Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1900-06-29
Restrictive License VS.. Prohibition,
AS VIEWED BY REV. DR.. Fox

COnultlOnS In your issue OF the lOtn In
slant was published report of a committee
OF ministers of the gospel and others on the
operations OF the prohibition law of the State
of Maine. Will you now kindly publish
the following remarks of the Rev. Dr. Nor
man Fox, Baptist minister and chairman
of the Liquor License Board of Morristow n,
N. j., copied from The Jerseyman of April
18th, 1900:
In this municipality there are 1896 en-
rolled voters. And the suburbs OF the town
are more thickly settled than usual We
have therefore, in and Immediately around
Morristown from twelve 10 fifteen thousand
people.
There are now outstanding under grant
of this Board five hotel and seven saloon
licenses, twelve places In all in which liquor
is sold by the glass. There are seven grocers
who have license to sell by the quart and
upwards, not to be drunk on or about the
premises, while one of the hotel keepers and
three of the saloon keepers hold also licenses
to sell at wholesale, making in all twenty
three licenses held by nineteen persons.
On each of these licenses granted by this
Board there is a charge OF $3.50, and there
is passed over each year by this Board TO
| the town authorities the sum OF about SIX
thousand dollars.
There are, say, in this town but twelve
places in which liquor is sold by The glass,
less than one to each thousand OF population.
| What this means can be understood only by
comparison with other places, Assistance
in such comparison is found In the reports
of the u nited States Internal Revenue De-
partment. Every man engaged in the sale
of liquor must pay a tax to the United States.
Nor is he excused from such payment by
the fact he is doing business in Probibi-
ton State. From these reports therefore,
we can nd out something about sales even
| in districts under prohibtory law.
In Augusta, Maine, the capital oil the orig
inal Prohibition State, a town not 80 large
as ours, there were recently reported titly
drinking places paying U. s. tax-more
| than four times as many as we have. NOT
does this give the whole disproporllnn, for
the u. 8. tax will be paid only by those
who are in the business on a somewhat ex-
tended scale, not by the man who sells from
| u key in the wood shed or peddles in lanes
and alleys from bottles carried in his over
coat pockets. Again, the selling which Is
done in defiance of the law must be the
worst kind of selling devoid OF all restraints
IL our own town, however, there is, so lar
as can find, no unlicensed selling and the
absence of complaints would indicate that
| Jlt uthltTS art HtutldlI1 'botiN'h VI ~
strictions imposed on them by the terms ol
their licenses,
Nor does It appear that Augusta is an ex-
ceptionally bad place In Waterville, Maine
a college town, and one little more than hall
the size OF ours, there are reported double
| the number OF registered retail liquor deal
ers. The city of Portland has four or five
times the number of retail liquor dealers in
proportion TO population that we have. The
| same condition s found even IN small vii
| lagos in Maine.
In the u S Internal Revenue reports for
| 1892, the average number OF retail liquor
dealers paying U s. tax TO each thousand OF
population stands as follows; In the whole
| United States, 3 SO. In the five Prohibition
States taken together, %. In the town OF
Morristown we have less than one.
The sale of liquor is now more closely re
slricted than IL would be II this were NO.
license town, assuming that the people Oh
Maine or Kansas are as law abiding ana
law enforcing as the people oil New jersey
| hear of no Prohibition town oil twelve
thousand inhabitants in which there are 80
lew liquor sellers rs here.
Concerning hotel licenses the law OF the
| State reads at is hereby eDjoined upon the
said courts To license no more inns and
| thNtTuS III iOopNS'NN "
shall be necessary TO accommodate aud Gu
tertain travellers and strangers and to serve
the public occasions OF the said counties ana
for the convenience OF men meeting together
! TO transact business; and 10 prevent as muc1
| AZ possible inns and taverns TO be KEPT
| for the encouragement OF gaming, tipping
| drunkenness and other vices"
As to the saloon license, IL covers the sale
only OF ale, beer, porter and other malt and
brewed liquors. II saloon keeper sellt
whiskey or other distilled liquors he iorieits
his license.
In like manner the holder Of a gTocer's Oh
Wholesale license iorfeits the same II he sells
by the glass, or by the pint bottle, or II he
allows the liquor 10 be drunk ION or about
the premises"
The State law also forbids the sale ol
| LIQUOR to any minor or TO any person WHO
is visibly under the influence OF Intoxicating
| llouors," or to one "known In the neghbor'
hood 10 be OF confirmed incorporate habits
Licenses should be granted only 10 those
who may be confidently relied upon to OBJ
serve these eminently reasonable restric
tons.
The State law is also very explicit that In
a place Tor the sale Of liquor there shall be
allowed no gaming nor anything else which
will make II II "disorderly house. IL should
not me- a noisy place nor a resort for loalers
II shouId give no more disturbance To the
neiphborbood than a restaurant or cigar
store or a newspaper stand The man who
cannot be fully relied on TO Keep his pace
thus quiet should not be granted license
some dealers will of their own accord OBJ.
serve faithfully the conditions upon which
Their Iice ses are granted and surely WI
shonId not allow the less scrupulous 10 dc
VIVA, the more careful will not Again, il
one man is allowed TO overstep the law q
Little another will 90 farther and an
n,bar s,,iI farther mi when at last th,
thing has become 80 bad that we art
oh,is.d IN take stringent action the man
hron1ht beiore ns for punishment may b,
in lact one of the least cuIpable. Still again
IL a dealer knowa that the Commissioner
are so strict that he would endanger bis
license if he should break the law, he has
an excnse Ior refusing 10 sell at forbidden
| II mi IN h.4 1ia