The Washington times., 1934-01-13

day with the steadily growing
movement Of District and Con
gressional leaders favoring the
q. license system for control Of Il
\. uuor in the District Of Columbia
as opposed to the dispensary
= plan.
a. The bill as proposed by the Dis
...trict Commissioners and passed
by the House of Representatives
permitting licensing of private es
:" tablishments for sale Of liquor
y was endorsed by Frank R. Jelleff
= well,known merchant, who stated
the proposed plan will promote
. temperance
". Promotes Temperance
= He declared:
~. 81 think the selling of liquor
=. is far better in the hands of
- reputable business men than
being sold by the Government.
If liquor is hard to get. people
~ want it all the more.
eff people can call up and
:" order liquor from the grocer,
= they are not SO apt to go to
excesses. I think, therefore,
that it would be far better for
:" the city to leave the liquor
,-- sales in the hands of reputable
individuals"
= Thomas P. Littlepage, promi
- r q
- president of the Washington
Chamber of Commerce, criticized
the dispensary system when ne
said:
The diSpensary system opens
the doors to all kinds Of graft
= :. and price gOuging.
-: -. NEVER SUCCESSFUL
'It has never been successful
wherever it has been tried, and
- could not be successful here.
- In neighbOring States bootleg
:" gers are plying their trade in
40 competition with Government
!. monOpOliZed dispensaries and
&C are making boom profits.
y" "The government would not
j.. keep prices down so that the
- average man could purchase
decent liquor and the boot
-. Ieggers would continue to profit
~ in the District if dispensaries
:" are used as the means Of re-
failing liquor.
=. - meanwhile the public would
-. -, not get what it wants. The
= voters of the country did not
repeal the Eighteenth Amend
:, ment to get dispensaries-they
a., wanted a decent, fair regulation
under the license system, with
:: fair competition between Iegitl-
= mate dealers giving them good
liquor at reasonable prices"
Advocating the license system
: Bert Olmsted, restaurant pro
prietor, chairman of the restau
rant section of the Merchants
= and Manufacturers Association
and president of the District OF
Columbia branch of the National
Association of Beverage Dealers
issued the following statement:
From the first-when it ap-
peared that the District would
= have legal sale Of IiquOr-the
80 restaurant section of the Mer-
chants and Manufacturers AS
sociation, of which 1 am chair
: man, saw the Disadvantages to
=. the public which might arise
from the dispenSary system, as
well as the advantages certain
>, to be lost by the local mer-
-. chants and food purveyOrs.
-. Dispensaries Hit
- "In fact, the dispensary sys-
:. tenn, which is q monopoly.
y" either private or governmental.
-. will return little or no revenue
{: into normal trade channels.
On the other hand, under the
- licensing system, profits from
~ liquor sales will be returned
Z. Immediately to business chan
: nels. This is shown by the fact
that 80 per cent Of gross reve-
=. nues in the restaurant business
." goes back into circulation and
finds its levels in all other lines
: Of business.
= "Under the dispenSary system,
" t must be remembered that
'.-' profits from sale of liquor will
be turned into the Treasury to
the credit Of the District Of Co.
- Iunbia. This revenue. if it Is
as large as anticipated at pres
ent, may have a serious effect
ia on future congressional apprO-
priations for the District, be-
cause it may create a large sur
pIuS, similar to that of our gaSO-
line tax, from which the District
would not directly benefit.
r Social Club" Barred
49,. "'The licensing system, legal
lzing sale of liquor in reStau-
:. rants and other food establish
ments, will do much toward
- eliminating the sO-called social
club evil. These clubs are
= strictly taboo under the licens-
- ing system, because District au-
thOrities recognize that they
constitute the greatest evil con-
49, fronting orderly enforcement Of
>. the law, but they would con-
tinue to function under q dis
~ penSary system. ...
2 Both the. Beverage Dealers
:. Association and the restaurant
section of the Merchants and
Manufac acturers Association fe'