Evening star., 1933-12-10
Commissioners
Want Citizens
to Vote. s
FLEXIBLE LAW
is ADVOCATED
Permits Seen, With
Sales by Glass in
Restaurants.

The District Commissioners
completed hearings yesterday af
ternoon on the liquor control
problem, and will begin early this
week drafting a revised license
bill, with definite indications that
it will embody some method of
neighborhood local option to en-
able residents of a section to de-
termine whether they want liquor
sold in their community.
In outlining last night some of
the impressions they gained from
the two days of public discussion,
Commissioner Hazen and Allen
said they believed in local option
for the various sections of the
city, and that where the residents
of a particular neighborhood OBJ
ject to the licensing of the sale
of liquor in their section, their
wishes should be binding on the
Commissioners and the licensing
board"
No Final Decisions.
The Commissioners have reached no
final decisions on the provisions of the
legislation to be recommended to Con-
gress, and were not prepared last night,
therefore, to discuss details OF how
sentiment would be ascertained in
neighborhood on the question of per-
mitting licenses
1t is probable that when they get
down to the drafting of definite recon-
mendationS to Congress, they will weigh
various methods of determining neigh
borhood sentiment, and there were some
indications that, along with other plans,
they will consider the possibility of al
lowing the various sections of the city
to vote on whether they want licenses
granted or prohibited in their respective
localities. Another method that may be
considered would be the circulation of
neighborhood petitions. They were not
ready last night, however, to discuss any
of these details.
Statement of Commissioners.
Commissioners HAGEN and Allen
joined, however, in the following general
comment on the task confronting them:
"Of course, the Commissioners can
only pass to Congress their views and
Congress, being the final authority, will
determine what it thinks is best for
the District of Columbia.
Hearings on the question of regulat-
ing sale and consumption of alcoholic
beverages In the District have demon
strated the necessity for a brief, clearly
expressed law reposing regulatory au-
thority in the District Commissioners.
The law, in our opinion, should not
be cluttered with such details as may
and should be left properly to the regu-
latory and administrative authority.
Incorporation of such details in an act
OF Congress will seriously impair the
hexlbility of administration. Flexibility
Is desirable to meet changing conditions
as time passes.
This does not mean we belive that
the entire question shall be left to the
discretion of the Commissioners, but
rather that the law enacted by Congress
shall be confined to fundamentals.
Believe in Local Option.
''T1he hearings have made apparent
there is a wide divergence of opinion
among the residents of the District on
how distribution should be regulated.
1t is our opinion that the question
should be resolved by the residents of
the various sections or neighborhoods
OF the city. In other words, we believe
in local option for the sections of the
city just as exists in many sections of
the country. Where the residents Of a
particular neighborhood object to the
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