77 Neb. 71 | Neb. | 1906
A petition signed by 34 persons was presented to the city council of the city of Beatrice, praying that a license be
Our statute provides for the granting of a license upon the application by petition of a majority (or 30) of the resident freeholders of the precinct where the sale of such liquor is proposed to take place, setting forth, among- other things, that the applicant is a man of respectable character and standing, and praying that license shall be granted to him.. In the case at bar no evidence was introduced to show that applicant was a man of respectable character and standing, or that he was a resident of the state. These allegations of the petition were specifically denied by remonstrants, and the applicant’s character and standing were assailed by an allegation that he was a common and habitual drunkard. The question presented for decision is whether under these allegations it devolved upon the applicant to prove that he is a man of respectable character and standing. This court said in In re Tierney, 71 Neb. 704: “The licensing board has no right to grant a license until it has made satisfactorily to appear that the person to whom the license is to be granted, and who is to run the saloon, is a man of respectable character and standing, and that he is a resident of the state.” See also In re Krug, 72 Neb. 576.
In 11 Am. & Eng. Ency. Law (1st ed.), p. C61, it is said: “Where the statute requires that every applicant for a liquor license shall be a ‘fit person to be intrusted with the
We therefore recommend that the judgment of the district court be reversed and the cause remanded, Avith directions to cancel the license and dismiss the petition.
By the Court: For the reasons stated in the foregoing opinion, the judgment of the district court is reversed and the cause remanded, with directions to cancel the license and dismiss the petition.
Eeversed.