Evening star., 1934-03-03
Liquor Board Policy.

Liquor Board Policy.
A tremendous demand for liquor
licenses and the necessity of setting
up its own machinery under pressure
Of time have kept the Alcoholic Bev-
erage Control Board working all day
and good part of the night since its
establishment. 1t has transacted a
lot Of business already. It has re-
ceived more than thousand appli-
cations for liquor licenses of all
classes. 1t has already approved some
%73 licenses, OF which forty-four are
for wholesale dealers, about eighty five
for solicitors and the remainder for
retail dealers.
In the natural desire of the board
to rush the issue of licenses without
undue delay and to comply on time
with the grant Of privileges conferred
by the law, the board has been more
concerned with meeting demands than
with establishing policy. But it will
be unfortunate If the board gives
precedence to expediency alone and
hastily establishes precedents and
policies that later might be demon
strated as unwise. At least three i'm
portant matters Of policy are in the
process Of settlement now.
One of these relates to the course
to be followed by the A. B. c. Board
and the Commissioners in connection
with numerous blanket" protests by
neighborhood organizations OF citizens
who wish to keep the territories they
represent dry. There has been = sur
prising number OF such protests
Chairman Offutt has indicated the
policy OF the board to the extent Of
notifying the protestants appearing
before him that each license must
be challenged and that the board
cannot consider, as such, the blanket
objections against all establishments
within . given area. When specific
objections are lodged the board will
decide each case on its merits. But
under the law the Commissioners
have authority Ito forbid the issuance
Of licenses for manufacture, sale or
storage Of alcoholic beverages in such
localities in, and such sections and
portions Of, the District OF Columbia
as they may deem proper in the public
interest" This whole matter, then,
rests on the Commissioners, to whom
the broad matter Of policy has been
referred by the A. B. c. Board.
Another matter of policy which re-
mains to be decided concerns the issue
Of licenses in sections adjoining mill
tary or other reservations, where the
sale of liquor might be considered
inimical to the public interest. This
matter has been brought before the
board by the Citizens Association of
Takoma, D. c., in the case of Walter
Reed Hospital. The board has the
matter under consideration. But at
the same time the board has already
granted retailers license, Glass A."
allowing "off sale" Of liquor near the
Navy Yard.
The third matter Of policy-the
grant Of liquor licenses within a GER
tain proximity to school buildings,
libraries, churches, etc, has come
before the board in the form of spe-
cific objections from Henry Gilligan,
member OF the Board Of Education,
and from Librarian George F. Bower
man. But the board has granted an
"off sale" license to a delicatessen
store within 400 feet Of the Morgan
School. If the grant of this license
establishes precedent, and liquor sale
establishments are to be permitted
near schools in the face of protests
from citizens and the Beard of Edu-
cation, it is an unfortunate precedent,
apt to be regretted. The least that
might be expected of the board and
the Commissioners in this case is
reasonable period of delay in which
to observe conditions under the new
Law, and to decide on the strength Of
such observation whether prohibiting
licenses in the vicinity of school build