Evening star., 1934-01-10
A Most Liberal" Bill.

The House District COmm1ttee ana
the House of Representatives submitted
the bill for liquor control in the DIS
trict of Columbia to a hberallAng
process which presents some interesting
possibilities. Some of the changes
made in committee and in the House
may be summarized as follows:
l. Light wines, like beer, were ex-
enlpted from local sales tax, thus de-
creasing by an unestimated sum the
anticipated revenue to the District
from the taxation of alcoholic bev-
erages. The sales tax on wines con-
tanning more than fourteen per cent
alcohol was reduced from a proposed
nifty cents to thirty-f1ve cents a gallon
O. Restaurants and hotels which sell
hard liquors by the drinks can display
the drinks (bottles, etc. in the room
where served. The Commissioners
bill had provided, in one effort TO pre-
vent the saloons return in some new
displayed in such places. An amend
ment from the floor providing, as in
Baltimore, that there must be an open
view of restaurants and tap rooms from
the street was defeated. This will
mean that drinking rooms can have
the old swinging shutters again, iden-
titled with a former era-plus the cur
tanned windows
{ha Tor,ay,oiftoo ard
the House permitted the section to re-
main which gives flfty-one per cent Of
the residential property owners within
q radius of 600 feet the right to deny
issuance of a permit for sale of liquor,
q House amendment provides that If
the residential property owners do not
object when the license is first issued
they cannot object when the license is
renewed after the first year-unless
there is showing that the licensee,
during the first year, has improperly
conducted his business.
4. The House Committee left the
Commissioners with power to pro-
hibit issuance of licenses to establish
ments within areas which they might
restrict near schools, colleges, univer-
sites, churches or public institutions"
but practically destroyed the value OF
such power of restriction by providing
that 1t could not be exercised against
establishments in business prior to April
8, 1888.
S, The power of the Commissioners
10 limit the number Of licensees was
stricken from the bill, as was their
power to prevent the sale of intoxicants
on holidays. This latter restriction was
removed by the committee for fear that
the Commissioners would prevent sale
OF intoxicants on Saturday afternoons
the Government half holiday.
6. The definition Of "hotel was lib
eralized by providing that hotel can
have as few as thirty rooms, instead
of the minimum of fifty as first sug-
gested. The license fee for hotels was
also altered, reducing the fee for small
hotels.
Il
House any store in the District-hard-
ware, clothing, drugstore, building ma
terials, five-and-ten or marine equip
ment-may obtain an "off-sale" license
to sell hard liquor and the Commis-
sioners cannot limit their number. One
liberaEizing amendment by Representa-
tive O'Connor killed the section of the
bill making it illegal to drink in pub
lic-that is, in the parks, on the street
car, on the street corner or up the
back alley.
It would be possible under this bill
for a man to go into a hardware store
and buy a quart Of liquor, open the
bottle when he reached the street and
consume part of the liquor while lean
ing against lamppost at the corner OF
Fourteenth and F, finishing it up while
sitting on a bench in Lafayette Park
looking at the White House.
Surely a most liberal bill