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Show ! SALE OF LIQUOR ij IN OGDEN CANYON I j County Commissioners, Called in Special Session to Reconsider Ac-g Ac-g S tion of Monday, Are Stormed by the Members of Better- J ment League Both Sides Find Champions. f Tho action of the county corumls !T Bloners yesterday, In refusing to grant licenses for tho retail of lluor in Og-I Og-I don canyon, wns the occasion for the firing of the first gun in ihc prohibition prohibi-tion campaign that is at hand. An ox-tra ox-tra session of the county board is being be-ing held today for reconsideration of tho question. Chairman MadBon states that he i (pent most of yesterJay afternoon in tho country", in the interests of the South' Fork, reservoir project and that when he returned to the city lu the evening, he was asked to call a special session of the board for the purpose of further considering the license question. ques-tion. This he readily did, being in Qfrl favor of granting of the licenses to Og-ij Og-ij 't den canyon people. : 1 A reconsideration of the matter could bo brought about only on motion mo-tion of either Commissioner Skeen or Moore, who voted In the affirmative yesterday on tho motion to not grant the licenses, and Mr. Madson was advised ad-vised that they had concluded to have a "special session called for the purpose pur-pose of reconsldoring the action of J Monday. Mr Skeen left for Idaho last evening, however, and did hot appear ap-pear at the special meeting today, It Is said that he telephoned from Idaho I this morning that he had decided to oppose the reconsideration of the question. This left Commissioner Moore alone (o move for the reconsideration, reconsid-eration, which he did not do during tho morning session. The board this morning was waited upon by President D. O. McKay, Vice-President Vice-President C. C Richards and other members of the Ogden Bettermen'. League, to urge the board to stand by tho action of yesterday, their contention con-tention being that It Is for the better i Interests of the community that Ogden Og-den canyon de dry Commissioner Moore asked that the question be discussed by those present pres-ent aud that all phases of the liquor traffic be brought to light He also asked Attorney Kimball to give his idea regarding the legal phase of the question. Mr Kimball stated that Ire thought the request for licences to retail re-tail liquor in Ogden canyon was plainly plain-ly an effort to supersede tho liqilor, law recently passed by the state legislature leg-islature and that the action of the board of commissioners of yesterda should not be reconsidered It was bis opinion that the time for the granting grant-ing of licenses for liquor places outside out-side the city of Ogden transpired at midnight last night and ff licenses were granted Wilson and Potter, that Hoken Olsen, his client of Huntsville, also should bo granted one. Presidents McKay and Richards of the Betterment League congratulated tho board on their action of yesterday and urged that they not recede from It. They contended that the' liquor traffic is an abomination in the land and should be stopped. Mr. Richards stated that he was unable un-able to pass upon tho lcgnl phase of the question, because ho had not read the law as enacted by the late legislature, legisla-ture, and that he would not attempt to say whether the law went. Into effect ef-fect last night or not. He said, however, how-ever, that, as a citizen and taxriaj'or. he desired to protest against the issuance is-suance of licenses for the retailing of liquor in tho canyon, or other places, for that matter, for he thought It furnished fur-nished u snare for tho young men and women of tho community. He con totided that the drunkenness that prevails pre-vails In the canyon under tho order of snloon licensing endangered life and property. Other members of the Betterment Bet-terment league committee addressed the 'board against the gi anting of the licenses of saloons In the canyon. "Billy" Wilson stated that ho had done all he could to mako Ogden canyon famous lie said that in tho beginning he took out a license because be-cause there were so many people visiting vis-iting tho canyon, who wanted beer and other beverages with their luncheons and virtually demanded that he carry it in stock. Ho said ho always had conducted a respectable place at Tho Hermitage and ho believed that there had been less drunkenness under the license regulation than when there wore no saloons in the canyon Ho also al-so said that ho had quite a large stock of lkjuors on hand and that ho felt he. should have tho samo opportunity to close out his business as resort keepers in Salt Lake county who have been licensed by the commissioners there. He denied tho statement of Apostle McKay and C. C. Richards that womon and children were permitted permit-ted to get liquor from his place. J. G. S. Abies made a strong talk in fax or of tho licensing and strict regulation system and he argued that the commissioners .should reconsider their action" of yesterday and grant HccnscB to Wilson and Potter. He said ho advocated this action because ho bolieved it the best solution to the liquor traffic question Mr. Abies looked upon the recent law passed by the legislature as a farce, and hardly worth deliberate consideration. con-sideration. Ho said, too, that he thought there would be more danger to life and property in tho canyon under un-der so-called prohibition than under the licensed snloon. He said ho was not a drinking man, but that there are many who arc, and that they will always al-ways find a way to get liquor. He thought liqaor should be dispensed in a manner that would permit of regulating regulat-ing it and, at the samo time, permit the county to get some revenue therefrom. there-from. Mr. Abies brought Apostle McKaj to his feet when he said that it did not appear as though complete sincerity marked the prohibition movement and that it looked as though some people were trying to make one community dry and another wet. He called attention atten-tion to the completion of the beautiful Utah Hotel in Salt Luke where dn elaborate bar has been established undoubtedly with the understanding that Salt Luke shall remain wet and to the granting of liquor licenses to the country districts of Salt Lake, while Ogden and vicinity must go dry The apostlo stated that Mr. Abies was mistaken In his conclusions, tho fact being that he and others in the cause of temperance were working for ho abolition of the sale of liquor in all sections of the country. The meeting of the board was adjourned ad-journed until 1 30 this afternoon, but Commissioner Moore was detained and the afternoon session was deferred defer-red until later in tho day. |