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Description: Excise Board Page 2
Newspaper published in: Washington, D. C.
Washington Post March 5, 1915 Excise Board Page 2
CENSURE EXCISE BOARD
Probers Acquit It of Corruption, but Charge Bad Judgment.
SENATOR HUGHES DISSENTS
Gives Reasons for Not Signing Report. Senate Committee Administration "Has Nullified Law's Most Beneficial Features and Has Encouraged and Approved Plain Evasions and Perversions."
Members of the District excise board were exonerated of all charges and imputations of corruption and venality in the exercise of their official duties in the report which was submitted to the Senate yesterday by Senator Sheppard, chairman of the Senate committee which has been investigating the conduct of the board.
The report says, however, "that a careful and dispassionate review of the conduct of the board in the administration of the excise law shows that it has disregarded the underlying purpose of the law, and has nullified its most beneficial features, and that it has encouraged and approved plain evasions and perversions of the law. It is also the judgment of the committee that the board has resolved practically every doubt as to law or fact in the interests of the saloons. It has shown no proper comprehension of its duties in the execution of a law framed in the interest of morality and good government, and the policy of the board in fostering the liquor traffic to the fullest extent permitted by the law, in many instances at the expense of both its spirit and its letter, is fraught with increasing danger to the health, peace, and morals of the people of the District of Columbia."
Hughes Does Not Sign Report.
The report, which was prepared by the committee after an all-night session, was signed by Senators Sheppard (chairman), Thompson, Jones, and Dillingham.
The report of the majority of the committee was not signed by Senator William Hughes, of New Jersey, for reasons which he gave in a memorandum attached to the report written in his own hand, which was as follows:
"Because of death in my family, I was unable to be present at the hearings of the committee at which the testimony was taken. Therefore, I feel that in justice to the excise board, the members of which I believe to be upright, honorable men. I should not give my approval to the report of the majority.
"WILLIAM HUGHES."
No formal action was taken on the report by the Senate, but, upon motion, it was ordered printed as a Senate document.
In summing up the maladministration of the excise law by the board, the report says, "That in practically all instances where the board has issued licenses to saloons under circumstances that constituted a violation or evasion of the true purpose and spirit of the law, all phases of the situation were brought fully to the attention of the board through numerous protests and representations of citizens before the issuance of the license."
Says Substance Was Changed.
Special emphasis was laid upon the fact that in administering the excise law certain rules were adopted, which, in many instances, changed the substance and letter of the law. The report cites the law against granting hotel licenses to places having less than 50 bedrooms. It is stated that under a special rule by the board some places with less than 50 bedrooms now have licenses.
The report also criticizes the board for adopting a rule which practically nullifies the provision in the law, which provides that no license shall be granted for any saloon or barroom where less than 50 per cent of the foot frontage, not including saloons or hotels and clubs, is used for business purposes.
"A similar rule," it is said, "was adopted by the board so that minors would be allowed to enter wholesale liquor stores. The rule permits minors to enter stores where intoxicating liquors are sold, contrary to the express provision and real intent of the law." The board is arraigned also for allowing saloons to remain open during prohibitive hours on Sundays and certain holidays. Continuing, the report says that the board has violated the provision in the law prohibiting more than one bar under each license; prohibiting more than one entrance from the street, except under special conditions; prohibiting saloons west of the fire limits; prohibiting more than three saloons to a block; prohibiting saloons within 300 feet of an occupied alley or within 400 feet of a school or church, and prohibiting the grant of licenses to objectionable persons or places.
The report also sets forth, in substance, that the excise board has refused licenses to properly conducted barrooms, and has granted them to disreputable places in the same neighborhood over strong protests. It is also declared that the excise board has not exercised its discretion in favor of schools as against saloons.