The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-08-15
ANSWER ADDRESSED TO
 [. THE STATEMENTS MADE BY HON. SIDNEY J. BOWIE

as well as hotels containing less than 30 1 rooms, are counted.
 l Then to hotels containing 90 rooms l or more, there is no mandatory provis- l ion that the excise commission shall is- sue license; that Is matter of dis | eretion which they can exercise accord l ing to their best judgment and for what 1 they believe will conduce to the public
 welfare.
 Corporations Limited lt l It will be seen upon an examination of the regulation act that no license can be
 issued to corporation except a domestic l corporation authorized by it's charter to
 manufacture or sell at wholesale, or
 which is authorized by it's charter to l operate a bona-fde hotel or restaurant
 or bona-fide social club. 1 Hence the corporation to sell liquors must not only be a domestic one, but | 1t must be one expressly authorized by 1 it's charter to manufacture or sell at l wholesale, or a domestic corporation op- erating a bona-fide hotel or restaurant, I or a bona-fde social club. Does not this make it plain that licenses can be granted to corporations only in the fol- i lowing cases:
 l. A domestic corporation engaged in | the manufacturing of liquors or in the wholesale liquor business.
 | ?. A domestic corporation operating a 1 bona-fide hotel or restaurant. 3. A domestic corporation operating a
 social club.
 In other words, a domestic corpora l ton as such is not authorized to secure a retail liquor license, unless 1t is oper-
 ating a hotel, a restaurant, or a social
 club.
 Excise Commission
 MT. Bowie says the excise commission
 under the direct appointment of the gov
 ernor is strange and new provision. | The excise commission is not an innova- l tion It has been successfully operated in
 many cities. and it has been in existence | for many years in Canada, where even
 the most prejudiced concede are to be
 found the best regulated liquor establish ments on the American continent. Un- der the control of the excise commission 1 iE the Canadian Dominion the laws are
 rigidly enforced and the liquor traffic Is as absolutely controlled as it is possi- | ble by human legislation.
 Absolutely UnfOunded The statement by MT. Bowie that
 the commission may with or with | out reason grant, withhold, revoke or suspend the license Is absolutely unfOunded.
 | They must grant licenses to a limited number. As there will necessarily be more applicants, owing to the fact that under the wise provisions of the Smith law the number of licenses are lim- l tied, they must necessarily exercise a wise and just discretion. Under the system that formerly prevailed in Ala
 bama there was no limitations to the number of licenses that could be grant ed for the retail sales of liquors The Smith law wisely limits the num- Der of saloons in Birmingham to one to every 5000 inhabitants, and 1t will necessarily follow that there will be more applicants for license than there will be licenses to be granted, and 1 hence the law vests in the commits sion the power to select from the mum Der of applicants those who, in their judgment, are best fitted by reason of their character, their record and their standing in the community to properly conduct the liquor business. The purpose of the law Is to ele-
 vate the liquor traffic, to take 1t
 away from the divekeeper, the thug
 or criminal and place 1t In the hands of men of good moral char
 acter who are residents of the state
 and to encourage obedience to the l law not only by the fear of pun | fshment, the loss of license and civil damages, but by that selfish inter- est which will induce any man to
 not recklessly forfeit n privilege l which has a very decided com l merciaI value.
 Appeal From Commission l the action or the commission. in granting, revokng or suspending license An ap- peal would defeat the very purposes of the law. Every person of intelligence
 knows that in city like Birmingham 1 there may be probably five or ten appli- cants for every license that is to be grant@ ed. The commission is to weigh the rec | ord, the character and standing of each applicant.
 l They must necessarily exercise a wise discretion in making a selection. If, after l they make a selection out of the large number of applicants seeking licenses their action was subject to review by any other court, no licenses could be legally issued until the appeal was determined. The appeal might require months, or even years, before final decision was rem dered. and in the meanwhile no persons | could be allowed to conduct the liQuor business.
 | Of course such condition of affairs would be pleasing to the prohibitonists, built is not an argument worthy of one who states that he is opposed. to prohi
 bition and desires the liquor traffic to bo properly controlled and regulated. | Again, suppose an appeal was allowed and, say there were 300 applicants for license in Birmingham and 45 to be granted. Suppose the court should hold that all of the 500 possessed the necessary qualifications under the law, who then would determine which one of the 800 should be granted license3
 | To Jury or Judge l Would you leave it to a jury or to a judge? Would their decision be wiser Or better than the decision of an impartial commission composed of men who are not office holders, who are not connected with the liquor traffic and who are not interested in any way in the building in which the saloon is 10 be conducted? l If left to a~jury to exercise sdiscre- | ton which is now vested. in the ,comms- sion would it not open wide the door | for fraud, corruption, the exercise of po- litIcal influences and the control of the louor interests? If the judge should be | allowed to exercise such a power would 1t not make 1t to the interest of the brewer and the distiller to control the nomination and election of the judges in 1 every county in the state? Would it rot have a tendency to prostitute and degrade the judiciary? | Mir. Bowie says that the excise con- mission ought to be elected by the peo- rle He has entirely miconceived the whole purpose of the law, which IS to divorce the liquor traffic from politics l If the excise commission were elected by | the people it would be a bid for all those Interested in the liquor traffic, the brew CT and the distiller, to exercise per | nicous and demoralizing influence In politics. If they controlled the commis- | sion condition of affairs would exist | in Alabama more deplorable than ever occurred under the miserable system or regulation which formehy prevailed in the state