The Washington times., 1913-03-02
THE AMENDED EXCISE BILL AND
,. THE TIMES.


After one of the most bitter fights that Congress
has ever known, the House at an early hour thi
morning sent conference as part of the Distric
appropriation bill, an amended form of the Jones
Works excise measure. 1t would not be in anywis
improper to attach to this amended bill the name
The Times, for in every essential particular it fol
lows the amendments presented by The Times to TIL
Appropriations Committee, through one of its mem
bers at midnight conference held on Friday nigh
for the consideration of compromise BILL
Ever since the Jones-Works bill was de6nitel,
formulated, passed by the Senate and sent to thu
House District Committee The Times has main
tanned that it should be passed, but tnat before it
passage it should be amended to relieve the liquo
interests and property holders from undue hardstip
which the bill in its original form entailed. Tht
Times has maintained editorialy and in numerous
tives of both the Ant-Saloon League and the liquo
dealers that the BILL to be fair needed amendments
1t has argued against the private school clause
against the l50-foot limitation between saloons
against the use of the word place instead o.
house of worship; against the powers given tht
chief of police and any single member of the Excise
Board in passing applications for licenses; agans
making the limitation of the number and location o
saloons operative on the passage Of the bill; agains
the provision which would make it unlawful to sel
bottled liquors in packages containing less than ,
quart when almost all bottled liquors. both domestic
and imported, short measure against the failure
to restrict the number of clubs; against the section
providing the screen law, and against the immediate
enforcement or passage of the law as whole and ir
each case has offered amendments and argued for
compromise.
Its objections to these features of the bill have
been based on sense of fairness to both the pubHt
and to those men who, engaged in the liquor bust
ness, have conducted it within the provisions of the
Times, therefore, takes especial satisfaction in the
fact that many amendments agreed upon by the Ap
preparations Committee and later indorsed by the
action of tine House follow, even to the form oil
language, the amendments which The Times draft
ed and presented for consideration
The Times wishes to extend its thanks to Con
gressman Swagar Sherley, member of the House
Appropriations Committee, who although he comes
from State and represents district largely inter
ested in the manufacture and sale of liquor never
ton to The Times amendments when he was asked BY
The Times to present them to his committee, and
maintained a most admirable attitude during the
consideration of the bill on the floor of the House
To all the other members of the Appropriations Com
mittee the Times extends its heartfelt appreciation
of their careful consideration of The Times amend
ments and congratulates them that by accepting them
they solved problem which appeared to be amos,
impossible of solution along any other lines.
For the liquor interests of the city The Times
hopes that tine amended bill will clear away many
conditions which must have been as obnoxious to
them as they were dstasteful to the public. The bill
in its present form gives the organized saloon keep
ample opportunity to do useful work in assist
ing the Excise Board in the rearranging of saloon
locations and saloon conditions; it gives them ample
ditions which were not capable of correction under
the old law The liquor dealers themselves can do
much to make the city of Washington so far as the
regulation of the traffic goes, the best governed city
in the world.
The Anti-Saloon League and those temperance
interests which have worked increasingly for the
passage of new excise law may be congratulated
On the requirement of a law embodying every essen
tal requirement for the proper regulation of liquor
traffic in the Nations Capital and with this desire
realized in the interests of their own cause and in