Los Angeles herald., 1906-05-16
WOULD INCREASE
LICENSE NUMBER
MAYOR ASKS EXPRESSION OF
MUNICIPAL LEAGUE
Believes Change Would Tend to EIim-
mate Pernicious and Prevalent
Traffic Of 5reweries in
These Rights

Mayor McAleer has asked the
Municipal league to obtain an express :
sion of it's members and business men
in the city generally on the advisabilty
of taking the lid off the saloon licenses
and raising the number 200, fixed by
ordinance, to an unlimited number, or
at least to some number greater than
200
Only by having more licenses at the
disposal of the police commission can
the traffic in saloon licenses be abol-
ished, is the opinion of Mayor McAleer.
Members of the Municipal league who
have SO far heard of the mayors plans
do not favor them, it is said, but be-
lieve Los Angeles should not have to
contend with any more saloons even
If those who want licenses do have to
pay high prices for them and make
terms with the local breweries VINO
control the saloon situation. They
argue that while the city may receive
no revenue from the traffic in licenses
except the annual fee of 5000, yet more
saloons would require more police and
a consequent increase in the cost of
police protection. They also advance
the argument that if the breweries
control the situation with limit of
200 on the saloon licenses the same
would be true if 300 saloons were per-
mitted or any other definite number.
Want to Stop Traffic
The traffic in saloon licenses is some
thing the police commission, especially
Commissioners Mason and Johnson,
have been endeavoring to break up
ever since the organization of the
board.
/ Scarcely meeting of the police COM
mission is held at which there is not
some evidence presented of the traffic
in licenses. At the meeting of the
commission two weeks ago an appli-
cant for a transfer of license frankly
admitted that he had paid local
brewery $1,000 for the mere privilege of
having the license transferred. In ad-
dition he must pay the city SIS each
month for his license.
The police commission recognizes
that the present situation in Los An
geleS is such that il a first-class hotel
desires to put in a bar In connection
1t must go to one of the local breweries,
pay over the price the brewery may
demand and agree to sell only that
brewery's particular beer at cents Il
glass over its bar. There are a few
independent saloons in Los Angeles,
and occasionally a transfer of owner
ship is made In which the breweries
are not involved, but these indepen-
tage of the limit on Licenses to demand
any price for the transfer in addition
to the stock and fixtures, that can be
secured.
Guise of license
This charge for license is often
concealed under the guise of paying
thousands of dollars for the stock and
fixtures, whereas in many cases the
entire outfit is not worth hundred.
Commissioners Mason believes this
traffic in licenses can be suppressed
without raising the number of saloons.
His method is to have careful inves-
tigation made of every application for
a transfer. The price at which the deal
is made should be stipulated In the
application, he believes, and a careful
appraisement Of the stock and fixtures
made by some one competent to do so.
If the price stipulated is more than
the appraisement of the stock and
fixtures he believes the transfer should
be denied, and in case more money
is paid than is stipulated the license
should be revoked.
Other members of the commission be-
lieVe great difficulty would be en-
countered in endeavoring to regulate
the traffic in this manner and profess
to believe that only by raising the
number of licenses and giving the
police commission entire discretion as
to whom these extra licenses may so
can any profitable effort toward regu-
lating the traffic be made,
The city council has the power 10
pass am ordinance fixing any number