The morning news., 1897-03-18
LIQUOR IN ESTAURANTs.
A Plea That Restaurants should
Have the Sunday liquor PriyiIiuc.

Plea That Restaurants should
Have the Sunday Liquor Privilege.
Editor Morning News: AS the amend
ment to an ordinance introduced by AL
derman Hull seems TO be an open subject
for discussion 1 would like TO say a. word
about it. The ordinance which 1 hope
will be amended was introduced during
Mayor McDonoughs administration and
winds up by allowing hotels the privilege
of serving their guests at tables on Sun
day ale, wine, beer, etc, with their
meals About the first or second Sunday
after the passage of this ordinance the al
derman who introduced it, with two
other friends. called at my place and af-
ter ordering a dinner, ordered a bottle of
claret when 1 informed them that
could not serve it on account of his recent
ordinance, they adjourned to a nearby
club and returned with two or three bot
ties which they drank 1 furnished the
glasses, ice, corkscrew, etc. gratis, dur
ing the meal A general discussion of the
ordinance was then in order, the alder
man claiming that misconstrued it, and
he dictated a letter which 1 wrote to
Mayor McDonough, asking for his opin-
ion. The next day / received a letter
from Mr.. Rebarer, clerk of council, as
follows: 81 am instructed by the mayor
to state in reply to your letter that the
- ordinance allows hotels the privi-
lege of serving guests at table" Hotels
alone, not restaurants Shortly af-
terwards, in conversation with
Mayor McDonough, he convinced
me that the law was as nearly just as it
could possibly be, for this reason, that
there was no license to be paid for a res
taurant connected with a saloon, and al
though it was a hardship on myself and
others, who were legitimately in the res
taurant business; that any one keeping
a saloon and having a side room, could
on Sunday, claim to be running a restau-
rant and evade the law. Thus the mat
ter rested with me until the Meyers ad-
ministration. 1 talked the matter over
with enc of the aldermen, and he sug-
gested that If a license was placed on a
restaurant connected with a bar, the or
dinance could be amended. l agreed with
him., and the tax budget for 1896 showed
that a tax of $500 per annum was placed
on restaurants connected with a bar. This
was satisfactory to me- hoping that the
next move would be to grant the privi-
leges that was allowed hotels. After, a
long meeting of council / searched the
paper lot Il6 amendment lndL was never
introduced, but l had many a quiet tip to
do business and fear nothing, Now, in
justice to Alderman Hull, / win state that
he introduced this amendment ct my re-
quest. There was no lobby
ing or jobbing about the matter. 1
have never approached an alderman in
respect to it, except as follows 1 spoke to
one about it and he, for certain reasons,
advised me TO ask some one else The
next alderman asked was Mr. Hall, ,and
he very kindly promised to do it, reserv-
ing the right to vote against it If in his
opinion he saw proper. Now, to an i'm
partial public, 1 claim that 1 should be
allowed the same privilege as a hotel
How can the present council discriminate
if it is wrong for a restaurant to serve
with a bona fide meal (no cheese and
cracker meaD then 1t is wrong to allow
hotels to do il. ! hope some alderman
will have courage enough to introduce an
ordinance to repeal the present ordinance.
John j. Sullivan.