The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1902-02-13
PRIMO LICENSES
ARE ILLEGAL
ESTEE ENJOINs WRIGHT FROM
ISSUING MORE SUCH
LICENSES
HONOLULU BEER LAW DECLARED
UNCONSTITUTIONAL.
Law Granting Cheaper Licenses TO Sell
lers Of Local Product Discriminates
Against Fasteners.

Against Fasteners.
| United States District Judge Estee
this morning decided the Primo beer
lease i'm favor Of the plaintiffs, declaring
| the law under which the Honolulu beer
licenses were issued TO be uncOnstitu
Itional and ordering an Injunction issu-
leo to restrain Treasurer Wright from
Issuing any more such licenses. Estee
holds that the Hawaiian law under
which the licenses for Primo beer were
GRANTED is clear discrimination
|against beers manufactured i'm other
parts of the United States and Terri
tories, and is therefore UnconstitutiOn-
Ial. His decision applies to all of Part
u, of chapter Al of the Penal Laws,
which contains the provisions for re-
|tailing Honolulu beer.
The decision, after reviewing the
facts in the case, is as follows:
From the testimony of the defendant
wv. H. Wright it appears that twenty
ItlVe Of these licenses were issued be-
| tween July 1, 1901, and November %,
| 1901, and the testimony further shows
/ that certain Of the licensees are now
doing business hereunder.
! 1t further appears from the testimony
Of Mr.. Wright, that before the COM
mencement of these proceedings the
IEiaintiffs, through Mr.. Robertson, one
of their attorneys, made a demand up
on him for a license to sell foreign
Ibrewed beers for the same fee required
under the law for a license to sell Ho-
lnOlulu beer tO-Wit: $3.50 per annum
land the said defendant testified that he
refused to issue said license
/ Sections 47g TO 4S3. of Part v. Char-
Itel Al, of the Penal Laws, and under
(which laws some twenty-five licenses
were issued by the Treasurer Of the
Territory, as appears i'm evidence TO-
Fl ht4P al fl1fifai
licenses for one wear for a fee or tax
.of two hundred and fifty dollars TO anv
|pcrsOn who desires to sell "maIt LIQUORS
manufactured in Honolulu" bv the
,g.ass or i'm any other quantity less than
five gallons, upon the execution of a
bond that he viii not "seu or otherwise
dispose of on the premises for which
|ha is licensed any wines malt LIQUORS
Tor spirit Of any description whatever:
land also that he VIII not store or allow
TO be stored on the premises for which
|h- is licensed, any wines, malt liquors
Tor any spirits Of any description what
IsOcyer, except such beer manufactured
lin Honolulu. ~
The Wholesale vending of spirituOus
liquors, under Section 429 of the Penal
Laws, i'm which one of the plaintiffs is
Engaged, and for which an annual liz
ICcnse fee of $500 is required, simply en-
Titles the licensee to sell liquors i'm the
original packages imported and in no
Iother manner. Four of the plaintiffs
who have been licensed under Section
Ila2 of the Penal Laws, having what are
J known as Dealers Licenses and for
which they pay five hundred dollars a
year. are privileged to sell ardent spir-
! Its i'm quantities not less than one gal
Hon, wines, ales, and other liquors con-
2 tanning alcohol, i'm quantities not less
than one dozen bottles" But with the
DTOviso that such liquors shall not be
drunk or used on the premises wnere
- they are sold.
! While LaWrence H. Dee, the remain
= ing plaintiff, has wha. is known as a
Retailers License under Section 434,
? 435 and 436, of the Penal Laws for
f which he pays an annual fee of one
1 thousand dollars and which entities
him to sell and dispose of any spiritu-
o. Gus liquors "by the glass or bottle on
the premises therein specified between
t the hours of haIf-past five o'clock in the
morning and half-past eleven o'clock at
, might, except Sundays"
4 1t seems to me clear that upon the
s face of Sections 479 to 4Sl inclusive
{ they are grossly discriminating against
a a foreign manufactured commodity, in
. this instance foreign manufactured
. beer. And this is made absolutely
t plain from the testimony of VI O.
e WrghtN the defendant herein who, re.
h ferrng to a conversation with Mr. Rob
# IertsOn, one of the attorneys for the com
s Iplainant in relation to the issuance oil
- la license to them, said
You informed me what you wanted
land l told you that 1 would not issue
a license under the law CAct Of 1889 tC
i Isell foreign beer and you then told me
II that perhaps there would be a suit
= brought against me. o.. ! refused tC
tissue a license under that law for the
Isale Of beer manufactured outside oI
Honolulu.
4 The Court Let us get at it. For q
- manufacturer of the mainland beer tC
sell beer in this Territory, he must pay
to the Territory a thousand dollars
year, Is that sO??