OCR Text |
Show A NEEDED LAW. "Whatever the fate of the proposed prohibition legislation, whether it take the final form of the VTootton bill enacted en-acted into law, or a resolution for the submission of a constitutional amendment, amend-ment, the legislature, before adjournment, adjourn-ment, should enact a law that will absolutely ab-solutely prevent the shipment of liquor1 from points within the state to dry ter- j ritory in Utah. J The indifference of some liquor deal-! ers and brewers to the sentiments of j yaricus communities, as evinced by their j iocal option regulations, haa been possibly pos-sibly the most potent cause of the pio-hibition pio-hibition sentiment throughout the rural parts of the state. Various municipal- ities have adopted local option only to -find the evil of which they complained driven into dark recesses and aggravat- ; ed in its consequences because of the j rery secrecy necessarj1- in the conduct j of an iileal business. There has never j in any place been any lack of liquor, i "VTe do not believe that the people of I Utah want state-wide prohibition. We ; do believe, however, that they intend ! to insist on the right to regulate their own affairs in their various municipal- ities. It is the very essence of the j American theory of government that, i when a majority of people in any po- ' litical subdivision desire to try an experiment ex-periment and so declare that desire at; a public election, this experiment should j be given a fair and honest trial. Local ; option in many municipalities of Utah j has been tried, and found wanting be- j cause of the very fact that the state j law wa lame in not preventing the ship- j ment of liquor into these municipalities, I Sad a rigorous law, with ample pun- ' ishment for violation, been in efi'oct, j rliere can be but little doubt that the ' Toat mass of the people of Utah would today be perfectly satisfied with a state ! r2uiation which permitted either the j sale of liquors in a community or the absolute elimination of thi3 business, as. determined by vote of the e-ector in that community, i If the brewers and liquor dealers of ; the state and some of them have been more than willing to recognize local j option regulations and abide by them, : though many others have not shova ' such inclination if these men were to ! be the only persons affected by a j stringent prohibition law, we do cot be- J livjv that there would be much sym- p;i.thv wasted on them, for, as we have I puiit'i'J out, many of. them have not 30 j acted ai to merit any great measure of j public sympathy and confidence. How- ! over, tb? liquor dealers and brewers ! -5'iil prove to be only the minor tut- j j'erers in case of the passage of a rigid prohibition bill, and anything l'.-sa than a bill that would absolutely and com- i pletly prohibit the sale of liquor with- ' in the state would be di-'hone.-t aod ! absurd. But every property owner, ; very buMnesu interest, will be severely i injured. The direct iosa of liquor and : brewery men win comprise but a frac- ; tion of the fiDaacial hurt to th, state. ! At the earliect, it will be a ypyr or o-iOro before any prohibition legislation, ! ;f parked, is lik'dy to be made effective. ! In the mea utini'', we bfrlicvj that b'l-.h i frrnedial b'gi.-!;Uion sh ia iquifd should bo parsed in ord'.r that thu dry; counties may be, in fact dry. A fcl- ' r;ral statute rnak""j the in tors tat r, ship- i ir.cnt rf liquor Into dry territory for an ' unlawful purpose illegal. Ortainlv tnere should be no difficult; iu formu- J intin? a ?t;ito statute that will have ' the: '.ami; cf f "f-t will) i n t)fj hor'J'T-; of i ne :-tato. ! |