IM8-H 
 
 WH5uj 
 
 LAWS 
 
 OF 
 
 WISCONSIN 
 
 Relating to the Manufacture 
 Sale or Transportation of 
 Intoxicating 
 Liquors 
 
 1919 
 
 iot ‘•‘ l 
 
 OEC* 
 
 ■, •''St 
 
 
 f or *' IW* 
 
 'IS 
 
 Published by 
 
 STATE PROHIBITION COMMISSIONER 4 
 Madison, Wis. 
 
CHAPTER 556, LAWS OF 1919 
 
 An Act 
 
 To suspend the operation of chapter 66 of the 
 statutes of 1917 entitled “Excise and the sale 
 of intoxicating liquors” and to create sections 
 1569—1 to 1569—22, inclusive of the statutes, 
 relating to intoxicating liquors, to provide for 
 the enforcement of Article 18 of the Constitu¬ 
 tion of the United States, providing penalties, 
 making an appropriation and defining intoxi¬ 
 cating liquor. 
 
 Section 1. Chapter 66 of the statutes of Wis¬ 
 consin for 1917, entitled “Excise and the sale 
 of intoxicating liquors” is hereby suspended 
 and declared to be inoperative so long as this 
 act shall be and remain in force and effect. 
 
 Section 2. Twenty-two new sections are 
 added to the statutes to read: Section 1569—1. 
 After this act becomes operative, the manufac¬ 
 ture, sale or transportation of intoxicating liq¬ 
 uors, as herein defined, within, the importation 
 thereof into, or the exportation thereof from 
 the state of Wisconsin, except as may be herein 
 or hereafter provided, is hereby prohibited. 
 
 Section 1569—2. This act shall be deemed to 
 be an exercise of the power reserved by and 
 granted to this state by Article 18 of the consti¬ 
 tution of the United States. 
 
 Section 1569—3. Intoxicating liquor, within 
 the purview of said constitutional amendment 
 and the provisions of this act shall be construed 
 [ 2 ] 
 
9V? 
 
 / 7 /. / 
 
 Mis'll 
 
 to be and include all liquors and drinks of 
 whatsoever name or description, including pat¬ 
 ent or proprietary medicines, capable of being 
 used as a beverage containing more than two 
 and one-half per centum of alcohol by weight at 
 sixty degrees Fahrenheit. But if the congress 
 of the United States shall hereafter by a valid 
 act which shall become the law of the land and 
 be paramount to any state laws on the subject, 
 define the words “intoxicating liquors” as used 
 in article 18 of the constitution of the United 
 States, then such definition, from the time such 
 act of congress becomes operative, shall be the 
 definition thereof under this subdivision. 
 
 Section 1569—4. Pure grain alcohol, wines 
 and other liquors, containing more than two 
 and one-half percentum of alcohol by weight, 
 may be manufactured in or imported into or 
 exported from this state for medicinal, mechan¬ 
 ical, scientific and sacramental purposes and 
 sold for such purposes only and may be so sold 
 as herein provided and not otherwise. Dena- 
 v -fured alcohol may be freely manufactured and 
 X Void, provided its manufacture complies strictly 
 3 with the laws now or hereafter enacted by con¬ 
 gress relative thereto and the rules and regula¬ 
 tions issued by the department of internal rev¬ 
 enue. 
 
 Section 1569—5. There is hereby created the 
 office of “Prohibition Commissioner.” On or be¬ 
 fore, the sixteenth day of January, 1920, the gov¬ 
 ernor shall, by and with the advice and consent 
 of the senate, appoint a suitable person as such 
 prohibition commissioner. Such prohibition 
 commissioner shall have his office in the capitol, 
 at Madison, to be provided at public expense, 
 and such officer shall hold his office for the term 
 F 3 ] 
 
 \ 
 
 to 
 
of four years from and after the date of his 
 appointment and until his successor shall be 
 appointed. Any vacancy occurring in said office 
 shall likewise be filled by executive appoint¬ 
 ment. Said prohibition commissioner shall re¬ 
 ceive a salary of four thousand dollars per year 
 and his actual and necessary expenses incurred 
 in the discharge of his duties. He shall take 
 and subscribe the constitutional oath of office 
 and file a bond, for the faithful discharge of his 
 official duties, in the sum of twenty-five thou¬ 
 sand dollars, which shall be approved by the 
 governor. Such prohibition commissioner may 
 appoint necessary deputies, to be known and 
 designated as “Deputy Prohibition Commission¬ 
 ers,” and may employ all necessary clerks and 
 fix the compensation and remuneration of all 
 such deputies and clerks so appointed and file 
 all such appointments, together with a state¬ 
 ment showing the compensation or salary so 
 fixed, prior to the employe or appointee entering 
 upon his duties or employment, with the secre¬ 
 tary of state; and such appointee or employe 
 shall receive the compensation so fixed, to be 
 audited, allowed and paid on the certificate of 
 the prohibition commissioner in the same man¬ 
 ner as salaries and compensations are now al¬ 
 lowed and paid to state officials and employes. 
 The prohibition commissioner shall have and 
 possess a suitable official seal, and all permits 
 issued by him under the provisions of this act 
 shall have affixed thereto a clear impression of 
 said official seal. Other documents may be au¬ 
 thenticated by a printed copy of the impression 
 of said official seal. Said deputies may perform 
 all or any of the duties herein provided to be 
 performed by the prohibition commissioner. All 
 [4] 
 
such deputies shall file such bond as the prohi¬ 
 bition commissioner shall require, to be ap¬ 
 proved by the prohibition commissioner. It 
 shall be the duty of the prohibition commis¬ 
 sioner to exercise and perform all the duties 
 and acts required of him by this act. For fail¬ 
 ure to perform such duties he shall be subject 
 to removal by the governor, for cause, upon due 
 notice and an opportunity to defend. 
 
 Section 1569—6. It shall be the duty of all 
 district attorneys, sheriffs, deputy sheriffs, con¬ 
 stables and other executive law enforcement 
 officers to aid and assist said prohibition com¬ 
 missioner or his deputies in the enforcement of 
 the provisions of this act. 
 
 Section 1569—7. It shall be the duty of the 
 prohibition commissioner to designate and is¬ 
 sue* a permit (which permit may be revoked for 
 cause) to one or more persons in each munici¬ 
 pality in this state who shall be authorized to 
 have in possession and sell under such general 
 rules and regulations as he may prescribe, alco¬ 
 hol, vinous, spirituous or malt liquors contain¬ 
 ing in excess of two and one-half percentum of 
 alcohol by weight to be used exclusively for 
 medicinal, mechanical, scientific and sacramen¬ 
 tal purposes. The person so designated shall 
 execute a bond in the penal sum of. one thou¬ 
 sand dollars for the faithful compliance with 
 the rules and regulations so prescribed by the 
 prohibition commissioner with reference to the 
 possession and sale of any such liquors. In the 
 event of failure to comply strictly therewith the 
 amount of said bond shall be forfeited to the 
 state of Wisconsin and in addition the persoil 
 so offending shall be liable to all other penalties 
 herein prescribed. 
 
 [ 5 ] 
 
Section 1569—8. No person who shall keep 
 or have in possession for retail sale non-intox¬ 
 icating beverages as defined in section 1569—3 
 hereof shall at any time have in his possession 
 or under his control in the building in which 
 he conducts his business or selling or dispens¬ 
 ing any such beverages any intoxicating liquor 
 as defined in said section. The prohibition com¬ 
 missioner or his deputies shall have the right 
 of access at all reasonable hours, without no¬ 
 tice, to the premises occupied by any such retail 
 dealer in non-intoxicating beverages, to investi¬ 
 gate if this provision is being violated. 
 
 Section 1569—9. No place in which non-in¬ 
 toxicating drinks or beverages, as defined in 
 section 1569—3 hereof, are sold or dispensed for 
 consumption upon the premises where sold, 
 shall maintain a standing bar or counter at 
 which any such drinks or beverages containing 
 alcohol in any degree are permitted to be drank 
 or consumed by the purchaser. 
 
 Section 1569—10. The common council of 
 cities, the village board of villages and the town 
 board of towns for the purpose of regulating 
 and enforcing the sanitary conduct of places in 
 which non-intoxicating beverages as defined in 
 section 1569—3 hereof are manufactured or sold 
 may pass ordinances fixing the terms and condi¬ 
 tions under which such places may be con¬ 
 ducted and operated and may limit the number 
 of such places, and the locations at which such 
 business or any part thereof may be conducted, 
 and may require that any person who wishes 
 to operate any such business shall first procure 
 a permit (wlr.ch permit may be revoked for fail¬ 
 ure to comply with the conditions of this act 
 or any ordinances relating to said business.) 
 
 [ 6 ] 
 
A fee of not more than One Hundred Dollars 
 per annum may be exacted before the granting 
 of such permit and shall be payable in such 
 amounts and at such times as may be fixed by 
 ordinance. The commodities to be sold under 
 such permit may be separated into classes and 
 a separate fee may be exacted for each class not 
 exceeding in all the maximum of One Hundred 
 Dollars. 
 
 It shall be the duty of the treasurer of each 
 town, village or city in this state wherein a fee 
 is collected for a permit as herein provided, to 
 remit to the state treasurer within sixty days 
 after such fee is collected five per cent of the 
 total amount collected, and such moneys when 
 so received by the state treasurer shall be set 
 aside and constitute a separate fund for the 
 payment of salaries and other expenses of the 
 prohibition commissioner, and in carrying on 
 the work connected with the enforcement of 
 this act. 
 
 Section 1569—11. Whenever a number of the 
 qualified electors of any town, village or city 
 equal to or more than ten percentum of the 
 number of votes cast therein for governor at 
 the last general election shall present to the 
 clerk thereof a petition in writing signed by 
 them praying that the electors thereof may 
 have submitted to them the question whether 
 or not any permit shall be issued under the 
 provisions of this act to sell any non-intoxicat¬ 
 ing beverages as defined in section 3 hereof, 
 containing alcohol in any degree whatsoever as 
 a beverage and shall file such petition with the 
 clerk at least two weeks prior to the first Tues¬ 
 day of April next succeeding, such clerk shall 
 forthwith make an order providing that such 
 
question shall be submitted on the first Tuesday 
 of April next succeeding the date of such order. 
 The city clerk making such order shall give no¬ 
 tice of the election to be held on such question 
 in the manner notice is given for the regular 
 •city election; town and village clerks who make 
 such orders shall give notice by posting written 
 or printed notices in at least five public places 
 in the town or village not less than two weeks 
 before the day of election. The election on such 
 question shall be held and conducted and the 
 returns canvassed in the manner in which elec¬ 
 tions in such city, town or village on other 
 questions are conducted and the returns there¬ 
 of canvassed. The result shall be certified by 
 the canvassers immediately upon the determin¬ 
 ation thereof and be entered upon the records 
 of the town, village or city, and shall remain in 
 effect until another election is held for the 
 same purpose. 
 
 The ballots upon the question so submitted 
 shall be deposited in a separate box in each 
 town and election district and shall contain the 
 words ‘‘For permit” and “Against permit” and 
 shall otherwise conform with the provisions of 
 subsection 8 of section 6.23. If a majority of 
 the ballots cast upon such' question be “Against 
 permit”, then it shall be unlawful for any per¬ 
 son to sell or traffic in any of the beverages de¬ 
 fined in section 1569—3 of this act as non-intox¬ 
 icating which contain any alcohol whatsoever 
 in the town, village or city so voting “Against 
 permit” and any permit granted or issued 
 therein so long as the result of such election 
 shall remain unreversed by another election 
 held for the same purpose shall be void, but if 
 a majority of the ballots so cast shall be “For 
 [ 8 ] 
 
permit”, it shall be lawful far the town board, 
 village trustees or common council, as the case 
 may be, to grant permit for the sale of such 
 beverages. 
 
 The provisions of this act shall not authorize 
 the sale of beverages containing alcohol in any 
 town, village or city in this state where such 
 sale is now illegal until an election shall have 
 been had under the provisions hereof permit¬ 
 ting such sale under the conditions in this act 
 prescribed. 
 
 Section 1569—12. Manufacturers and chem¬ 
 ists who use alcohol for industrial and scientific 
 purposes or in the manufacture of products not 
 suitable for use as an intoxicating beverage, su¬ 
 perintendents of hospitals, museums, laborato¬ 
 ries, educational institutions, dentists, physi¬ 
 cians and persons, for lawful purposes, may 
 secure a permit from the prohibition commis¬ 
 sioner, authorizing the purchase and possession 
 of alcohol and liquors for the purposes permit¬ 
 ted by this act, upon making due application 
 therefor in accordance with such rules and re¬ 
 quirements as the prohibition commissioner 
 may promulgate, and upon filing a bond in such 
 sum, not to exceed two thousand dollars, as in 
 the discretion of the prohibition commissioner 
 shall be required, conditioned that said alcohol 
 and other liquors will be used only for the pur¬ 
 poses stated in the application and permit and 
 in accordance with law. Such permit may be 
 revoked by the prohibition commissioner if the 
 conditions thereof are not complied with, after 
 notice is given to the holder of such permit to 
 appear before said prohibition commissioner 
 and show cause why such permit should not be 
 revoked. 
 
 [ 9 ] 
 
Section 1569—13. This act shall not be con¬ 
 strued to authorize the .confiscation or seizure 
 or make unlawful the possession of liquors de¬ 
 fined in section 1569—3 hereof as intoxicating 
 liquor, owned by individuals and possessed and 
 kept for the individual use of the owners there¬ 
 of at the time this act becomes operative; pro¬ 
 vided such liquors were lawfully purchased 
 prior thereto for private purposes and not for 
 purposes of unlawful sale, but all such liquors 
 kept by retail dealers in non-intoxicating bev¬ 
 erages as defined in said section and on hand 
 in the building where such business is con¬ 
 ducted at the time this act becomes operative, 
 or at any time subsequent thereto, shall be 
 deemed contraband and subject to seizure by 
 the prohibition commissioner. 
 
 Section 1569—14. In addition to the powers 
 and duties conferred upon the prohibition com¬ 
 missioner by this act, he is authorized and em¬ 
 powered to make other and further reasonable 
 rules and regulations relative to the possession 
 and sale of intoxicating liquors or drinks as a 
 beverage as herein defined, general in their ap¬ 
 plication, not inconsistent herewith, for the en¬ 
 forcement of the provisions of this act, and all 
 such rules, and regulations, including those 
 herein specifically enumerated, shall have the 
 force and effect of law. 
 
 Section 1569—15. All alcohol and intoxicat¬ 
 ing liquor as defined in section 1569—3 hereof 
 shipped or carried into this state for any lawful 
 purpose or use permitted by the terms hereof 
 shall be plainly labeled on the outside describ¬ 
 ing the nature and character of the liquor, the 
 name of the consignee and consignor in plain 
 letters in the English language. All such liq- 
 [ 10 ] 
 
uors not so labeled shall be forfeited to the state 
 and be subject to confiscation by the prohibi¬ 
 tion commissioner and by him delivered to pub¬ 
 lic state institutions for medicinal, mechanical 
 or scientific use. 
 
 Section 1569—16. Premises occupied by the 
 owner or by a tenant whereon intoxicating liq¬ 
 uors are sold contrary to the provisions of this 
 act are declared a nuisance and may be abated 
 in an action brought in the name of the state 
 on complaint of any citizen. No such action 
 shall be maintained with respect to premises 
 occupied by a tenant of the owner until notice 
 of such violation of law is first given the owner 
 and he has an opportunity to evict such tenant. 
 Proceedings for such eviction must be insti¬ 
 tuted within ten days after notice and promptly 
 prosecuted to judgment or any citizen may In¬ 
 tervene or begin such action in the name of the 
 state and prosecute the. same. Upon final judg¬ 
 ment that such nuisance exists, that part of the 
 premises so used in violation of law shall be 
 abated and an injunction issued permanently 
 restraining their use for any purpose contrary 
 to law and the owner may be required to give 
 bond in such sum as the court may deem ad¬ 
 equate that said premises or the part thereof 
 so abated and declared a nuisance will not 
 thereafter be used for the sale of intoxicating - 
 liquors. 
 
 Section 1569—17. No person shall advertise, 
 sell, deliver or have in possession any prepara¬ 
 tion, compound or tablet manufactured for the 
 purpose of adding the same to or mixing the 
 same with a non-intoxicating beverage or drink 
 from which intoxicating liquors as defined in 
 section 1569—3 hereof can be made, unless he 
 [ 11 ] 
 
lias a permit from the prohibition commissioner 
 authorizing such possession, sale or advertise¬ 
 ment* 
 
 Section 1569—18. The provisions of this act 
 shall not be construed to prevent: 
 
 (1) The manufacture, sale and keeping and 
 storing for sale by any person having a permit 
 of any medical preparation manufactured in 
 accordance with formulae, prescribed by the 
 United States Pharmacopoeia or national for¬ 
 mulary or any patent or proprietory remedy in 
 conformity with the laws of this state, unless 
 such medical preparations are suitable for bev¬ 
 erage purposes. 
 
 (2) The manufacture and sale of toilet, med¬ 
 ical and antiseptic preparations or solutions 
 neither designed nor sold for use as beverages. 
 
 (3) The manufacture, keeping for sale or sell¬ 
 ing of flavoring extracts manufactured or sold 
 for culinary or flavoring purposes only. 
 
 (4) Any person having a permit who is a 
 manufacturer of flavoring extracts or toilet, 
 medicinal, antiseptic preparations or solutions, 
 patent or proprietory medicines or prepara¬ 
 tions, from purchasing, possessing, transport¬ 
 ing and storing alcohol necessary for the man¬ 
 ufacture of such articles. 
 
 Section 1569—19. Any person who shall 
 
 vend, sell, deal or traffic in, or for the purpose 
 of evading any law of this state, give away in¬ 
 toxicating liquor as herein defined, except as 
 herein provided, or violate any other provision 
 hereof or any lawful order made under the pro¬ 
 visions of this act, shall be guilty of a misde¬ 
 meanor and upon conviction shall be fined not 
 less than one hundred dollars or more than five 
 hundred dollars or by imprisonment not exceed- 
 [ 12 ] 
 
ing six months or by both such fine and impris¬ 
 onment in the discretion of the court. And in 
 the event of a second conviction for any such 
 offense within one year may be punished by a 
 penalty equal to double the maximum penalty 
 prescribed for a first offense. 
 
 Section 1569—20. There is hereby appropri¬ 
 ated a sufficient sum to provide for the payment 
 of salaries and compensation of said prohibition 
 commissioner, his deputies, and employes, and 
 to carry this act into effect, not exceeding fif¬ 
 teen thousand dollars in all in any one year. 
 
 Section 1569—21. If at any time after the 
 passage of this act the eighteenth amendment 
 to the constitution of the United States shall 
 become void and of no effect, then in such case 
 and from the date said amendment is declared 
 to be or becomes void and of no effect this act 
 shall be null and void and the provisions of 
 chapter 66 herein referred to in section 1 hereof 
 shall again become operative and of full force 
 and effect. 
 
 Section 1569—22. If any of the provisions of 
 this act shall be held to be invalid all other 
 provisions of the same which are not so express¬ 
 ly held to be invalid shall continue in full force 
 and effect. 
 
 Section 3. This act shall be in force and 
 effect on passage and publication on and after 
 January 16, 1920, and continue in force and 
 effect to and including January 1, 1921. 
 
 The prohibition commissioner shall have pow¬ 
 er to enforce the provisions of this act and all 
 other acts relative to intoxicating liquor, and it 
 shall be his duty and the duty of all peace offi¬ 
 cers of the state, to make complaints and insti¬ 
 tute prosecutions for a violation of the same, 
 
 [ 13 ] 
 
and all such officers and any citizen may on 
 information and belief make complaint before 
 any magistrate or court to the effect that pro¬ 
 visions of this act are being violated and that 
 intoxicating liquors are being kept for purposes 
 of unlawful sale at a particular place to be des¬ 
 ignated, and pray mg that a warrant may be 
 issued to search the premises where said intox¬ 
 icating liquors are so being kept and seize the 
 same, and upon filing any such complaint a 
 warrant may issue commanding the officer to 
 search the premises and seize any and all liq¬ 
 uors believed to be intoxicating and bring the 
 same before the court for further proceedings 
 according to law. The procedure shall be sub¬ 
 stantially the same as the procedure provided 
 for search warrants in larceny cases and such 
 liquors shall be subject to such disposition as 
 the prohibition commissioner may order. 
 
 Section 4. The question whether the provi¬ 
 sions of this act shall continue to be in force 
 and effect from and after January 1, 1921, shall 
 be submitted to the people of this state in the 
 manner provided by law for the submission of 
 an amendment to the constitution at the elec¬ 
 tion to be held on the first Tuesday after the 
 first Monday in November, 1920. If approved 
 by a majority of the votes cast upon that ques¬ 
 tion, it shall continue of force and effect from 
 and after January 1, 1921, otherwise it shall 
 cease to be of force and effect and become null 
 and void. 
 
 Upon the ballot shall be printed: “Shall 
 
 chapter-(insert on the ballot the number 
 
 of the chapter) of the laws of 1919 entitled 
 (insert the title of the act) be continued of 
 force and effect?”. 
 
 [ 14 1 
 
Section 5. This act takes effect as above pro¬ 
 vided, subject, however, to all provisions herein 
 contained for its submission to the people for 
 their ratification or rejection. 
 
 CHAPTER 685, LAWS OF 1919 
 
 An Act 
 
 To create section 1569—23 of the statutes, relat¬ 
 ing to the sale of non-intoxicating beverages 
 as defined in chapter 556, of the laws of 1919,. 
 and providing a penalty. 
 
 Section 1. A new section is added to the 
 statutes to read: Section 1569—23. 1. No per¬ 
 
 son shall sell, vend, or traffic in fermented malt 
 or vinous non-intoxicating beverages as defined 
 in chapter 556, laws of 1919, without a permit 
 as provided in said act, the minimum fee for 
 which shall be fifty dollars. All such permits 
 shall be issued by the town, village or city 
 clerks and shall designate the premises for 
 which such permit is granted and shall expire 
 on the first day of July next after their issu¬ 
 ance. 
 
 2. The provisions of subsections 5 and 7 of 
 section 1548 and sections 1548m, 1557, 1557a, 
 1557m, 1557n, 1557o, 1564, 1565d, 1565dd, 1565f 
 to 15651, inclusive, and 1566 to 1569, inclusive, 
 of chapter 66, statutes of Wisconsin, 1917, any¬ 
 thing in chapter 556, laws of 1919, to the con¬ 
 trary notwithstanding are hereby revived and 
 continued in full force and effect and made 
 applicable so far as consistent with the provi- 
 [15] 
 
sions of said chapter 556, laws of 1919, to the 
 granting of permits for the sale of fermented 
 malt and vinous non-intoxicating beverages un¬ 
 der the provisions of said chapter 556, laws of 
 1919. 
 
 3. Any person violating any of the provisions 
 of this section shall upon conviction be pun¬ 
 ished as provided by section 1569—19 of chapter 
 556, laws of 1919, unless ‘otherwise specifically 
 provided in the sections herein revived, and his 
 permit may be forthwith revoked in the discre¬ 
 tion of the court. 
 
 Section 2. This act shall take effect on the 
 sixteenth day of January, 1920, after passage 
 and publication, and continue in force and ef¬ 
 fect as long as chapter 556, laws of 1919, is in 
 force and effect. 
 
 [ 16 ]