Iowa
Old Press
Daily Iowa State Press
Iowa City, Johnson, Iowa
September 10, 1903
(Register and Leader)
SALOONS ARE AFFECTED
Interpretation Sought to be Put on the Mulct Law Would Close
Them.
In the injunction suit commenced against Lorenz Lill, tenant, and
the owners of the building at the northeast corner of West Third
street and Court avenue, a point has been raised that will be of
interest to landlords and liquor dealers all over the state. It
is a question, that if determined adversely to the defendants,
will result in the closing of over half the saloons in this city
and of a large proportion of those in the state. The Clarke law,
under which saloons are operating, as originally enacted,
contained a provision to the effect the tenant must obtain the
consent of property owners within fifty feet of the premises to
be occupied with a liquor business. In test suits started it was
claimed that the word premises meant the entire property or
building in which the saloon was situated. This supreme court
held that the word meant only the room actually occupied for
saloon purposes. When the commissioners revised the code in 1897
they changed the word premises in this section of the liquor law
to "property." In the injunction suit now pending it is
claimed that the consent must be obtained from all resident
owners within fifty feet of the building in which this saloon is
located, and not the particular room it occupies. The building is
so located that it would be necessary to obtain consents for a
radius of nearly a block to the north and east. The defense is
relying on the intent of the legislature when it passed upon the
revision and not upon the literal meaning of the word property.
It is their contention that it was not the intent of the
legislature to change the limits of consent requirements as fixed
in the original enactment. It is up to the courts to decide what
the intent was and whether the rule of legislative intent or the
rule of literal meaning of the words shall apply in this case.
[transcribed by C.J.L., June 2004]
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Daily Iowa State Press
Iowa City, Johnson County, Iowa
Thursday, September 24, 1903
Grand Jury Returns Several Indictments--Offenses Range
from Bad to Heinous--List of Accused Men.
W.S. Carpenter, the weaver, was indicted for criminally
assaulting BERTHA BROGAN, a little girl of 13. The child lives
near Smith's armory. She charges the old man with luring her into
his shop, and into an alley back of the Salvation Army tents.
Mrs. Carpenter, the wife of the accused, testified before the
grand jury that her husband had declared to her that he would
never go to the "pen"--that he would commit suicide
first. Bond of $1000. was demanded by the court. Carpenter is
looking for sureties now. By a curious coincidence, he has been
chosen as a member of the jury that will be assigned the
unpleasant duty of trying his case. Of course, he will not serve.
[transcribed by anonymous, January 2005]