The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-07-30
BOWIE |NFAVOR .OF D|SPENSARY Gives His Objections to the
 Smith Bill TOO MUCH POWER Thinks If the Present Governor Does Not Some Other Will Take Ad-
 vantage of Excise Com
 mission Privileges

| N-------
 Sydney J. Bowie yesterday issued the following statement giving his reasons for favoring the dispensary system of handling liquors in Jefferson county:
 ''I was opposed to the adoption of tlic prohibition amendment to fhe constitu-
 ton of our state and favor Che legalized
 sale of liquor in this county. While l had lad every sympathy with the prohibition
 laws so far as their enforcement wa,
 concerned. it has been fairly demon
 strated that a majority of the people o
 this county do not favor these laws ane
 under the circumstances they ought to bc
 repealed.
 But I am opposed to the licensing ol
 saloons to be operated by individuals ot
 corporations, because, In the first place
 the saloon itself is a source and center
 of evil; it tends to the demoralization
 of the people; it is inimical to the pub I'c welfare, and in my opinion the private taffic In liquors, especially by retail is
 subversive of and destructive 70 all the principles of good government. In the next place, I am opposed specifically to the licensing of private individuals 10 sell. liquor under the provisions of the so-called Smith bill, because that law contains the most dangerous and indefen- sible provisions under which the license to sell liquor in this state has ever been permitted
 Some of the many objectionable pro- visions of the Smith bill are
 To Private Corporations
 T. For the first time in the history of the state it is provided that retail H. cense to sell liquor may in many in- stances be issued to private corporations. | The corporation being an artificial en- I tlty is effectually exempted from impris- onment, and the managing agent is not l esponsible for his clerks or servants. Put it's worst provisions lies In :he fact, unexpressed although in the terms of tho 1 statute, that a single individual may l through the ownership of majority or | the stock concentrate in his hands the entire business of those corporations who l under this law are authorized to retail liouors. It is especially provided by the bill that no person shall be dispenser under the dispensary system who has taken out A license from the federal gov ernment since statutory prohibition went into effect in 1907, but no such prohib!- ton applies to the case of saloons and hotels and private clubs The blind tigers who have flourished, and who are the object of so much solicitude on the part cf the liquor interest, are permitted. it they are not invited to apply for ana obtain a license. Under the provisions of this bill the excise commission mighr refuse a license to the most notorious and yet through the ownership of a ma ,ority of the stock in private hotel and restaurant corporations he could control ard operate as many of the saloons ot this city as his finances would permit
 But worse than this, the whiskey trust itself, or the brewery's trust, could singly or collectively buy up the con- trol of many saloons in the city through the scheme of stock ownership in private corporations. The wise provision in the Fuller bill prohibiting any corporation in this state hereafter organized from deal ing in spirituous, vinous and malt liquors is repealed No reason for this new de- parture in the public policy of cur state
 is given but in my opinion 1t is utterly if'- defensible and makes of the law meU- ace to the community.
 In Hands of GOvsSpor
 "2 The excise commission under the direct appointment of the governor. whose terms shall lapse over in the administration of his successor is a strange and new provision. The sal aries to be paid to the members of the commission and the secretary aggre- gate $11,400 per annum. In addition, every applicant for a license must pay $l0 as the contingent expense of the commission. There Is no provision of the law defining or limiting these eX- penses, and there IS no provision of the law requiring the refund of the $lo to the applicant who fails to procure a license, and there Is no provision re- quiring any surplus to be turned over to the state, city or county, nor having accountability to any human being. AS the number of applicants will ragely exceed the number of licenses granted, an enormous fund is thus left in the hands of the excise commission without definition, regulation or control. The commission with or without reason may grant, withhold. revoke or suspend any license to any individual or cor poration, and from such action there is no appeal to any court or person They can only be removed for misfeasance or malfeasance in office, and the gov ernor, who appointed them, Is the sole judge to determine their guilt or in nooence.
 'fn the case of other officers ample provision is made by law for their inn peachment before the courts of the county Provisions are made for the impeachment or removal of the dis penser and purchasing agent of the dispensary, but no provi4on whatever Is found for the removal or impeach- ment of the excise commission. except the single one of misfeasance' or mal- feasance in office to be determined by the governor alone. It Is not neces- sary to impeach or critcise the goverI nor of this state or any successor of his. when it is affirmed that this power to try his own appointees is one which ought not to be vested in his office, and which the people by their votes ought not to permit. If the courts of the country are sufficient to try the judges sheriffs the tax collectors. county treas urers and all the balance of the off oers of the state and counties. they ought to be sufficient to try the excise commission for it's offenses If any, The whole tendency and plan of our government is to take away from the executive department arbitrary and despotic power. By this method our liberties have been preserved.
 The constitution of our state ex- pressly provides that the judicial. ex ecutive and legislative depa rtments shall ever be kept apart. and no one AHn rtv, ,tS cl1 iuo