Noble Shut Them Out

New York, 1895

EXCISE COMMISSIONERS NOT ALLOWED BEFORE THE GRAND JURY.

The District Attorney Writes a Letter Which Must Make Violators of the Law Rejoice — The Commissioners Can Yet Go Before the Grand Jury if They Wish to.

There is a flagrant disregard of the excise law in the town of Jamaica, and though the Commissioners of Excise have threatened to prosecute the persons who are guilty, the offences still continue just as openly and persistently as if there was no law to meet the cases. The liquor dealers themselves, who pay their money for a license to sell, are not less angry upon the subject than the temperance people. They wonder why they are required to pay for a privilege while others enjoy the same privilege without paying a cent, and they blame the Excise Commissioners for not enforcing the law impartially.

The blame should not all be visited upon the Excise Commissioners, for they have recently endeavored to have the evils remedied, and have met with a serious set back that is very discouraging to them. They asserted it was entirely futile to have these cases tried before justices of the peace in the town, and they resolved to bring the cases before the Grand Jury of the county.

The Excise Commissioners notified District Attorney Noble of their intention, and were astonished by a letter from him in which he virtually states that they have no business to come with their complaints to the Grand Jury. Here is the letter In full:

DISTRICT ATTORNEY'S OFFICE,
QUEENS COUNTY, N. Y.
LONG ISLAND CITY, Dec. 14, 1894.

James P. Clark, Esq., Secretary, etc.

DEAR SIR — Yours in relation to excise violations in Jamaica received. It is, under the present circumstances, impossible for the Grand Jury to take up such matters for the reason that their time is limited, and for the further reason, that such cases should be brought in the first instance, before a Justice of the Town, where the offense is committed. Justices of the Peace have, in the first instance, exclusive jurisdiction of such offenses, and they can be tried and determined more quickly and with less expense to the county, than if brought to the Court of Sessions.

I suggest therefore that the matters be presented to a Justice of the Peace of your town for trial and determination. Yours respectfully,

DANIEL NOBLE,
District Attorney, Queens Co.

This letter means a great deal. It brings a good deal of comfort to the violators of the excise law. It will probably result in a large increase in the number of unlicensed places this year. If the Excise Commissioners now decide to do nothing, nobody can blame them much, for it is better to do nothing than attempt to obtain convictions before the justices of the peace.

The Excise Commissioners may still force their way to the presence of the Grand Jury and compel their complaints to be heard, regardless of the District Attorney's objection. But with a District Attorney who is capable of writing such a letter as the above, there is not much more to be expected from the Court of Sessions than from the justices of the courts of the town. The liquor dealers who are carrying on business in flagrant violation of the law will be glad when they read the District Attorney's letter.

—The Long Island Farmer, Jamaica, N.Y., Jan. 18, 1895, p. 1.