Los Angeles herald., 1909-12-22
LIQUOR LICENSE REFORM

I'VE wish TO express our emphatic
w approval of the steps now be-
" ing taken by the police COM
mission TO divorce the ownership OF
retail liquor licenses from breweries in
this city. There is probably no more
prolific source of evil in the liquor
business than the ownership of retail
liquor licenses by breweries. In the
first place it tends to put the control
of the business of retailing liquors
into the hands of a monopoly. In the
next place it concentrates the political
power that is to some extent insepa-
rable from the liquor business in such
form as makes it more powerful, more
easily welded, and therefore more of a
menace to good municipal government,
when it is in unworthy hands.
The last election furnished an object
lesson to this city in that respect. So
powerful have breweries, and espe-
cially one brewery, of Los Angeles be-
come in controlling the retail liquor
|. business that an order made by the
breweries for the closing of all retail
lfquor establishments at 10 o'clock on
the night before election was gener-
ally obeyed by those engaged in this
business throughout the city. 1t was
said that this order was made for the
purpose of injuring the Good Govern
ment ticket by giving the liberal ele-
ment of the city a supposed object les
son illustrative of what would happen
to Los Angeles if the Good Government
ticket won. If this was the purpose
of the order it evidently failed of ac-
complishing its intention. At the same
time ii is an illustration of the power
possessed by breweries by virtue of
their ownership of retail liquor
/ licenses, which should be the subject
of very serious thought to good citi-
zens who are interested in clean mu-
nicipal government.
The evil effects wrought by the own
ership by breweries of retail liquor
licenses has so impressed the country
that the matter has been taken up
very generally by people interested in
clean city government and in some
/ Instances state legislation has been
adopted to prevent it. The Herald is
making some inquiries into the char
acter Of this legislation, and it pro-
| poses later TO give its readers the re-
suit of these inquiries. In the mean
while we are glad to see that our
police commission has taken the mat
ter up. and we trust that having once
entered upon it, it will continue until
the breweries and retail liquor licenses
are completely separated.
Under the rule of limiting the num-
Der of retail liquor licenses, adopted
by this city more than ten years
ago, these licenses. by virtue OF
this limitation upon their number,
have become very valuable 1t was
the intention of those adopting the
rule to- make these licenses valuable
in the hands of the individual owners
so valuable that they could make a
/ living by conducting their businesses
| honestly, and would not be tempted
to break the law for the purpose of
making a few dollars by selling liquor
out of hours to minors or in any
other way contrary TO the provisions
of law.
1t is a violation of the intentions of
this law limiting the number of Ii
censes that the advantages accruing
from it should be reaped by the brew
cries and not by the individuals who
conduct the businesses. For these
reasons we feel that the board of
police commissioners cannot TOO COM
pletely and thoroughly prosecute the
effort which they have entered upon
to deprive the breWeries of all retail
licenses. OF course as long as one
brewery is permitted to own licenses,
others must own them for their own
protection i'm order to sell their output.
But with rule forbidding all brew
cries owning licenses fully enforced,
each brewery then has an open field
for the disposal of it's output, and all
are upon an equal basis, We hope to
see the police commission completely
wipe out the ownership Of retail liquor
license by breWeries, together with
the many evils which have heretofore
attended that arrangement,