The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1910-04-14
Opponents Declare 1000
Foot Dry Zone Would
Close Saloons.
CHURCH FOLK SAY
1T PROTECTS HOMES
Large Attendance At the Commit
tee Hearing on Senator Cal
linger's Liquor Law.

Whether the Gsnlnger excise bill will
or viii not drive every saloon out OF
Washington was the real issue in the
hearing before the Senate District Com
mittee this morning. The saloon fcrces
declared. in apperentlv great alarm.
thar .k1s was the real object Of the
measure
The friends Of the bill on the other
hand, claimed that IL was intended 10
regulate and not prohibit the liquor
trade
The clause about which this issue
hangs prohibits the location OF a bar
room within leo feet Of any public
schools. church, playground or park.
This. the liquor men declared with great
emphasis, would eliminate the saloon
from Washington.
They said that II there should be a
SPOT further removed than Loo feet from
school, church, park or playground
the anti-salOOn people could Immediately
locate such an institution within the
l.oeo-foOt limit thereby forcing the sa-
Icons ont
To Protect Homes.
The church people and others in favor
OF the Dill admitted that Il was desigued
10 drive the saloon out Of the residential
district, but said that IL would not 50
operate 81 tee business section Of the
CITY They denied vigorously the charge
that the measure contained a ~joker,-
saying that the committee was cOmpe-
tent 90 de-ermine that fact
In the face Of this issue the other
regulations proposed such as the pro
nlDtELon OF free lunches. screens. louuE-
lnS furniture. GROWERS, upstairs dir
ms rooms, and others were compare
tikely llsleniucauL
Three hundred people packed the Sen
ale committee room They filed the
sisles- 1auuled The doorwzys- and col
iecIed II great numbers outside the
room. PROBABLY third OF those pres
ent were ladies'. Two and a half hours
were devoted 10 the argument, and
strong cases were made by both sides
Sweeping Reforms Urged
Sweeping reforms were urged By the
ant-saloou forces, and they submitted
that the present bin was a measure in
the right direction.
On the other hand, the opponents Of
the ban declared that there was no oc-
CASTOR for reform
The Rev. T. c. Dinwiddie conducted
the hearing on the part OF the anti
saloon forces. and in this he was backed
up oy a number Of local ministers. and
otner church people
Hugh +. Harvey. secretary of the
rs aSilinEtOn Mercantile Association. and
himself q saloonkeeper- led the fight
b- representatives. OF the German
American Alliance. the Central Labor
Union, and the Personal Liberty League.
Two Hours for Argument.
Senator GaIlinger opened the hearing
By announcing that the friends Of the
bin would open for one hour. the op-
pOHents would reply for fOrty-f1ve min
utes. and the friends would close for
fifteen minutes This arrangement
proved satisfactory to all interests
T. c. DiESiddie, the first speaker,
approved section 1 OF the bill. which
defines what constitutes liquor Then
he argued for the reorganization Of the
excise board. as provided for in the
pending bill This, he said gave all de-
paTUnentS OF the District government {
having to do with liquor violations (
representation OF the board
Mr.. Diuwiddie opposed the present 1
in license applications upon the com
munity instead OF upon ne applicant +
He said the pending ues .ure corrected 4
this and 10 also makes n liquor dealer 1
Of enjoying practically a perpetual priv
ilege after having once secured a /
license
The speaker also contended that N /
The absence of suffrage IN the District I
the people should have some means nf /
expressing their desires for the charac- /
ter Of the community
AS for the sale Of liquor to minors and 4
as 10 the preSense OF minors and wom-
en- in saloons. he said common sense
supported the prohibition Of these fea-
lures He would make ii a misdeneanor /
for minor TO miSrepreSent his age. He I
opposed the ''growler'' trade, also free /
lunches.
The drinking Of liquors on cars was /
opposed The recent Wilmington Del. /
tragedy was attributed 10 the fact that I
liquor was sold OF the Baltimore and 1
carriers to admit to their cars drunken I
people under any circuunsta nces He
said they were always a menace
The I,oOo-Foot Zone.
As for the provision prohibiting the /
sale Of liquor within loo feet OF a
school. park. playground, OF church. |
Mr.. Dinwiddfe said that many places /
existed within such territory The pres
ent law places the zone limit at 800 feet /
senator Buckley asked If the 1000
foot limitation would not prevent the
issuance Of any licenses whatever
The speaker replied that II would
prohibit them in residential sections
and should do so AS for the downtown
section, he could not speak
Mr. Dinwiddie supported the pro
visions prohibiting screens or music
or tbeatri calls in saloons He said
that the present law would abolish
fbe saloon in the Union Depot Also.
he said. il would prohibit women
SERVING in any place where liquor is
sold
Senator Carter asked If IL were not
a fact 4 at section 16- extending the
dry zone 0 1000 feet would result in
prOhfbftiUr. in the District
Tire speaker could give no definite
answer he was pressed for an opin-
ion as to the effect of the provision,
but he would not give any.
Do Not Ask Prohibition.
l)r. woodrow, president Of the Anti
de. He said that Washington was
FIR from model city, and had the