The morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1899-1930, 1909-03-21
ASTORIA MIGHT CON-
PROMISE ON This
PROJECTED PLAN OF NEW
YORK 10 MINIMIZE EVIL
OF OPEN SALOONS,
When the committee q fourteen ,

Wnen the committee OF fourteen !
which has been very active in all mat
ters Of excise reform in this city
and in the betterment Of the excise
system along The most practical and
not sentimental lines, starts a vigor-
oas campaign for limited Sunday
openings" and has the backing Of an
Influential contingent in the clergy,
including the Reverend Doctor
Peters. there is surely some prospect
Of partial ending at least OF the farce
Of Sunday liquor-law enforcement.
The committees bill is the result OF
a long study and investigation Of
EQuor-seiling conditions, and its pro-
visions project no hne-spun theories,
Briefly, the plan is to grant special
licenses to the keepers Of saloons
whose premises are directly on the
street and have entrances and exits
Ia full view of passers-by, but have
no interior communication with any
other premises that may be in the
building. these special licenses to per
NIT the proprietors to keep their
places open on Sundays from / o.
clock p. IN. till II p. m; the cost OF
this special permit is to be Is per
cent OF the regular license fee paid
and in addition TO it. 1t will at once
be seen that this plan is blow aimed
at the "Raines-law hotels, so called,
some Of which have been the most
vicious and persistent violatoFs of the
Sunday closing law, although in most
instances keeping technically within
the law part Of the time at least
through the well-known device Of the
Sunday sandwich These hotels
now have licenses that permit the sale
Of liquors on Sundays under the same
restrictions that apply to the regular
or more respectable hotels and to
clubs, restaurants Of the higher class |
and so forth; but the committees bill !
win contain a provision giving the |
kgal definition Of hotel eligible for |
a Sunday liquor license as one having |
not less than twenty-five rooms; that |
Is number much larger than is pro-
Vided in the present Raines law and Is |
presumed to be entirely too large for |
q saloon-keeper to make profits on
Sunday sales where most Of the |
rooms are untenanted, as now; so
KEEPING up the farce Of running a |
hotel simply for what money there
5 in Sunday-selling would be heavily
discouraged, and the result would |
probably be the gradual if not the |
prompt, disappearance Of bogus or
@Raines-law" hotels and only such |
innkeepers as conduct bona fide est
ablishments would take out regular
hotel Licenses. It is worthy Of men
ton and consideration here that this !
same COMMITTEE of fourteen" has /
been engaged in activities that have !,
resulted in the reduction Of the num- !
Der Of the more disorderly or pro- /,
nounced "Raines-law" hotels from |
around fourteen hundred to seven |
hundred and fifty, or nearly 50 per |
cent. The bill also provides for in
ereasing the number Of the special 4
agents Of the State excise department |
from sixty to one hundred and fifty,
about ninety Of whom would be as
signed for duty here in New York;
saloon-keeper with a special Sunday i
license who violates the law for /,
second time would forfeit his license;
and the number Of places TO which |
liquor license of any sort would be |
granted would under this bill be limit |
ed in proportion to the population
a plan which is one Of the, most
practicable and best-working in the
Swiss system Of excise described by
the Commercial recently and favor
ably commented upon
II was "a condition and not the
Dry" that confronted the committee
and its clergymen co-workers, Liq-
nor is now sold unlawfully in New
York City at all hours OF the day and
night on Sundays. Is it possible that
by Iegalizing its sale for ten hours !
IN Sundays and restricting it in va
ious other ways to reduce the evils
If Sunday-selling and stop making
he excise law a hollow mockery? 1t
would surely appear to be-and the
cheme now proposed looks like a
aHch more practicable one than had
been suggested 1t would
I least disarm those critics who de-
Iounce our municipal authorities as
rrant hypocrites.
If the committee can now devise
cheme for stopping illegal early
penings and Illegal late closings, it
7ilI farther demonstrate its useful
less to the community.-New York
Exchange. .