law. was the next
v,.ness His evidence tended to show that the
new law had rot had so beneficial an erect upon
the laborng class its promoters anticipated
u,s observations had convinced him that SUNDAY
drunkenness had greatly increased Of late. and
that there were more numerous complaints OF
family quarrels due to drink Of greater poverty
and lack of clothing for children whose parents
were addicted to drink. In these contentious
rather Dovle was emphatic. and he added that
most Of the places where drink was sold on sun
days before the Raines law went into enect "ere
still open on that day. Father Doyle pronlseu W
Law certain suggestions and recommendations be-
fire the committee. Before leaving the chair ne
stated that the English law. which stipulates tha'
a guest must have travelled certain distance OH
Sunday before he could legally be served, was one
that deserved consideration ,
When Mr. Roosevelt took the stand he descriped
his operations in closing saloons on Sunday nnoer
the old law and then said that after the de-
c,s,ons Of the courts upon the new law there was
a distinct saggng back 20 something IKE 'he oio
.,a,a NJ affairs He attributed this TO the defects
IN the Raines law and to the TACT thdt JuiiO9
and Magistrates refused TO convict. Inc mus
elaring defects in the law he considered TO be the
ron, NJ q nroper definition OF the terms guest
ho,el and meal Then MIR. Roosevelt read from
statement list Of arrests which had peeh
made AT fake" hotels. but in which no convictions
could be obtained In all these cases ne CON-
ssdered that the law had been violated
TWO PROVISIONS PRAISED.
After speaking further upon the defects IN 'ne
s,a,ute which permitted such general Sunday sell
,ng Mr. Roosevelt continued: But wonid nke
N cav that in this law there are two admiraoie
provisions One Of these IS that when co'"le''
the saloonkeeper to throw open his shutters o
Sunday and the other is the high hcerse'
first OF these, 10 my mind more IMAM ~ 49,.
dafect in the law Then there is another ma.tei
,h.. uonld like 10 call your attention TO- 1ha'
is that In nv belief there is hesitancy on t'e
mart Of the iuries TO convict because OF the 'r''
severe penalty. Under the old law the po""'',
was lust the reverse Of stringent. lhch W. "
10 20 to a great deal Of trouble ana EXPENSE ""u
II we secured conviction the saioonkeepei was
fined only s25 which he could pay ou' Va
days receipts"
Like Chief Conlin. the Police Commissioner au
yocated the abolition of stalls and boxes anu 'u0
doors. He thought that distincuoh siiouu
made between the mushroom cluos anu "o 80.
fde club The latter. he considered. had the r's",
to be looked upon as the home OF the 'he'"oe'' "N
should he privileged as such
Senator Kalnes adverted back to the ques'io' VI
the high penalty acting as restraint OH J"''''
conyicting and after Mr.. Roosevelt hau iep"
his belief that such was the case. oena'o'
who spoke In a low tone and was H''P''''
heard. was understood to ask the witness
the juries were Influenced by 'he ia0' '
city only got one-thrd Of the taxes.
With some warmth Senator Kaines repuuia'e'
the suggestion for the reason, as ne eNp'
that every dollar Of the taxes PAID gy ,e .' asked
came back 70 !, again; rs Kodsevep. si,at I
Oh, pray dom ask ne 10 Dc an .,,h T a laugh
point answered Mr RoossyeM Mr. "li Haines Every
dollar given by NewYork city comes pacN which
city again That is proved BY y niiy from license
show also that the revenue OF thc SItS i'@'
fax.s is greater than IL was bel re-: ,o, 90
'"Then W ny" re;ortcd Senator FCley. 40 49, ~ -
into all this jugg!ory with figures ana pr opp aT
Why don't you leave IL here? We can '"he '"'>
Of it a conator
YES / know you would answered 30" oe'I,on hen
Ranes. amid laughter. The incioe"' ""' INV
dropped. ., CONTROVERSY
IL VIII be remembered that the recent coht, rnss
between Senator Raines and MI lsoose.@ei. @ ooo
through the former stating that thcic W.. w. ~
places in this city which did not pay re-
In somewhat hcsitaiing manner IN. -, ,n ,sa,
ferred 10 this subjec; and pointoc OUT tnat u, 90 io
there 1853 retailers with fcde'ai Ao
while only 81 So State licenses were apphe 10, IN
half the licensed houses in the state are 81 - ~
and near this city Senator Raines asKeo ~ Iii
Welt whether he had any knowledge oi , tne rs
ence OF these places. The latter rcpilen ~. rs
licenses probably held by botilers ann
but said he had the whole matter undcf cossidea 1
tion and would find out just what KIM vi P'"'''
they were and where they existed ,, ,, ,,