Evening bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1895-1912, 1898-04-29
LIQUOR LICENSE DEBATE
Senator MCCandleSS Thinks Limiting
Waikiki to One License is FarCiCal.
The Attorney General Gives His Ideas on Local
Option Senator Schmidt on Minis
terial Discretion.

on any naUter DeIOre III, anu Wnen
such a debate does happen it is
usually precipitated without a
word of warning. Such was the
case yesterday morning. The
amended liquor license bill was
reported back from the Printing
Committee and Senator Brown
called for immediate action there
on, saying the bill should be dis
posed of one way or the other, as
it had been hanging fire long
enough.
Senator WAREHOUSES; motion
to indefinitely postpone the bill
was quickly disposed of by a vote
of 7 to 5, one Senator not voting.
The bill was ordered read sec
ton by section and the debate be-
gan and ended on the first sec
tion.
Senator McCandless objected to
the provision allowing only one
license each for Waikiki, Kalihi
and Nuuanu valley, saying that
the granting of only one license to
Waikiki, for instance, would make
a farce of the matter. 1t was
we'll known that at least half a
dozen places there would like to
take out licenses, and if one was
granted the others should be emit
tied to the same privilege. Be-
sides, the government would be
losing revenue Fl ON that source.
Senator Baldwin's objection to
the section was that it provided
the applicant should have his ap-
plication endorsed by a majority
of the voters. He preferred the
words majority of responsible
citizens" as in the section when it
came from the Committee on
Commerce. A majority of electors
gave too wide a latitude, as it
allowed every irresponsible voter
a say in the matter and he was
afraid it would result in too many
saloons, as they would not be
particular as to how many peti-
tons they signed or how many
licenses were granted. In some
districts for instance the Portu-
guese were largely in the MAORI =
ty. There might he fourteen men
by the name of Manuel Souza on
the electoral list. How was the
Executive to know which Manuel
Souza signed the petition or
whether he was one of the Manuel
Souzas on the voting list.
The granting of licenses
should be left either with the
responsible residents or with the
executive entirely. 1t was only on
such a restriction that he would
favor the bill. Everyone knew
he was opposed to saloon licenses
but he was willing to give this
bill fair trial because he was in-
fiuenced by the representations of
the Attorney General and Sheriffs
of the Islands that such licenses
were necessary to stop the illicit
sale of the liquors.
Senator McCandless said that
the introduction of the local op-
ton feature WAS nothing new.
The Cabinet had been acting on
that idea with regard to licenses
for some time past. He cited the
case of a man from Waimea,
Kauai, who had applied for a
liquor license, and the Cabinet
had referred the petition to some
of the responsible residents. The
plantation people had taken a
hand in the matter with the re
suit that an overwhelming petition
against the license had been sent
to the executive. If the Cabinet
propo. ed to introduce this feature
in subsequent applications then it
might be truly said that we al
ready had local option and plenty
of it.
Senator Schmidt favored leav-
ing the matter in the hands of the
electors. That was one of the
best features in the bill to his
mind. A Senator had proposed
to leave these licenses to the dis
cretion of the Cabinet as in the
present spirit Licenses. To leave
the issuing of licenses to the
Cabinet was still further increas-
ing the power of the Cabinet to
do as they pleased and at the same
time causing it embarrassment as
is the case with the present Ii