The Washington times., 1913-07-02
PERMIT LEN|ENCY ..
UNDER EXCISE LAW

! District Prosecutors Will MOI
| Enforce Liquor Measure
Strictly for Time.
! not take advantage of technicalitiei
in the Jones-Works excise law and at.
tempt to close up any places under the
act until the new Excise Board has
been confirmed and had an opportunity
to pass on and construe doubtful Sec
! tione of the measure.
This announcement was made Off
cially today and comes as a relief to
the saloon men and restaurant pro-
prietors In "doubtfll" territory. who
have been wondering just where they
stood under the new law.
Might Work Injustice.
The Corporation Counsers Office takes
the attitude that to strictly interpret
or Yigidly enforce certain sections Of the
act would work an injustice to The
/, saloon men and ruin many businesses
| without justification. Speaking on the
| subject. one OF the officials Of the Office
said:
Ito attempt to close up the place Of .
man who may have right to continue
in business under the new boards rul-
ings would certainly be unfair. end
,nt n. ,sti nd Sv, Thta
ofYlce VIII take Q conservative stand
| until the new board 10 confirmed and
has q chance to get In harness. On the
other hand, the sections Of the law
which can leave no possible doubt a.
to their meaning will be vigorously en-
forced. This applies particularly to sell:
ing on Sunday, hours Of closing. and
being intoxicated on the street"
Prepare To Test Law.
II was said on good authority today
that when the new Excise Board as
sumes its duties and the rather per-
picking sections Of the act have been
| construed by that tribunal. the liquor
interests plan making . test case and
carrying 1t to the United States su-
preme Court on the ground that II 10
Unconstitutional.
Just what steps viii be taken to get
| the question before the highest tribunal
have not been decided, and no definite
plans win be formulated until u 10
found just what attitude the new board
will take with respect to the law.
The only arrests made under the new
law were for violation Of section u.
which makes II misdemeanor to be
intoxicated on the street or any public
place. and for drinking liquor In public.
REGARDING the sale Of hauor 70 women:
serving of women under technicality
Of the law, which requires that women
shall only be served In such places a.
have been declared restaurants" By the
The view IL taken that these places
already have restaurant licenses from
the District, for which was paid the reg
ular fee In addition to the District ex-
else license fee and the internal rev.
enue tax. Under these circum.tances II
is reasonable TO believe that the excise
board may officially declare such places
Restaurants" but IN view Of the fact
that there Is no board In existence 10
! rule on the question, II 10 ruled TO be
, anything but equitable to stop the said
served with food along with the drinks.
This means that all summer gardens,
palm gardens, rathskellars and the like
can continue doing business for the
The law says that women may only
be served with meals. As to what
constitutes q meal the corporation
counsel will not attempt to say. The
courts have differed on this, and the
only way It can be determined is on
the merits OF each particular case. No
hard and fast rule can be laid down.
Example of Case.
As an example of this. a case was
cited where a local hotel keeper was
recently convicted for selling on Sum-
day. The facts were these: Two
policemen went into the hotel and
ordered two bottles of beer. They
were told they could not be served
without food. Sandwiches were or
dered, but the waiter still declined
to serve them until they had regis
tered. They had the register brought
into the cafe where they signed their
| names The drinks were then served.
1t was explained that technically
had registered, thus becoming guests
of the hostelry. and had been served
with a meal before getting the
drinks. In spite of this, however, the
Court of Appeals Of the District held
that the proprietor was guilty OF
evading the law and was therefore
guilty of selling on Sunday.
| Summed up. the District officials
attitude Is that no action should be
taken which will destroy an estab-
Il
| AS 4 matter of fact. II will be up Ia
| the Police Court and afterward the
Court Of Appeals TO construe the law
But the first construction will be by
| the excise board. Afterward efforts
will be made to get the sections which
are not altogether clear before the
| courts.
Summer Garden Business.
The restaurant people and summer
garden proprietors, having been as
sured that they would not be dlstubr.
ed provided they did not serve wom-
en- liquor except with meals" con.
tinued their business as usual las,
night. The police kept close watch
| on all the places to see that the othe,
sections Of the new law were strictly
| observed
i There was a big demand for sand.
| wiches OF all varieties. although IN
| some of the places the women were
served with claret lemonade and sim,
/ liar near-soft drinks without order.
ing food.
A.. n>aI - r.l~.