Evening star., 1948-02-24
Prince Georges
Liquor Board
|0uster Sought
WiIfuI Neglect Seen
By Jenkins Corners
Citizens Group

Removal Of the entire Prince
Georges County Board of License
Commissioners was asked today by
the Jenkins Corner Citizens Asso-
citation in a letter to Gov. Lane of
Maryland. The association charged
the board members with "incom-
petence" or "wilful neglect of duty"
in the issuance Of beer, wine and
liquor licenses.
In asking for appointment of a
new board the citizens cited two
recent court decisions overruling
actions of the board.
The association charged that the
board had failed to apply State law
in granting licenses, had failed to
consider the best interests of the
public and had failed to enforce
various statutes of the State of
Maryland applicable to the man
agement of and conduct within IL
censed places of business within its
Jurisdiction =" ="
Attorney Answers Charges.
Vance v. Vaughn, attorney for
the Liquor Board, today answered
the citizens charges by declaring:
Il have been attorney for the board
for three years and from my OBJ
servation the board has tried to
follow the wishes of the majority
OF the people involved commensur-
ate with the law =" Mr..
Vaughn then cited provisions of the
law under which the board oper-
ates.
The Jenkins Corner citizens also
charged in their letter that the board
gave little consideration" to the
character, ability and capability Of
the individual applying for license.
"It is generally recognized that
many licenses have been granted by
this board where the applications
have not been in correct legal FORM"
they said.
Citizens Cite Case.
One of several cases cited by the
association where courts have over
ruled the boards action was that OF
a beer and wine license to Joseph
w. Shuler for his restaurant near
Andrews Field. Prince Georges Cir
cult Court Judge Charles c. Mar
bury declared that the board had
erred in ignoring both the law and
the expressed will of the people by
granting the license, the citizens
told the Governor.
The judge held that the granting
of the license was illegal and repri-
manded the board for questioning
those protesting the Shuler license
as to whether they were prohibi-
tionists. "All that should concern
the board is whether a majority of
those in the immediate vicinity are
opposed to or in favor of the license.
/ That should govern their action, -
the judge declared.
Landover Case Mentioned.
| Another case cited was the grant,
ing of a license to William Man
grum for off sale of beer, wine and
liquor at Landover, Md. In this
case Judge Marbury again revoked
license granted by the board after
pointing out that the board had
failed to give sufficient notice OF
the hearing; that the application
was not in proper form, and that
the license had been granted to
place Of business that was not
actually in existence.
Replying, the liquor board attor-
ney said, I'm reference to the Shuler
case, I represented the board before
the Circuit Court and this case was
reversed because the applicant did
not have 10 signers that were regis
tered voters of the precinct in which
the business was to be conducted.
At the time of the hearing of this
case the records registration books
were impounded by Congress In the,
OConor (Senator O'Conor) case and
the board did not have access to
them"
The Mangrum case, he said. was
reversed because of improper ad-
vertisement in that it was listed
as being located at Ropewalk, Land
over, whereas it was actually about
B miles away. This was, of course,
a mistake on the part of the ap-
plicant and not the board because
the clerk to the board simply ad-
vertised the application as fur
nished by the applicant" he, added.
The letter to the Governor, for
warded by John P. Kern, associa-
ton president, noted that the Lii
cense Board is appointed biennially
by the Governor. The letter then
cites provision in the law for the
, removal of license commissioners by
the Governor when it is found that
any member of the board Is guilty
! of misconduct in office, incompe-
tence, or wilful neglect of duty. Un-
der provisions cited, the accused
;. board member or members are en-
titled to a public hearing.
! Bandit in Baltimore