Perth Amboy evening news., 1909-12-03
VIEWS ON
CUES II IONS
OF EXCISE
resident MuIChahey Of Re-
firing Board Praises Fell
low Members.
PATH OF SUCCESSORS
NOT WHOLLY sAOOTH
inspectors Suggested and
Dance Hall Evil Touched
Upon--S Saloons are Fewer.

1t being the last regular meeting
OF the present Excise Board last
night, PRESIDENT J. II. Mulchahey
devoted some time to an address az
Ter the regular business session. He
spoke at length upon the Increased
revenues from the liquor traffic here,
with reduction in saloons. He
laudeu chairman John Seaman Of
the investigating committee, who.
ne SAID, ne had always found hard
working commissioner, and In con-
Juhetlon with that he spoke OF the
advisability of having excise invaafi-
gators such as health inspectors who
could look after the LIQUOR business.
| The president touched upon the
platform of the new excise hoard
and in conclusion, expressed his an
probation of having been president
of the retiring board. He was
vigorously applauded by the other
commissioners and the large audi
ence that was present. His address.
In full, was as follows.
Mr.. MuIchahey's Speech.
The Board of Excise, city OF
Perth Amboy:
'Gentlemen.-
This being the last regular meet
Ing of our term as members Of this
board, think It is proper to give
q summary of our work during the
past three years. l think the citi-
zens are entitled to this, without put
ting them to the trouble Of reading
minutes and looking up other re-
cords. And 1t is also my hope that
IN this way we may be OF some as
sistance to our successors in office.
for whose administration | am sure
we all wish success in full measure.
The following is a summary OF
licenses outstanding three years ago
and today:
Whole Re- Bott- To-
sale tail ling tai Fees
Dec. 1906 8 LAP III 1872 $4e.e50
Dec 1909 Il 100 IL las $62.e50
Three new saloons have been
opened during the three years. and
fifteen closed, including one OF the
above three
"The increase In revenue Of
! 1000, despite decrease In the
number Of licenses OF IA, is due to
the increase in the license fees DUR
Ing the first year Of our ..sss..f<s.sg -
| $4,000 to 100000 for wffuresal9
and $4,000 to $4,000 for retail IL
censes.
In the matter of transfers Of
licenses from one place to another.
we have amended our rules SO al
to require them to be laid over for
a month. putting them In the same
class with applications for new IL
censes. This has given us better
opportunity to investigate as to the
adVisabllity of the change of loca-
tion, and to persons affected by the
change to demonstrate or recoma
mend.
1t Is a question whether appli-.
cations for transfers from person to
person should not be put In tba
same class. In fact, our experiencs
leads to the conclusion that transl
fers OF any kind should be closely
watched, and granted only after fuii
consideration. The altogether in
defensible power Of attorney Law.
giving to the holder of the rScwaf
generally brewing company os ~
agent) the sole right of APPLYING foy
q transfer, should put such an an
plication under suspicion at once l
have several times called attention
to this law, and will now only say
that It Is about as bad as 1t can
well be.
II our state had such law az
has Pennsylvania, where the holder
OF a liquor license is the only person
who can have any pecuniary fnter-
est, direct or indirect. In the busl-
ness carried on by him, breweriea
and liquor dealers could no longer
be practically the owners of the busi-
ness, as they may now be under the
protection Of this iniquitous power
of attorney law
Against Dance Halls.
''As to the abuse of the saloon
halls, by the giving OF free dances. ii
was fair for us to consider that thig
was common practice before wa
took Office; also that there was nd
legislation on the subject, and we
We're advised by the City Attorney
that such use was not technicallg
Illegal. We therefore let it bd
! known that our board was opposed
to this practice, and for the past
z year or more applicants for renewal
of saloon licenses with dance halls
, attached have agreed with the board
In open meeting not to use thelr
halls for this purpose, before wa
ANAtRN NA0A oHRAiNdttQuEs w & NGI
lieved that we could rely upon the
1 lpromise of saloon-keeper. even
though It was promise not to do d
thing which he could legally do: and
our confidence has been justified By
the result
"0ther states have passed lawa
aimed at the stopping of this abuseg
| New York being a recent instancek
But in the absence of specific legist
lation we believe that this free dance
evil, which certainly shocks the
moral sense Of every decent citizens
can be effectually checked by the
excise board, particularly IL 1t haa
the hearty cooperation of the Mayor
and the Police Department
when we took Office In january
1907, there had been no publlQ
clamor, manufactured or NATURAL
for change in excise adIninistra1
tion in this city. Speaking for the
democratic members Of the boards
| II will say that we did not make, NOD
were we asked to make, any ante8
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