The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1909-03-12
TO OPEN SALOONS
IN NEW YORK
ON SUNDAY
Crusade Against Raines Law
Hotels in Empire State
TO CORRECT EXISTING EVILS
Statute Is Held Responsible for Large
Number Of DisorderlY Houses
and Police Graft.

Albany, March Mountaineering
the Raines excise law as a demorali-
zing agency for the fostering of dis
orderly hotels, delegation from the
committee of fourteen for the suppress
sion of the Raines law hotels in New
York City yesterday memorialized
Governor Hughes In the interest of
amendments applicable to cities of the
first class.
The delegation which was composed
of Congressman Williams Bennett,
Rev John P. Peters, d. D., and Sec
rotary f. II. Within was received by
the governor in the executive chamber
where the address was delivered The
committee then called upon Excise
Commissioner Clement The address
was as follows:
The state of New York has for
many years permitted the sale of liq-
uors on Sunday under various restric
tons. Under the present law Of 1896
that sale is permitted in hotels and
clubs One result of this law was to
multiply enormously the number of
hotels, large numbers OF saloons TAX
ing out licenses as hotels. and these
hotels became in very many cases, dis
orderly houses. The result of the
present law has been, then, in New
York City, TO create class of disor-
derby hotels and to debauch and cor
rupt the police system. To correct
these evils we would propose:
First-That a special license should
be given for the privilege to sell liq-
uor on Sunday. between and IL p.
N.
Second-That sales should be allow
ed not only in hotels and clubs, but
also in barrooms which have a door
opening directly upon street and
have no internal communication with
the building. Experience has shown
that the excise department is pre-em-
inently effective in preventing the sale
of liquor without a license. We pro
pose TO extend the permission to sell
on Sunday to bar-rooms so that there
shall be no longer in the future, as at
present, the temptation in order to
secure that privilege to create dis
orderly hotel. We propose to limit
that privilege for the saloon to the
barroom in order to cut out the back
room, which is at the present moment
apparently an unnecessary and objec
tionable part of the Sunday liquor
selling in the saloons. We believe
that by making the Sunday sale thus
dependant upon the excise department
we cut out the possibilities of police
graft now existing and remove one
serious source of the corruption of mu
nicipal government.
To make the provisions OF the Law
above noted possible of enforcement
we propose to increase the number OF
special agents in the excise depart
ment to provide that certain spec
flied ratio, adequate to the enforce
ment Of this law, shall at any given
time be employed in the cities; to as
sist on the practical side the work oil
these inspectors, we propose that not
onlye as at present, shall all saloons
be required to leave an unobstructeC
view of the bar room from the street
during prohibited hours but that fail
ure to do so shall be penalized by for
fixture of the license.
In order further to render it disad
vantageous for a seller of liquor tC
convert his saloon into hotel ant
that into a disorderly house for tht
purpose of securing the special priv
ileges of hotel selling. we propose tC
raise hotel requirements, requiring by
statute that hotel shall have not
less than twenty-five bedrooms with
dining room and kitchen of correspon
ding size.
Inasmuch as it is plausibly claimed
that, owing to the excessive competi
tion and the too large number of sell
ers of liquor, it is difficult If not i'm