New-York tribune., 1896-01-31

constitute. tracklng in quOr. and also in per per-
We leave 1t to the committee to suggest the best
form Of amendment to meet these defects H., ,bo
terms Of the Raines act meted out to the eerti RI
cate holder for any violation Of the a act b ana 6. me
Of the District Attorney system OF small sst PEN I
aes bo to be 1y the efn aecVe and has
been added in the amendments to Sections 70 ana
All appointments to be made under I'll the ,,ac act
be Subject to S for sy 80 of the
act shSud in terms be brought within that fS bs,ow
with regard to the transition proposed by the Raines
Bill from the old license system to the new tax
amendment is suggested because the matter seems
to affect the whole scheme Of the bill and to call
mum.
The Raines Bill. Section 3. abolishes Boards of
Excise on April 90, 1896, and Section continues the
that by the abolition OF the boards those licenses
law. Is SO drawn as to throw the whole control OF
But after April &c. 1896 the Excise Boards will not
be In existence. and there will be no existing board
bondsmen or revoke licenses The Commissioners,
the Inspectors the whole spperyislns system Is
turned over to the County Clerks ana Treasurers.
The licenses thus left to be governed by the
%S acf ~ N b 9rce nmea@ey prior 10 ye x anrSssy W
provided BY his act" It win folow that liquor
Sunday keep their windows free from curtains,
as ths new % tax certificate holders must do under %
excise In force at the time during year. and
"a 10 one Of these systenls-the license system
munity. set free their bondsmen and abolish prac-
But there is a further observation to be made. 1t
is Obvious that the licenses thus surviving under the
Clear S 'e a W he Gg bdss terms H
shortened may Increase the number OF these Old
licenses at any time before the passage of the
present law-secon f'n" iS Subdivision l. a licenss
soucht for the purpose Of continuing business
then being carried upon the expiration Of an ex-
isting License sha. expire one year from the date
There Is no reason why the present boards should
not now renew all the existing licenses FOR year
beyond The dates Of their respective erminations
land the board will be under a very strong templ-
duplicate system explained above
II. The provisions FOR detecting infractons
OF the law are :amentably Inadequate. Fifteen
confidential special agents 10 be selected and
appointed by the Controller OF the state These
agents are not only required to see whether the !aw
Is compiled with by liquOrdcalors. but they are also
TO perform work OF an entirely different kind in
supervising the books AMI accounts OF all the County
Treasurers and the Controller Of the city Of New
York. Tho mere statement OF the extent OF these
their being performed. The result of the enactment
of such a law would be 10 keep the word OF
promise to the ear and break il 70 the hope" We
should have a law statute books which could
be quoted q severe. bur which UluOr -lea ."r
need really ever observe The number OF unlicensed
places at which liquor regularly sod would be
come simply ncacu able There should be a su'l-
Client number Of ocal inspectors 10 detect ana re-
port 10 tho proper county authorities any viola
ton OF the law. An amendment providing Tor
strict inspection is essential to the enforcement or
T. In View Of the importance and extent OF
tho amendments which have been shown to ne
necessary to render the bin equtaol" and enectua
I'm oucraton. and 70 correct obvious defects, We
:. .Srocifnlly urge that. after your committees nave
agreed upon the questions or pod'y lhVo.VeH IN ~
th.Se rducnts, IN" pli. -N'ili o' ''l ''''
redraftei and perfected. ,,a +,
-,pnort OF what We conceive TO be the most m
pnriant Characteristic OF the Rasres bill. VIZ the
re- cf ~ the liGupr trade IN all ~ forms rom tne
arbitrary dsc~etouary control ~ Boards OF fN-
r,e1 n ~ committees or the LEGISLATURE should
nnd IL rnpraciicabic 20 perfect tax system thtt II
both equitable ani enforrean.e' we i,Sp'ctlu,iiy -
slggosi that this particular object can ne eqiilly
secured under a system ~ high license In when
Boards - TX 'isc with arbitrary powers snail give
/ place to single Excise Commissioner. whose
powers Administrative only ana Nhose @ a'.s ar M
renewable by the courts. An excise .aw dfaWh OF
thcsc inc. would seem 20 u well worthy 0t CON
silerniior should a tax system PFytr 10 10 ''''
practicable or ior any reason ineNp'ien'
riiT Mf.re>',Ii.fE reycisE CoMMIT-rEE OF THE CHAMBER
Nv charies stewart smith. se,h Low. John Har-
son Rhoaios. George !" kives' H. fu'''" O''''''7
JON" TIIE T, iExcrsE REFORM AssocIATI9N.u
ny Dormnn Il. Eaton President THOMAS ~ D''0'
! Secretary.
Some - the proposed amendments follow;
Amendment : Section s Subdivisions l. 2 and 3; 3
! Tho classification and rates "stah!i-h' a pS ate ~
| az. nero tahulattd Tor Convenience as ioho"S'
.,..o, hotel. 500 s,o $50 TO $50 500 to 500
t'r,. s'S' 80 tsS tSS iS lSS'o T. - . s0to 30
! /. t..a'''i. end cafs F,r each vessel r. car 500
Amend eSss,aqi Aq,ice I XII '' section % 2 when ex-
cluies 10y implication any olh'i ''"s ~ "a ,,l
legislative purposes w irs, en- IN, ,o ,G r1 third
or more. second c!h-S' CITIES 90 -''''' ~ 20 ~
class all other cities
Amend rates follows: