The Washington times., 1912-05-10
LIQUOR MEN SAY
"JORERS" ARE IN
\ NEW EXCISE LAW
Declare Chief of Police
Would Be Bigger Than
Commission.
Continued from First Pase.1

70 approve its getting license under
The provisions of this bill?'
According ID the testinony Major
sylvester gave before the senate COM
nIiltee his trouble - not the saloon. IL
II tho hotel and piaces selling without "a
Keeper cut Of business in order to get
at these other penple7 We wish TO make
It plain that no mora laws are needed
il is as bad as represented. is Tho en-
iorcement cf what laws we already
have have Ev4iy argument the advocates Of
@ nint " our a% autSpries @ Rass law that 1T
abundance to reduce the number OF
SALOONS. to, stup all illegal sale of liquor,
I" clnse all 'lisrcputable places OF what
ever kind and whichever located. II they
won't do II. that is their fault, not the
fault of the law. nor the fault of the
law abiding saloon keeper. And II they
On with the new law on the books.
That's AL the argument there is to this
wiicle question"
Seven Saloons Immune.
The liquor interests claim the best
proof that the proposed law Is intended
to be prohibitory measure rather than
regulatory one is their allegation that
II VIII leave only seven saloons in Wash
lngton outside of the twenty-one hotels
and whatever clubs will be permitted.
Although they will not specify which
seven these are, they say that they
nave secured data from every saloon
In Washington and, with the exception
or Just seven, every one Of them will
be driven out of business by the opera
ton of that section which prohibits all
saloons within certain distance of
church and school property, within l5O
feet of each other within any residence
portion of the District, within any block
In which less than one-half Of the houses
are used for business purposes, and
In the BILL such as that territory around
the navy yard and marine barracks, and
Rock Creek Park, and other places Cx-
pressly provided by the bill as dry"
territory.
Take out all these zones, and apply
the. yardstick to the other places, and
just seven saloons would remain. is
the unqualified assertion of the liquor
interests. and" they add 1T that is
not prohibition, what is?"
Moreover, they point out what they
consider a "toker" in the bill that will
enable the temperance. people to dry
main in this desert of thirst. Under the
present laws no saloon Is permitted to
have a license within 400 feet of "house
OF religious worship" unless 1t was
of that house of worship. Under the
proposed law the distance Is increased
to 800 feet, the saloon that is within that
limit must be closed, no matter II it had
the ''house of religious worship" and
this is where the shoe pinches-the word
house has been changed to read
place"
"Place," Instead of "House."
This provision will, say the liquor
men, enable anyone to start place"
OF religious worship within 500 feet of
any saloon that may have escaped all
other prohibitions of the law. and no
matter how long that saloon has been
running or how reputable 1t is, its H.
cense cannot be renewed. place OF
religious worship. say the liquor men
may mean a tent, 1t may even mean a
street corner, which the Salvation Army
or some other organization might use,
that the people worshiping shall be any
recognized sect. They may be Holy
Rollers, or any other body OF people of
small number advocating any old thing
and calling it worship. with this pro-
vision in the BILL say the liquor men,
there is not the slightest chance for
the existence of any saloon in the Dis
trict.
They cite two illustrations to prove
this. First, they say provision similar
to this one was slipped into the Ken
tucky LIQUOR laws and the limit was
years, they claim, places Of worship
sprang up like mushrooms and perished
as rapidly. They were moved about or
wheels, anchored In community untl
all the saloons were closed and then
moved on to the next place.
In Washington even under the pres
ent law the liquor interests claim tina
1t is possible to work an injustice to ,
saloon keeper. Although the presen
law protects the saloon by .priort!
clause, one illustration is given to shov
that 1t can be manipulated. A saloon
keeper occupying rented property wishe'
the owner to fix the place up, as 1t be
gan to look delapidated. The owne
refused. Then the saloonkeeper, want
ing to remain in the neighborhood ant
keep his trade, rented a room in tn
same block, and prepared to move hi
business. The owner who had refused
to make repairs heard Of 1t, hired I
colored man to act as minister and in
stituted house of worship within 40
feet of the place to which his tenan
intended to move. 1t put the saloo
man out of business, and as soon a
that happened the Services of the col
ored preacher were dispensed with.
The possibilities of a law that per
mits the establishment Of a place" o
worship within 800 feet of a saloon ar
vicious, say the liquor men. II the In
tent of the law is fair why not leav