South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1914-12-01
COURT DENIES AN
INJUNCTION To
AVENUE HOTEL CO
Judge Van Fleet Rules Mayor
Keller May Go on With Hear
ing to Revoke License on
Ground of Alleged Violations

Judge Van Fleet refused to grant
a temporary injunction Tuesday morn
ing to the Avenue Hotel Co. which
sought to restrain Mayor Keller from
taking action looking toward the re-
vocation of the liquor license held by
the company.
A temporary restraining had been
granted Saturday by the judge
and the petition for the temporary in
junction was taken up Monday when,
after hearing arguments continued the
larger part of the day, the court took
the matter under advisement until
Tuesday morning. The question will
now be threshed out before Mayor
Keller inaSmuch as there is no appeal
from the court on action taken in a
petition for temporary injunction.
James Curtis manager of the AV-
enue hotel, was recently arrested on
the charge of having sold liquor on
Sunday. He was given two trials in
the city court at each of which the
jury disagreed and returned a ballot
of 9 to in favor of acquittal. AS a
result of the charge brought against
Curtis the mayor proposed a hearing
to revoke the license held by the
Avenue Hotel Co. 1t was with the
purpose of restraining him from TAX
ing this action that counsel for the
hotel company appealed TO the su-
perior court and in their petition for
a temporary injunction they based
their claims largely upon an interpre-
tatiOn OF the Proctor law. This law
was held to very materially change
the status of placing operating under
liquor licenses, and the power of the
mayor over such places.
Make Three Contentious.
rT,l,o fFroo conta,,
tions, namely: That the city now has
no power to issue a liquor license and
that therefore the mayor has not the
right to revoke a license and that if
there were such a license and the
mayor had such power as aforesaid,
he could not legally take action on any
other grounds than a violation Of the
terms Of the license or Of the law
under which the license was granted
and that testimony concerning women
and other matters arising in the op-
Grafton of the hotel were irrelevant
TO the case. In defense Of the first
contention it was held that under the
present law the city merely collects
tax or fee from places operating
under the liquor law.
The court held that the Proctor law
and other statutes pertaining to the
liquor business were not antagOnistiC
been expressly repealed by the Proc
tor act. He said that he thought that
the tendencies now were to enlarge
the restrictions on liquor licenses. IL
! was held that the court could not
properly attempt to decide whether
or not the mayor could act in a judi
cial or an administrative capacity in
the matter OF TO what extent the
mayor might act. The mayor him
self, the court held, was the judge OF
this matter
Says Mayor Has Power.
AS to the specify contentious the
court gave it as his opinion that the
city did still grant a liquor license and
that the mayor did have certain
powers over such a. license. Tt was
held that the court could not assume
as to whether or not the mayor would
exceed his powers but that the au-
thority in the matter was with the
mayor and no injunction would be
granted.