The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-07-25

striotion which our own as well as the experience of other states or countries had suggested. The cardinal purpose of the l present law was to divorce the liquor traf- l ice from politics. and to confine the brewer and distiller to the manufacture and not allow them to dominate or control the retail business. It sought to secure the purity of the liquors sold by pre- seribing in the act itself the character and quality of liquors which could be of- tered for sale As to spirituous liquors the law permits only the sale of those which have been properly distilled and prohibits the sale of all forms of com pounds, imitation or adulterated liquors. Sn eminent an authority as Dr. Wiley has stated to me in a personal letter that nearly 90 per cent of the intemperance in lis country is due to the consumption of impure and adulterated liquors.
 ''The present statute applies to every To- eality alike, for had there been special and local instead of a general law there would undoubtedly have been pernicious activity on the part of different locali- ties or cities in the state to secure more liberal regulations than those which pre- vailed in rival cities or counties, with the necessary consequence that there would have been no uniformity In our statutes and no successful method of reg ulatcn. The statute wisely fixes the en-
 
 in every county or city in the state, ap- portioning the amount properly between the state, city and county, hence there is no longer any incentive for the sa- loun keeper to attempt to control muni- oipal politics in order to secure a low license or less severe regulations
 By the creation of an excise com mission we have secured a tribunal which is practically always in session, free from political influences, whose members are non-office holders and who, after careful scrutiny and rigid investigation of the record of each applicant, are authorized To issue license to those who in the ! judgment of the commissioners meet the strict requirements of the law.
 "The opponents of the present law have claimed that an excise commission is an innovation; but if it Is an innovation It is q wise and necessary one; and for the first time in it's history the state re- cures a tribunal vested with adequate power to control the granting and for teitGre of licenses and the proper enforce ment Of the law. regard the excise com mission as the most valuable feature of the present law. Nor is it a just or valid eiiticism that this system has not pre- vailed in many states of the union. 1t has Teen adopted for many years in Can ada which conceededly possesses the WiSest and best system of liquor regula- ten 10 be found on this continent The progress and advancement of the Ameri- can people is largely due to the fact that they have not hesitated to adopt reforms
 in legislation even though they had their birth in foreign lands. Wherever the ex- else commission has been tried in the United States it has proven decided
 improvement over the old system, and has caused more efficient regulation.
 'Tne statute itself provides that there gIa h,. ,T Judo or decision of any excise commission sus- pending or cancelling any license and neces sarily there can be no appeal from the decision of the commission in grant
 ng a license. The opponents of this law have denounced this provision, and al- though they profess to regard the liquor dealer as the lowest and most degraded of mankind, with singular inconsistency, they express their detestation of a sys- tem which refuses to allow an appeal by q liquor dealer who may have forfeited his light to do business by fragrant viola tions of law, by repeated convictions, or by the commission of an offense involV- ing moral turpitude. A moments con- slderation will convince even the most plejudiced that the right of appeal from the granting or revocation of a license would defeat the whole purpose of the law. |
 "In the city of Montgomery, where S9 licenses can be allowed outside of bona- | hde hotels and clubs, there might be 200 applicants. If an appeal was allowed from the exercise of the discretion vested in your commission to make a proper selection of 90 men from this list of ap- piteants, the necessary result would be that your action being reviewable your decsion would be suspended until the appeal was finally determined. Until the appeal was finally determined no license could be granted. If on the appeal the court should hold that all of the 200 ap- phrants were proper persons to be li- cenFed who would be vested with the power to make the selection? If entrusted .o court the effect would De to de- grade and lower the standing of the bench by yesting in the judge a new and dan gerods political power and subjecting him to influences which would destroy his inc dependence and make him either the vic- tim or suppliant tool of the liquor in- terests.
 Another valuable provision of the law is the fact that the number of licenses he- ing restricted, the privilege to do bus iness becomes a valuable asset, and when once granted will be automatically con- 'lhued to the person who has not violated the law. There is no more powerful weapon to secure obedience to law than self-inerest. A liquor dealer possessing this valuable asset would be influenced by every consideration of self-interest not 10 endanger it's continuance by any iniraetion of the law.
 Another important provision of the law is ihe requirement for the licensee to execute a bond guaranteeing his compl- ance with the law in the conduct of his l business, and providing for the recovery l or stipulated sum as liquidated dam 1 ages for sales to minors, to persons of known lhtemperate habits, and for sales | on sunday, or any other violations by the licenaee of the provisions Of the act. l Under the laws which formerly ex- istod scarcely a civil suit of this char aeter was ever brought in any court of l this state, because 1t was difficult if not impraetcable, to ascertain the amount of damage, and hence the necessity and wisdom of the present provision, More over, the statute provides that the liauor dea,er is civilly liable for any injury to any person or property proximately caused by sale, and authorizing any ore aggrieved to recover full damages oy action in the case.
 "l am deeply impressed with the con-