The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1901-05-23
More Than 100 Saleonkeepers
Under the Ban.
GRAND JURY'S WORK
They Are Accused of Illegally
Transferring Licenses.
THE BREWERS ARE INTERESTED
VIII Fight for acknowledgements
tiOnaI Brewers Association
May Be Drawn In.

Over hundred saloonkeepers have been
indicted by the grand jury for illegally
transferring licenses. The indictments
may be returned tonight or tomorrow.
The jury's final report will contain q
sweeping condemnation of the practice OF
transferring saloon licenses. The busi-
ness Of handling saloon license has
reached point where absolutely no att
tention is paid to the ordinance govern
ing those instruments. Neither the city
council, the city clerk, the city controller
or the license committee is consulted re-
garding such transfers. They are made
with the sanction of the license inspec-
tor alone, an officer who derives his au-
thority from the superintendent Of police
or the mayor himself.
The license ordinance expressly de-
clares: mo license granted under this
ordinance shall be assignable,' and in an
other place the language is equally ex-
plicit regarding another phase OF the busi-
ness, to-wit: "Any license granted un~
der the conditions of this ordinance shall
be void If the business permitted thereby
is removed to another locality than the
one described in said license"
AS most of the saloons owe their ex@
istence to the brewers who foster them,
it is clear that any transfers that are
made must be handled by those financial
agencies. The brewers say they cannot
afford to invest $1,000 in a license, to
lose it few weeks afterwards should 1t be
discovered that the man selected to run
the saloon is dishonest or incompetent or
both. The brewer naturally seeks to
save himself by placing the saloon in
other hands, hence the transfer of the
license through the medium of the liz
cense inspector.
The Brevers' Side.
The brewers maintain that there is no
reason in the world why such transfers
should not be made. They declare that
1t is wholly to their interest to secure
good men to conduct the saloons under
their supervision, and that to suppose
they would put disreputable man in
charge of saloon Is as absurd as to sup
pose railroad company would put 9
drunken hagman TO watch a bridge.
There are, of course, many saloons
which are IN nowise dependent upon the
brewers for support, some Of them of the
lowest type, and the grand jury hopes to
reach this class Of offenders who cheat
the law by lodging behind license trans-
fers.
There is no doubt but that If an attempt
is made to stop the traf1cking in liquor
licenses, the brewers will put up a tre-
mendous fight. They say they have right
and common sense on their side, and they
have plenty of money to spend in the
courts. If the fight should be pre-
cipitated 1t would not be the local brewers
alone with whom the authorities would
have to contend but with the National
Brewers association, an organization with
millions of dollars back Of 1t, ready to be
used in Just such cases.
Jury Still Grinding.
The grand jury called a halt in its in~
vestigation of nickel In the-slot gambling
and other kindred evils this morning, and,
by way of diversion, some attention was
given to the business Of the criminal
branch Of the municipal court.
The jury summoned Ed Allen, clerk Of
the court, who appeared loaded down with
huge books containing the records OF the
court.
More Indictments.
Last evening the jury returned another
batch of fourteen indictments, several OK
which, it Is thought, are against Fred A.
Briggs, who Is already under number
Of charges, and 1t Is rumored that at least
two of the bills are on more serious counts
than the ones already returned.
It is thought that the jury will not make
final report until Monday, and in the
meantime will take a day off and visit
the several city and county institutions.