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Show Hl The Only Question. Theic is but one question before tbe H people of Snlt Lake City the corains H election of Juno 27th That qucs- H tlon is not one of prohibition, not one H of a "wide-open town," but simply a ; H -quostlou as to who shall sell liquor H here. Those who vote "dry," hoping H thereby to get prohibition, are abso- H lutely prohibited by the law from get- H ting prohibition. For, among the many H lrtrlcate, contradictory, confused, H jumbled, uncertain and unconstltutlon- H ' al provisions in the liquor law, the fol- H lowing section stands out clear and H strong: H t Sec. 4. Manufacturers. None H of tho provisions of this act shall H be construed as prohibiting or in- H tended to prohibit the manufac- H ture of intoxicating liquors or the H disposal thereof at wholesale at Hj the place where manufactured and H any mianufUcturer .hereof shall H ihave the right to manufacture H und dispose of the same at whole- H jale at the place where manufac- H! iured by obtaining a license H therefor and by complying with H the other provisions of this act, H and of all other laws of this state H relating to tbe manufacture of in- J H toxicating liquors and the sale H thereof at wholesale, notwith- J H standing the result of any election J H provided for in this act in" any H voting unit created hereunder: H provided, that no license shall be H Issued to any manufacturer who H .has not legally engaged in the H manufacture of intoxicating li- H quor at the time of holding any ' H election at which time a majority Hj of the voters vote "against sale." ' H That is found on pages 153 and 15 1 H of the session laws of Utah for 1011. H On the opposite page, 15o, a wholesale i H dealer is defined as a person, partner H ship, or corpoiatlon'wlilch disposes of 1 Intoxicating liquors in quantities of H tiot less than five wine gallons, "ex- H 'c-pt to a duly licensed liquor denier," B ft'liatover that may mean. Tho con- H .rolling fact, however, is that makers H )f intoxicating liquors Including beer, M wine and spirits, having their estab- H lishments in operation at the time of M ho passage of the law, arc absolutely M guaranteed in that law the right to H ijiianufactnre and sell intoxicating li- H huors. The liquor so sold may be H Alrunk upon the premises, as there ap- H (pears nothing in the law against tnis H proposition; so that every brewery H 'can have a beer garden attached, sell- H lng beer by the keg, parties tapping H and drinking at their will. And, slnco H the right to sell Is fully protected un- H der the law, in spite of any vote that M the people may give, the right of H promiscuous buying in lots of five ga- H lous Qr more Is also absolutely protect- H ed Parties, associations; or clubs un- M der tho law, buy beer, wine or spirits M fiom the manufacturers and as such M clubs, associations, or parties can tap H and drink at their pleasure without in- M terforence; but of course they can- M nol sell. The party, association, or M club that buys a keg of beer have to M drink lliat beer themselves. To what H extent clubs or associations can mrtln- H tain headquarters and drink the II- ouors thus bought without lntorfer-e'nee, lntorfer-e'nee, and whether they have to drink a purchase all at oue session, or can establish headquarters and drink from time to time and from day to day, la a question that will probably have to bo settled in the courts. But the main thing to be considered now is that the law guarantees many i opportunities for the making, soiling and drinking of Intoxicating liquors, so that there is no question of prohibition pro-hibition before the people of Salt Lake. It is, as tho Deseret News has frequently pointed out. andas President Presi-dent Joseph F. Smith and othor church speakers make prominent in their addresses, merely the banishing of the saloon To down the saloon is all that they protend any de3lre or Intention to do. The purchase of liquor by clubs or associations, and the drinking of that liquor at the will of thosd who purchase pur-chase It, being fully guaranteed, and this without paying any liconse, the question naturally arises whether tbat would be an improvement over the present system. Indeed, so far as we can see, associations or persons might hand together and have their headquarters head-quarters in places that are now saloons, sa-loons, and go thero and drink their own purchases without interference of tho law, and without paying any tax therefor. It appears to be an absolutely absolute-ly clear case, since the right of manufacture, man-ufacture, sale" and of purchase is guaranteed in the law, no matter what the people may wish, as that desire may be declared at the election, that the only change possible through tho vote that is to be taken on June 27th is a change in the method Tjf handling the liquor traffic There is, first of all, as stated, the right to sell and to buy, the right to diink on the premises of I tho brewery, or to deposit the liquor in some place agreed upon by the pur-1 pur-1 chasers, with the right of thORe pur- chasers to go to that place and drink I whenever they please. There Is, second, sec-ond, the right to buy and ship In by J express or otherwise in original packages pack-ages any kind, or any quantity, of 11-1 11-1 quor that anyone sees fit. The talk of prohibition, therefore, 1 under conditions thus established by the "law, is absolute futile. The liquor li-quor trade can flourish just as much as before, men can get drunk oven more than heretofore if they so wish, and the law throws Its mantle of pro- tectlon over them It is simply, on the one hand, a proposition to leave the liquor traffic as It is, and tills result re-sult will be obtained by voting "for sale"; or, on the other hand, there is the form protected by the law, whore-, whore-, in the breweries and makers of intoxicating intox-icating liquors can sell by the keg or five-gallon package to any purchasers, I und those purchasers can drink that i liquor at their conenience, either on the brewery premises, or anywhere else In town where they may choose to store it; or they may make it a point to drink it all at the time of purchase, and so load themselves with a more profuse guzzling than they would otherwise think of doing. The Tribune does not desire to de-I de-I fend the saloonfi and has not done so. I It is not speaking for the "wets," nor I for the "drys," because we are bound I to have it wet in any case, and cannot can-not havo it dry, no matter what we may dosiro or may vote. We simply wish to state plainly and clearly the I case as It is. The only question Is, I whether we shall have saloons rcgu-j rcgu-j lated and paying a fair license to the city, or promiscuous buying and drink-1 drink-1 lng from the breweries, wineries or distilleries In Utah, or from "original J package" shipments, with the prob-" ability of moro and grosser drinking than ever before known in Utah. , Salt Lake Tribune, June 11th. |