Los Angeles herald., 1907-04-17
MAYOR VETOES NEW
LIQUOR ORDINANCE
THINKS ZONE MEASURE TOO
DRASTIC
Says It Would Amount to conhsoatIon
and That II ls Impractical for
Many Of the Wholesalers
to Move

Mayor Arthur c. Harper last night
vetoed the wholesale liquor zone or
dlnance, thus for the time being dis
posing Of the complicated situation
growing out Of the granting Of
wholesalers license to the Bottiler es-
tablishment on Third street, west of
the tunnel.
It is believed the question will be
taken up again when the councilmen
return from the owens river trip.
Had the present ordinance been
signed 1t would have wiped out of
business twenty-three established
wholesale liquor stores beyond the
zone. This the mayor regarded as un-
fair. His letter to the council last
night states his views, viz:
Ordinance Too Drastic
1T return herewith without my ap-
proval an ordinance entitled An or
dinance providing for the licensing and
regulating the carrying on Of the busi-
ness of selling liquors in the city of
Los Angeles, and which was presented
to me by the city clerk on April 10,
1907, which date have indor5ed there
on as required by law.
"That part of aforesaid ordinance
which provides that no wholesale
liquor establishment shall be main
tanned outside of the zone therein de-
scribed Immediately after going into
effect of said ordinance is entirely too
drastic, unfair and, may also add,
unjust. And judging from very recent
expressions of opinion on the part of
practically all of the council the above
view is now shared by the members
Of your honorable body.
"Were 1 to approve this ordinance,
and assuming the validity Of the legis-
latlon, practically $4,000 worth of
property would be rendered valuless
and the means of livelihood of the
liquor permits now in force would be
swept away.
"It must be remembered that these
permits for wholesale liquor licenses
we're originally granted under express
sanction Of law and the city has with
out compunction been collecting the
usual license fees from the holders
of such permits.
Moving Impractical
ITO maintain that those affected can
move into the zone is to state prop
osition which is impracticable, for the
reason that it is we'll nigh impossible
to obtain the two-thirds block frontage
consent which under the law Is pre-
liminary requisite for the favorable
action Of the police commission in the
granting Of a permit for a liquor IL
cense, either wholesale or retail.
1.-THE proposition of enacting legis-
lation which would be retroactive in
effect is abhorrent to the American
sense of fair play.
"There Is an element of fair dealing
involved in this transaction which I
cannot ignore, and which I am sure
xxyHl 70 what
right and proper in the premises.
Would Be confiscatlon
1--WE cannot afford to countenance
conf1scation. In a previous message |
asked that o. zone be established and
the number of licenses be limited to
100 My views have not changed since
debating that message. A zone should
be established, but your body should
consider the rights of those whom the
ordinance lust passed would legiSlate
out of business. 1t is for you to say
whether they shall continue to remain
in business in accordance with the
precedent established by former
council when 1t created a zone for
retail liquor dealers and permitted
them to remain, provided that no per-
NIT could be transferred or assigned,
or to give them a stated time in which
to change locations within the zone.
"I will approve no ordinance which
conhscates property of a merchant,
even though he be engaged in the
liquor business.
''Under our charter the police COM
mission is vested with the exclusive
power Of granting liquor permits and
OF revoking them for any one of three
causes. The council has no right,
either by ordinance or resolution, to
revoke directly any liquor permit.
This right, as before stated, is reserved
only to the police commission, the
powers of which in the matter of re-
vocation are restricted, as has already
been decided by the court.
eff, as is the case, the council cannot
directly revoke any liquor permit 1t
can be strongly argued that the council
cannot do indirectly by an ordinance
of suppression what 1t is forbidden to
do directly.
Great Care Needed
"In establishing zone we should
exercise great care. I am informed
no investigation was made before pass
ing the ordinance which l return, and
deem 1t proper before a new one is
passed that the co-ncil inquire into
existing conditions.
Respectfully yours,
"a. G. HARPER, mayor"