Perth Amboy evening news., 1915-07-02
GRANT TRANSFER OF
BROWNS LICENSE
Action Was Taken in the Face
of Protest at Board of Excise
Commissioners Last Night.
BOARD SUSPENDS RULES
Refuse to Grant Bottling Ii
CenSe to John BiIke-ACtiOn
in Other Cases.
BOARD SUSPENDS RULES

i'll OtfiCf OdStS.
In the face of protest, the Board
of Excise Commissioners granted a
transfer of the hotel license of Floyd
7. Brown, at the Island House, 33
Smith street, to 825 Amboy avenue.
The board also acted upon an appli-
cation of John Bike for a new bot
tling license, which was refused. 1t
was necessary for the commissioners
to suspend the rules to act on these
applications, as they would otherwise
have had to be laid over until the
next regular meeting. The board
granted all of the other applications,
which included four other transfers
and nineteen renewals.
Thomas Brown, counsel for the
owner of the Island House, from
ferred, addressed the board in be-
half of his client and he urged that
the transfer be not granted He in
formed the com missioners that they
must know OF conditions .ad of the
court record in F. T. Browns case.
The commissioners appeared to have
agreed at caucus prior to the meet
ing to suspend the rules, and granted
the transfer application unanimous
ly. Today Counselor Brown issued
q statement In which he held that
the granting of the license was a sub
ject OF investigation for the grand
jury. His statement follows:
AS attorney for the owners of
the Island House, the hotel formerly
occupied by Mr.. Floyd Brown, l
appeared at the meeting of the
Board Of Excise Commissioners last
night / did not make any lengthy
objection or protest to the action of
the board, as 1 clearly scented when
the board had suspended their rules
for the evening the futility Of max
ing any protest; however, this does
not relieve the board of the odium
of their act in granting a license to
Floyd Brown, and Immediately
granting a transfer.
Floyd Brown was dispossessed
on the eighth day of February last
from the premises for which the
board granted him a license last
night. He thereupon Immediately
removed all his fixtures and aban-
doned the place; notwithstanding
this abandonment, three or four at
tempts were made by him to trans
fer his license from the place form
erly occupied by him to several
places In the city, all of which fail
ed.
'tThe Excise Board, therefore,
were in possession of all these facts
and there was called to their atten-
tion time and again the provisions
of an act relating to the sale of spir-
itous liquors, which will be found
in the pamphlet laws of 1918, be-
ginning at page 574. Notwithstand-
ing all of these facts the excise
board did, with open and notorious
defiance of the law, which was called
to their attention, consider the ap
plication for the Brown license last
night.
Number foul of their rules re-
quires that an application for
transfer must be laid over until the
next regular meeting. The board,
without notice to anyone, suspended
their rules for the purpose of grant
ing the Brown transfer upon the
first night of its application.
Section IL Of the ordinance re-
lating to the granting of licenses in
the city of Perth Amboy states that
any place that shall not have a
license for more than one month
shall be considered a new place.
There has not been license in the
Island House Hotel or occupation of
it since the ninth day of February
last, period of over five months.
The laws of 1913 hereinbefore re-
ferred to state explicitly that an
abandonment such as that of the
Island House by Floyd Brown shall
constitute an abandonment Of his
license in that place and that an
application for license to be made
would be considered as a new license
and would be license in excess of
the ratio provided by the statute;
that is to say, one license for every
five hundred people.
"Under this law the transfer
which was granted to Brown cannot
legally be granted until notice of
abandonment under this act is filed
by the board None of these things
were done.
"In my opinion, the granting of
the license to Brown and this appli- |
cation are clearly a subject for in
vestigation by the grand jury, as the
ggz nting of licenses under more fav-
II able circumstances have been
dealt with effectively by grand juries |
In other counties.
Questioned about the action imme-
diately after 1t was taken last night |
some of the excise commissioners
stated that they could not help them
selves but give aid to Floyd D. /
Brown. Mr.. Boehm stated that the1
license appeared to be all that Brown
now possessed and he could not con-
aid in depriving him of
that, especially In view of the fact |
that 1t was going away out In the
1t appeared, according
to the commissioners, that Brown
was being "pinehed" for money and,
not having it, more influential Inter
ssts were trying to take hotel and IL
,ense away from him.
Today 1t was stated among the
that they had acted
Ipon advice of the city attorney In
the Brown application. 1t
vas stated that the transfer was
egaI and legitimate in every detail.