Evening star., 1938-03-06

period the number Of automobile registra-
tons increased but 80 per cent
Traffic Director William A. Van Duzer
points to financial responsibility laws as
one thing that is beginning to have a very
definite good effect on the drunken driving
evil. He reports that during the past fiscal
year the District revoked the permits of
2l9 drivers convicted Of drunken driving
in the District. For the preceding fiscal
year there were 245 such reyocaticns. BY
| arrangement with States having similar
responsibility laws, the District last year
revoked the permits of 454 District resi-
dents for infractions committed in those
States. There were 224 such revocations
in 1886.
More than a thousand District drivers
have been taken of the highways because
Of drunken driving in the past two years
Only Sc Of the 1142 were able to obtain
financial responsibility insurance. ut is
quite evident" says Mr.. Van Duzer, that
Insurance companies are hesitating to write
insurance for persons convicted Of driving
while under the influence of liquor"
The Liquor Board Intact.
The three original members of the A. B. c.
Board-George w. Offutt, Mrs. Agnes K
Mason and Isaac Gans-have survived the
four years battle. All three have been re-
appointed for new terms. Their personal
integrity and honesty of purpose remain
unchallenged.
AS for the A. B. c. law, Wilbur La Roe jr,
spokesman for the Civic Affairs Committee
Of the Washington Federation Of Churches.
writes: THE major premise in any plan of
liquor control should be the recognition
that liquor is a menace to the community.
1t follows that its sale should be strictly
policed, as in the Province of Quebec.
In the District We assume that LIQUOR
should be dispensed like sugar or -four or
tooth paste. and we therefore encourage its
sale in grocery stores, drug stores and else
where We make it easy to get, rather than
hard to get. The defect Is more in the
loose and careless statute than in its ad-
ministration"
The principal complaints heard against
the board is that it is too ready to grant
licenses and does not crack the whip hard
enough over the dealers who violate rules
In its first formal report, on July %,
1884. after four months of operation. the
board stated it had issued licenses to "all
who could qualify and against whom no
objections were filed" It added that this
was done ITO give every one an equal oppor-
tunity and to make beverages readily and
easily obtainable at cheap prices, thus
combating bootleggers and the speakeasy."
In those four months the board issued
1850 licenses, of which 1886 were for re-
tailers. It did deny As applications, or less
than 3 per cent of the total issued
Neighborhood Protests Of Licenses.
Whether that policy was right or wrong
it came back later to haunt the board.
Homeowners from various sections land
not all Of them were teetotalers) protested
their neighborhoods were spotted with en-
tirely too many beverage stores. Bottled
goods were being sold even at gas stations
and shoe stores. Later, some spokesmen
for the liquor industry itself protested
against additional licenses, because it
would drive existing dealers to the wall,
The board shifted its policy. It began
refusing licenses on the ground the neigh
borhood already was adequately "serviced."
Places selling liquor, or beer and wine, by
the drink were found to be responsible for
an unduly large percentage of violations.
This record, now brought up to date, shows
that in the first license year the "on-sale"
places constituted 80 per cent Of the total
licenses, but were charged with IS per cent
Of rule breaking. In the past year these
licenses constituted 80 per cent of the total
and caused II per cent Of the violations.
As this situation developed, the board
persuaded the District Commissioners to
limit the number Of "A" licenses, those for
sale Of all kinds of bottled goods, to 400,
with instructions to cut the number to 900
- soon q revoca*ious made this possible.