Evening star., 1933-10-13
After Repeal WHAT,
Rockefeller Survey Believes State Control of Liquor
Would Stife Private Profit Motive, Held
Greatest Cause of Evils of Excess.

] LTHS u E1CSSSs
cooperation with the Federal Govern
ment.
80. The power to hold hearings on
complaints about matters In dispute,
including the power to subpoena wit
nesses and records and to make binding
decisions"
Organize Chain Of Stores.
| In conclusion, the report says: THAT
these sre broad powers there Is no de-
nying. But powers as extensive have
been conferred on similar bodies in
jurisdictions where the democratic
principle is as strongly entrenched a.
| it Is with US.
1T Is to be noted that no reference
is made in this list OF powers to the
sale of heavier alcoholic beverages by
the glass for on-premises consumption.
Such sale is inevitably frought with
| danger to the public interest. It is our
hope that generous provision for the
on-premises sale OF beer and natural
wine, together with sale Of stronger
beverages by the package in the au-
thoritys shops, would be accepted as
adequate in most jurisdictions by q
preponderant majority of people"
! Inc primary task OF the Authority
would be the organization of chain Of
retail liquor stores. Particular care
would be taken not to force a liquor
store on community which did not
oeSlre it.
While manufacture of liquor might be
supervised. no attempt would be made
| at the present time to assume control
| of it.
VIRTUALLY - the individual and So
cial evils o. the liquor traffic arise from
an lnadeQuateIy regulated and over
| stimulated retail Sale," states the re-
port.
The Authority would purchase sup
Plies for its sores from the private
manufacturers.
Authority Should Be Pienary.
While the Authority should be Gre
ated as special branch Of the State
! government, 1t should be freed from
the traditional departmental restric-
tions affecting such matters as pur-
chases, appropriations, personnel, and
similar business matters, the report
suggests.
The power of the alcohol Authority
should be plenary, subject to the power
of the Governor to appoint, members.
The only other safeguard from outside
governmental agencies should be the
power Of the State auditor or controller
to audit the Authority's books at the
Governors direction.
| There IS nothing new, says the re-
port, in such independence, which is
the logical method of managing large
scale public enterprises. It points to
the London Passenger Transport Au-
thority, the British Broadcasting Cor
poration. the Port of New York Author
! 1ty, and the Tennessee Valley Authority
for examples.
The appropriateness Of the Authority
scheme for dealing with the complex
problems of distributing liquor is at
tested, the report says, by the fact that
no nation which has tried the scheme
has yet abandoned it.
The question OF how the Authority is
to raise its funds, whether by appropri-
ations, bond issues, or by other meth
DDS, is left open. 1t is strongly urged,
however, that the large profits to be
expected from the operations Of the au-
thority be turned directly into the
State treasury, and not earmarked for
any special Use such as schols or old
age pensions. "Earmarking of reve-
nues," says the report, lis contrary to
sound public finance"
Three Members on Board.
A board Of directors for the Author
ity, whose duties would be quasi-legis-
lative, quasi-judicial, and quasi-execu-
tive, should consist of at least three
members. The members should be men
of unquestioned integrity and outstand-
ing ability, and should be appointed for
overlapping nine-year terms.
There should also be some officer
with the rank of managing director
responsible to the board for the execu-
ton of policies determined by the board.
The board should be free to set up its
own organization, but its details should
be left to the managing director. The
operating organization would conceiva-
bly, have these bureaus: Cd Retail shops
and agencies, (2) permits, 90 treasury,
a. inspection, 60 central purchasing
bureau, (6) personnel bureau, CD rec
ords of statistics. There should be a
small legal staff, a chemist and perhaps
others. ALI employees should be Sc
lected and promoted through the civil
service on merit alone.
But the above, the report says. is only
set down as a general guide, and the
proper approach is to select the best
men and set them to work with mini
mum Of hampering restrictions.
Competent, socially minded men Of
unblemished integrity" 1t says. who,
within the spirit Of the law. set them
selves to administer a liquor control
system would, if given wide power,
doubtless make a flrst-class job Of 1t.
They would not need a mass of legal
restrictions to tell them what they
should not do. In fact, competent ad-
ministrators could not work consist
emily toward goal if they were ham
at <1,r in, tho ovorniSa nf
discretion. For these reasons we urge
that the authority be invested with
ample powers, and that the board men,
bers be made secure in their tenure Of
Office and be left free to adjust their
policies and regulatory procedures to
social needs"
Eliminate Private Profit.
Elimination of the private profit mo-
tive from the sale Of liquor, responsible
for most of the evils of the past, cannot
conceivably be attained by any licensing
system, no matter how rigidly enforced,
the report concludes. There is in the
licensing and private selling of liquor
an irreconcilable and permanent con-
flict with social control.
The report makes reference to an
attempt to secure this end made by
South Carolina from 1892 until its Il ILL.,
fated end" in 1906, an effort at that
time regarded as "Socialistic." This
system, it says, is often referred to as
if it were State liquor monopoly es-
sentially similar to the Canadian, Nor
wegian and the Swedish systems. As
a matter of fact, however, the South
Carolina plan did not eliminate the
private profit motive. The salaries OF
dispensing agents were made to vary
with the amount Of business done, and
the agents were really licensees, re-
sembling private dealers under license
system.
The case is summed up thus:
THE South Carolina liquor diSpen-
sary plan was State monopoly of the
wholesale trade grated upon scheme