The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1909-03-06
Continued From Page one.)

taitEf-
he saloon man can sell in anv
quantities, but he cannot make de-
iiNeries other than on the premises. The
restaurant keeper sells at any time and
al the time. The law should specify
that Ilquof may be sold in restaurants
Wlfh meals, and only with meals. This
would provide for the prevention of
any Entertainments on the rights of the
saloon man.
| Ihe powers of the License Commits
sioners are arbitrary, if they are so
exercised. But it is taken for granted
that the board viii exercise this power
vested IN il judiciously. | want TO inn
press on You the fact that it is this
power only that controls the liquor
business in Hawaii. Take away this
arbitrary power and you take away the
control 1t is not the fear of present
punishment which keeps the liquor man
/. within his bounds but it is the fear
OF falling to secure a renewal of his
license. If the right of appeal were
gwen, taking away the power from
the Commissioners, it would mean that
we would have wide open town here.
1t would then be practically ilnpossi-
bic 10 get anyone to serve on the Board
of License Commissioners.
u have noticed in the papers of late,
L believe, something to the effect that
it would be well to dispense with the
j services of the Inspector employed by
the board. This would be serious
mistake. There is not one liquor man,
or any clique of liquor men here, who
can in any way influence the man we
have. It has been through his tireless
efforts and energy that the board has
been IN so great measure successful.
81 do not intend to take sides in
this controversy, nor do / intend to ex-
press my personal opinion, which | be-
heye is already known, in the matter
As one of the Commissioners / believe
that it would be inconsistent for me
to take sides in the question as to
whether the law should be amended or
remain as it now is. However, I viii
say that if the people here are satisfied
with the way the present liquor law
has worked out. if they are satisfied
that il is for the greatest good Of all
coneerned,-it is time for them TO get
move in opposition to the amend
ments now under discussion. On the
other hand if the people are Indifferent
on the subject. are willing TO allow
a change to come. little can be done.
II IS for them to take the action, and
It is about time that they were prepar-
ed for the fight. .
Mr.. Ballentyne was thanked for the
information he gave the members by
Chairman Castle, who then called upon
L. A. Thnrston.
MIR. Thurston's Talk.
81 did not come here prepared to
make any particular announcement re-
garding the liquor laws nor to give any
deep analysis of the present and the
proposed laws. I feel that the liquor
law now in existence is still untried,
and that we are still in the experiment
tai stage as to what is the proper legis-
Iation to cover the matter. l believe
that, before making any radical
changes, we should give the present
law a full and fair trial. From what
I have been informed by Mr.. Ballen,
tyne, believe that there are imperfee-
tons in the present law, inasmuch as
partiality is shown. This appeals to
me as being not in favor of the
saloons, but against the restaurants.
Personally, | can see no reason why
liquor should be allowed to be sold all
night as well as Sundays and holidays
in the restaurants. But | believe that
we should give the present system a
full and fair trial for two years, and
then we will know more about 1t.
81 believe that the calm. straight
forward course which has been pursued
by the Liquor Board has been response
bic for the movement among the liquor
men. They squirmed about the restrie-
tions and drastic measures at first, but
in the last few months there has not
been a word said At first it was nee
essary to use considerable adjustment
grease to get the law working smooth
", but since this has been done there
has not been the slightest bit of trouble
and I do not think that there has been
a single case where injustice has been
meted out
Now. who is it that wants the pres
emit liquor law changeds just two
kinds of people. the first of which is
the class that want liquor licenses but
can t get them. The second is the class
which wants to sell more liquor to the
saloons. The fact that, under the new
law. the number of retail licenses has
decreased is what has given pain to the
wholesale dealers. They are the people
who want to sell more whisky. So they
started on a still hunt, the proposed
amendment which is now before the
Legislature being the result. The char
aeter of the bill has been shown up
in the paper, but there has not been a
single contradiction from the liquor
people. There were no petitions circu-
lated advocating the bill, and, if there
has been single person who has per
sonally some knowledge contrary to my
statements I would like to hear from
him. The liquor men wanted quick ac-
ton on their proposed amendments;
they wanted the bill boosted through
before public sentiment became arous-
ed. We want to cheekmate this, and
the best way to do this is to give the
matter publicity, enlighten the people
on what is attempted to be done 1t
would be good idea for all organiza-
tons TO pass resolutions on the subject,
and every individual can help by com
with the members Of the
Senate and the House. These resolu-
tons and individual expressions Will
make an impression. a note from you
10 your representative in the House on
!.