The City Traded a Saloon License for a Dropped Lawsuit
Cornered by A. L. Reis's damages suit, Newport's council offered him the saloon license he wanted — provided he first drop his case against the town.
The town council held an informal meeting Tuesday evening, at which the matter of granting a saloon license to A. L. Reis was discussed, and it was decided to grant a license to Mr. Reis provided he would drop his suit against the city, in which he demands the sum of $400 damages for withholding the license.
“It was decided to grant a license to Mr. Reis provided he would drop his suit against the city.”
A century before modern debates over liquor licensing and conditional permits, Newport's council was already using a license as leverage — trading the right to sell whiskey against a citizen's lawsuit. The episode captures a familiar civic arithmetic: when a business and a town government collide, the settlement is often negotiated in private rather than decided in open court. It rhymes with every later fight over who gets to operate, and on what terms, in a small town.
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