Nebraska Newspaper Men
Expose the False Ere*
tense of County
Optionists
HOME ROLE RIGHT DESTROYED
Attempt to Force State-W ide Prohibition
l pon Nebraska by means of a
Subterfuge Misnamed County
Option Voters Warned
Here Is n copy of the misnamed
County option hill which was voted
for by the prohibitionists In the last
legislature:
"If a majority of all the voters vot
ing at such election on such license
question shall have voted In favor of
granting license, then the no-llcense
proposition shall be lost, PROVIDED;
That nothing herein shall be con
strued to prohibit any city council,'
board of village trustees, or county
board, from withholding license THE
SAME AS IF THE QUESTION HAD
NOT BEEN SUBMITTED TO THE
COUNTY,
"If a majority of all (he voters vot
ing at such election on such llcenso
question shall have voted against
granting license THEN no city coun
cil, village trustees or county hoard,
nor any other authority within such
county, shall have power to grant
license."
Referring to this bill Iho Crete
Vldette-Herald makes the following
elear-cut comment, which will he read
by every voter who wants a full un
derstanding of the subject:
ABLE DEFENSE OF HOME RULE.
(Crete Vldette-Herald.)
In 200 years we believe the most
practical law devised. Is that known
as* the Slocumb law of Nebraska. If
this law was strictly enforced no
adulterated liquor could he sold. Not
a drop could be sold to a minor nor to
an habitual drunkard, not a drop on
election day or Sundays, nor between
certatn hours of the day. Some say
the Slocumb law is all right but It <3
not enforced. If you cannot enforce
the provisions of the Slocumb law, pray
tell us how you will enforce a more
stringent law? The Vldette-Herald he
lievcs absolutely in home rule and
that the town or village where license
is granted should he the unit and not
the legislative district, Ihe county or
the congressional district. Under the
Slocum law each community can con
trol its own local affairs In accord
ance with the will of the majority.
Crete, Wilber and Tobias can vote for
license if they desire and Dorchester,
Friend and Western have the privilege
of voting no license. In each case
Micro Is’ a majority hack of the law
fo enforce It. A law which a large
majority of the people considers vi
aloys and wrong can never be en
forced. and when the public begins to
lose respect tor one law they very
soon get careless and lax about other
laws.
Wtiat rigli! or tv ison is there why
Me people of Tin ! ey Creek. Atlanta
or Monroe, for o' amnio, should dictate
~r> s,- people of Cnte or Wilber bow
*£■ ” cotbl ■ ! heir local govern
r t The ■ o taxpayers In
t <•-<■ r Mm* a: ’ ! • .■ e'.dom come to
t :• ■ to t:•:« ' ' vve that f»5 I
pel r« i t of Ci I i of these pre
cincts will s«i> sit ii is none of their
business, and the. ;c not in favor of
county option. Again, if they could (
vote on this question, why could thpv
not with equal propriety vote as to
the hours of opening and dosing, vote
as to whether we shall charge hacks
and whether we shall grant a license
to toddlers. hucksters, circuses, ntor
ey-go rounds, shooting galleries, mov
ing pictures and the like. For the
reasons above given and more which
will follow from time to time the Vl
dette-Herald proclaims itself a tem
perance paper—so temperate that it
ydll oppose county option to Its ut
most—and not follow the Intemperate
doctrine of violating the principles of
local self-government, and turning
over to non-residents the privileges
which belong exclusively to the men
■who Rie required to enforce the laws '
• ■" FARCICAL AND UNFAIR.
(Rushvllle Standard.)
The county option bill provides
that if the county as a whole votes
against prohibition, or any subdi
vision or precinct in any subdivision
votes for prohibition, prohibition shall
be effective in every precinct or sub
division voting for prohibition, not
withstanding the county as a whole
or any subdivision largpr than a pre
cinct votes against It. In other words,
If a county, votes wet a precinct or
city therein may vote dry, but If the
county votes dry the entire county Is
dry.
It Is farcical and unfair because it
$s submitted to the people to vote on
the Question and then say if they vote
one way their votes count, but if thoy
vole the other way their votes do not
count. What does the submission of
a question to the people imply? It
would mean that the people are to
vote on the question and a majority
of those voting are to decide the
question. That is in accordance with
all parliamentary procedure, custom
and common sense.
The contention of the advocate of
county option, ns it looks to us, Is
the strongest kind of an argument for
the present Slocumb law. That gives
each municipality the right and pojver
to decide whether it will have saloons
or not. If county option carries it will
mean that If a county votes dry the
entire county goes dry, no town In the
county can grant saloons, hut If the
county votes wet, no town in the
county can hnve saloons unless the
applicant for a license goes through
the same procedure to s'ecure a li
cense that lie must now do under the
present law. Or to make It plainer, if
a county votes dry, the entire county
is dry and under no circumstances can
a saloon license he granted, hut should'
the count} vote wet, no saloon license
can be granted unless a majority of
the voters in such a place where a j
license Is asked for is willing to grant
it. It is a one-sided affair at its best
and should be killed.
TESTIMONY FROM A DRY TOWN.
(York 'limes.)
No law has ever been passed that
so persistently and steadily accom
plished prohibition as local option.
Step by step it is driving the liquor
truffle out of Nebraska and even now
it is confined to a comparatively few
localities, and there it Is watched
with unfriendly eyes and hedged about,
with restrictions. Local option is the
reasonable and practical weapon with
which to combat the doughty giant,
now tottering to its destruction. It in
volves education, persuasion and an
appeal to all that is good in men and
society. Before it can be introduced
into a community the popular mind
must be brought to sanction it ami
he popular wish must he for it. In |
such cases it comes to stay. The
locality should be as broad as the ex
eat of the direct influence of the
saloon, no less and no more, lxical
option means prohibition in “locali
ties" and not by states or counties, it
means that those immediately affect
ed, are those who pay the bills and
stand the grief. Il is working well in
Nebraska. Why not let well enough
alone?
ALLEGED PROHIBITION.
Oklahoma City Wide Open and Be
coming More so Dally.
(Special to State Capital.)
Oklahoma City, Okla., July 1.—That
the lid Is being gradually loosened in
this city and the number of drunks
appearing before Police Judgo Hlgh
ley rapidly Increasing Is shown by the
police records. Police Judge Hlghley
says that the prohibition law Is being
violated more openly now than at any
time since statehood.
Twelve men pleaded guilty In police
eourt to Intoxication today. All were
fined without any Inquiry as to where
they had procured their “joy water."
“Prohibition is all right on paper,
but in reality it Isn't working, as the
police records show,” said Judge
Hlghley today. “While I haven’t fined
half the drunks since prohibition that
I did before, the number is steadily
increasing and there are no signs of
the lid being clamped down tighter."
In Oklahoma prohibition prohibits ,
about the same as elsewhere. On the
eastern or Indian Territory side of the
state, saloons arc running openly, and
throughout the state at large 2,000 per
sons hold federal licenses to sell whis
ky. while bootleggers are plying their
trade' elsewhere.
WHAT OF PROHIBITION NOW? |
(Beatrice Democrat.)
The theory of the prohibitionists
was thn( the hundred thousand dol
lars which, they asserted, were ex
pended over the hat's of the city,
would be diverted from that channel
and used for better purposes. Any
one who believed that theory can Cor
rect his error by oing to the depot
of any railroad entering Beatrice and
seeing the immense quantities of keg
and bottle goods brought in by every
train. While comparatively little
money is being expended for liquor in
Beatrice, the dealers of Falrbury, Lin
coln and Wilber are profiting by the
dryness of this city.
Farmers and others not acquainted
in the city have heen unable to buy
liquor for medical purposes and they
have no kindly feeling toward the
present state of affairs.
A purely impartial view of condi
tions leads one to believe that prohi
bition is not as much of a success as
It was considered during the first
month of the new regime. It can now
be said that moral conditions are no
better than they were under the sys
tem of license and regulation; and a
glance at the tax situation will
quickly convince any unprejudiced
person that financial conditions are
not so favorable.
Now the question arises: Wbuld it
be wise to extend prohibition as is
proposed by the county option law?
That is a question the voters must
answer, and first they should examine
conditions under the present local pro
hibition and decide if the test of the
past three months has shown a suc
cess which would warrant an exten
sion of the principle.
WHAT IT MEANS.
(Eddyville Enterprise.)
County option means that each fall
the people may vote on the proposi
tion of no liquor license In the county.
If no license carries, no town or city
In the county can grant license, if t.hg
proposition fails, then the present law
Is In torre, and the municipalities
may or may not grant license, as now
provided. It Is the same principle as
state option, but is localized lo a de
gree.
If a county option law is passed it
will be possible for one county (o be
wet and the next dry. The people
In one end of a county can say what
the people in the other end shall not
do. In other words, it shears per
sonai liberty and places another bar
rier in the way of license.
The liquor question cuts too much
figure In our elections now. It does
not seem proper to enact a law which
will make the liquor question para
mount in every campaign. The Slo
cum!) law is all right if enforced, it
Is useless to amend this law by a
county option law.
Unforce the Slocumb law and bring
out ils merits, and there will be little
cause to complain of intemperance.
PRETENDED OPTION EXPOSED.
(Coleridge Blade.)
Tlie state issue which is crowding
to the point and well-nigh shouldering
aside the big national tight is the one
Question of county option. The prohi
bition forces are back of the county
option fight. At first thought county
option means local option. But more
careful consideration shows a great
difference between the two. The great
majority of people believe in local
self-government. So long as the liquor
question remains out of national poli
tics in the sense that neither of the
two great parties make any declara
tion of principle regarding the use
and sale and manufacture of liquor
and thus no vital force be given to
tile discussion, so long will people
turn as the next best resort to hand
ling liquor sales by the community.
This is why county option is taking
hold so readily, because in it people
are readily deceived into believing
it means local option. So far as the
local rights of the community are
concerned, state option would pre
serve them in some ways better than
county option. But no option pre
serves them ns would local option.
Take our own county for instance.
Few deny that its sentiment is wet.
Now Randolph wants to be dry. If
th(> county went wet. how could Ran
dolph maintain her right to remain
dry? A reverse condition would of
course work the same way. Aside
from tills, the real county sentiment,
based on the county’s own needs as
it sees them, would not get unfet
tered expression, for the reason that
the entire state prohibition organiza
tion and the entire state brewery or
ganization would no doubt center
their whole forces on one county after
another, and these-outside Influences
would be undue influences shaping thn
county’s sentiment, not on its own
needs, but along the lines of the de
sires of specially Interested parties re
siding wholly outside of the county.
With local option, the local com
munity has a good, fair understand
ing of the exact condition right where
11 can be plainly seen. If the com
munity finds the sale of liquor to be
abused or detrimental, it can be stop
ped. without the aid or consent of
any outside meddlers. Again, adjoin
ing counties might be wet and dry.
This would prevent any argument
against local option on grounds of ex
pediency, for no law could be framed
to keep all the wetness in the wet
county any more than all the wetness
can bo kept In a wet town.
LOCAL OPTION.
(Beatrice Democrat.)
Some of those who hope to ride Into
public office upon a wave of enthusi
asm for a popular measure are con
demning the opponents of the state
wide and county-wide prohibitory
measures as allies of the whisky
ring and friends of the brewery in
terests. The purpose of such con
demnation is to make their own illy
whiteness appear all the more daz
llng in contrast with the blackness in
which they paint their opponents.
A great many people who voted for
prohibition in the city campaign
would be opposed to trying to force
a prohibitory law upon the state or
the county. They take that position
because they know that no law can be
enforced which is against the good
judgment and best public opinion of
the community.
In Beatrice, under the present sys
tem of local ontlon, we have prohib
ited the sale of liquor. It may be a
success or it may iot.
Remember that Beatrice was voted
dry under the present local option
system. It can be voted wet, if the
majority desires, under the same law.
It would be very unfair and unjust
for the license people to demand a
law whereby a community could be
continued wet in spite of its desire to
be dry. And, by the same token, it
is eminently unfair and unjust for
extreme prohibitionists to demand a
law which will compel a community—
Beatrice, for example—to continue
dry, in spite of the people’s desire to
have saloons under the Slocumb law.
If prohibition stands the test and
shows net results which warrant its
continuance, it will be continued in
Beatrice next year. Prohibitontsts
who have no faith in the auecess of
the scheme are trying to cinch It and
to make it very dlffloult, almost Im
possible, to effect a change from dry
to wet.
BE ON GUARD.
(Deshler Rustler.)
If county prohibition (option) car
ries the sale of liquor Is .orever for
bidden. But if It is lost, the prohibi
tionists have another chance to vote
their towns dry. They have two shots
to our one. Be on guard.
A VOICE FROM MAINE.
(Lewiston, Maine, Sun, August 9.)
There is a prohibition that makes
part of a man's manhood. The one
good prohibitory law is the law that
the sensible, self-respecting, self
mastered citizen imposes upon him
self The law that will not allow his
opportunities for being of some good
to the world to be compromised. One's
own narrow selfish comfort is reason
enough for a self-imposed prohibitory
law. Even a sensible financial pru
dence would save the expense of in
dulgence.
The only tolerable liquor law that
we have heard of is the local option
method. We have no doubt that the
prohibitory law of Maine has done
tar more harm Ilian good. It has not
made drunkenness less common nor
less respectable. It has been used for
political prostitution. It has been
used lor blackmail money-making. It
has long since passed beyond that de
gree of respect when a considerable
| body of citizens are eager to make
i sacrifice and take some financial and
social risk to compel its living up to.
It's a nasty thing.
The only liquor law we have heard
j of ttiat seems to us to be tolerable is
| some sort of local option.
LET WELL ENOUGH ALONE.
(Alma Record.)
i Why all this agitation for the en
| actment of new laws in regard to the
control of the sale of intoxicating
liquors when we already have the
Slocumb law, one of the beHt along
this line ever put in the book? Would
it not be better to light for the en
forcement of the laws we already
have rather than to ask for the en
; actment of more laws just to have
j them violated? We have good laws,
j but by falling to enforce them we de
i rive no benefits therefrom.
I _
COUNTY OPTION IS LOADED.
(Kearney Democrat.)
County ojition is going to be the
chief issue before the people at the
election of tlie next legislature in Ne
braska this fall. In view of this fact
It Is well enough that the people be
thoroughly informed regarding the
many concealed features contained in
ihe misleading title of the Issue.
County option is not the counterpart,
or an enlargement upon local option,
ns a great many have been led to be
lieve. It is exactly the reverse It is
simply a negative proposition. Tt is
an imitation of the old trick, “heads I
! win, tails you lose.-' The only point
in the issue is this: if county option
should carry in Buffalo county no sn
loon licenses could be or w'ould be
I granted in any city or town in this
I (county, no matter if every voter in
| these cities or towns believed in the
license system. But. on the other
hand, if county option should be de
feated, those who believe in the li
cense system will have gained nothing
I under the proposed county option
plan, because the mere defeat of
county option would in no way affect
the present local option system, and
Kearney, as well as every other town
in the county, would still be required
to submit to the will of the people
upon the matter of license, and, al
though county option was defeated in
the county, it would not carry with it
any assurances of affirmation on the
issuance of license. Therefore, it is
simply a negative issue and a one
sided proposition, carrying with it alt
solute prohibition of license issuance
if successful, and permitting nothing
whatever to be settled in regard to
the same question if county option is
defeated.
To be n fair and honest proposition
it must carry with it as much force
upon one side as upon the other.
That is what makes issues and sys
tems fair and honest. It is a system
of flini-ftaui to propose a plan which
settled a Question upon one side, but
fails to settle the same question upon
the other side. In other words, It is
unfair and dishonest to permit all of
the voters of Buffalo county to say
that the city of Kearney SHALL NOT
regulate the sale of liquor by the li
cense system unless the voters of the
whole county he permitted to say
that the city of Kearney SHALL reg
ulate the sale of liquor by the license
system. And even then It would not
be tolerated by law because the county
has no legal or lawful right to vote
upon or determine municipal ques
tions. But here Is a plan which is
proposed to permit the voters of the
whole county to vote upon settling a
municipal question, and settling it
only upon one side, while the question
apon the other side, if the vote Is ad
verse to the plan, leaves it still wholly
unsettled so far as the municipality
Is concerned and Is still open to dis
franchisement.
At present any municipality, by a
majority of voters. Is privileged to
deny license within Its limits, and by
the same methods the municipality is
permitted to grant license, but by
county option licenses are denied to
any municipality within the county,
yet It does not provide for the Issu
ance of license. Our present Slocumb
law provides for prohibition in every
instance when the people are ready
j for it and want it, and it ought not to
; be changed for a plan that is simply
a negative plan and presumes to con
1 trol the actions of municipalities only
upon the negative side of the ques
tion.
PLEA FOR FAIR PLAY.
Discussing the claims of a candidate
for the legislature, the Kearney Demo
crat says: "Mr. Culley is not in any
sense In favor of so-called county
option and tells us that he will not
support such a measure as was pro
!>osed in the last legislature, although
he might favor a law which placed
county option on the same principles
ns our present 'ora! option, i. e„ that
the majority should rule, or in plainer
words if county o; carried in a
county. t!i re should i e no licenses
granted, but, if county option failed
then there should be licenses granted
In every portion of the county, regard
less of local sentiment. He does not.
believe that a man in Cherry Creek
township ought to place a restriction
upon the cit y of Kearney \vhiot\ could
only be enforced by electing municipal
officials in sympathy with the law,
while the voter of Cherry Creek town
ship cannot under any circumstances
be permitted to c ist his vote to elect
the municipal official. This is not only
■m unnatural but an un-American prin.
ciple, and so unreasonable that it
would tie impossible to enforce it In
any community where the local offi
cials were not in sympathy with it.”
BUSINESS IS GOOD.
(Fullerton News-Journal.)
It. is said that there were 227
packages of liquor shipped into
Fullerton in two days last week,
and the Fourth of July supply
was probably not counted in oti this
shipment. Qver $200 in orders were
taken In one day this week. It cer
tainly looks like closing the saloons
does not stop the consumption of red
liquor.
NO TIME FOR SIDE ISSUES.
(Plainview Republican.)
The national conventions of the
two great. political parties hav
ing ignored the liquor question it
is probable that the state conventions
will do the same. This is presidential
year and no side issues will be taken
up if it. can be avoided. Many people
are convinced that the liquor interests
are sincere in their efforts to put their
business on a better basis and demand
that the retailers observe and obey
the law.
EXPRESS THEM OPENLY.
(Talmage Tribune.)
In this issue of the Tribune
will be found several columns of
matter dealing with the county
option issue. This matter is print
ed at the request of the Merchants &
Manufacturers Association of Omaha
and explains itself. While it may not
represent your views along that line
it does theirs and they express them
openly and fearlessly.
POT CALLS KETTLE BLACK.
(Red Cloud Commercial-Advertiser.)
Karl Spence, editor of the Bladen
Enterprise, slammed Red Cloud this
week, by saying that there was a large
number of drunks in the city. We are
afraid that Karl was looking through
green goggles, as there is not a town
in Nebraska, dry or wet that has as
few drunks as Red Cloud does, besides
Bladen isn’t so slow for fights, etc.
and it’s dry, too.
FROM KANSAS TOWNS.
Dexter, Kan., May 31, 1908. Gentle
men—In answer to yours of the 29th,
will say that I think an open saloon,
run right, is better than having the
liquor sold by drug stores and boot
leggers. and having it shipped in by
car lots. You can't buy any liquor
that is fit to drink in one drug store
out of fifty, and of course the drug
gists pay no license. There are more
“drunks” than when we have a saloon.
I have been Mayor of our city two
terms, and know what I am talking
about.—Yours truly, D. A. Hale.
Beattie. Kan., June 16, 1908. Gentle
men—As per request, I will give you
my personal view on prohibition, and
it is simply this: prohibition does not
prohibit in Kansas. In my opinion, the
only way to enforce the law would be
'either to stop the manufacture, or stop
the government from issuing license
for the sale of Intoxicating liquor in
a prohibition state. I will say further
that I lived in Nebraska ten years,
and I consider the Slocumb law far
nhead of prohibition.—Yours truly, W.
W. McMahon.
Beattie, Kan., June 18. 1908. Gentle
men—In regard to prohibition In Kan
sas will say prohibition does not pro
hibit,—here at least. We have never
had prohibition in this county. We
have always had at least two dives
selling booze in this town, from which
the city derives ai solutely no benefit.
I believe Mr. Wilson is right in every
particular, and that nine out of ten
business men prefer local option and
license to prohibition.—Respectfully
yours, Joseph Baer, Cashier.
Altoona, Kan., June 1, 1908. Gentle
men—In reply to yours of the 29th, I
am not familiar with the Slocumb law,
but I am constitutionally opposed to
prohibition that does not prohibit.
The C. O. D. packages have been
stopped at this point, but now bills of
lading are sent to the banks and the
wet goods expressed or freighted.
While, personally, I am a believer la
law enforcement, yet la this state, in
my opinion, the prohibitory law is
damaging to civilization, because it
fails to prohibit.—Very truly, C. A.
Noll, Manager.
PERSONAL LIBERTY.
Many men believe that prohibition
Is an infraction of personal rights.
Discussing this point, Dr. Lyman Ab
bot, in his book, "The Rights of Man,"
says the majority cannot impose Its
conscience upon the minority. It is
well for Americans to remember that
the greatest civic fight waged by the
KngllBh people was for the attainment
of the writ of habeas corpus, which in
effect meant a guaranty by the gov
ernment of the fullest measure of per
sonal liberty. The issue was won by
the English upon fhe grant of Magna
Charta by King John. Liberty was
so dear to the hearts of the English
that many of them left their native
country in order to attain it. It v/.-is
to gain the priceless boon of personal
liberty that the Pilgrim Fathers immi
grated to America.
Going back a little farther, we find
that the basic principle of personal
liberty was carried to the English and
developed in England by the Anglo
Saxons. The books tell us that the
principle was early adopted by the
English and put into effect by local
communities, which later became in
corporated cities and towns. Very na
turally the idea led to local home rule,
which hits distinguished English and
American towns for generations. It
I dates from the time of the Anglo
j Saxon invasion of England, and the
preservation of the principle Is due *o
the ancestors of our German-Amerl
cans who are today contending for
that principle as applied to their in
herent right to the enjoyment of the
fullest measure of personal liberty.
A BUSINESS MAN'S VIEW.
(Ravenna News.)
It is a significant fact that with very
few exceptions those residents of Ra
venna, some of them temperance men
In personal habits, who have within
recent years lived in prohibition
states and in communities where lo
cal prohibition is in effect, or who
have means of knowing the actual con
ditions as they exist in such states
and communities, are favoring the li
cense plan in Ravenna and will vote
accordingly.
Shelton lias tried local prohibition
during the past year, and within the
past week we have seen a letter writ
ten by one of Shelton’s best known
and conservative business men, from
which we quote:
“I do not believe the experience of
the past year would in itself induce
the people to continue the policy of
local prohibition. Local prohibition
has a tendency for the better, al
though it comes far from being effect
ive, but taking all things into consid
eration, license, with the saloons well
regulated, is much preierable to no
license and the continual turmoil that
the people of a small town are always
in under such circumstances, and I
am of the opinion that the majority
of our people will he of the same mind
on election day.”
BUSINESS REVIVAL.
(Fullerton News-Journal.)
The saloons at Belgrade opened last
Saturday and it Is reported that the
town resembled a Fourth of July cele
bration. Merchants report as much
business as they have done on any two
Saturdays since the town went dry.
Fullerton was well represented at the
opening and those who were there re
port that the streets were sure enough
crowded all day.
A FEW FIGURES.
(New York Morning Telegraph.)
The figures of the Internal Revenue
Department, which are Incontrovert
ible, show that the consumption of al
coholic liquors, so far from decreas
ing, has steadily increased in every
part of the country. These figures,
which render a terrific indictment
against the Anti-Saloon League, de
serve your attention.
"The Anti-Saloon League was or
ganized in 1893. In that year the con
sumption of distilled spirits was 97,
424,825 gallons, or 1.46 gallons per
capita. In 1907 the consumption of
distilled spirits was 134,031,066.7 gal
lons, or a per capita consumption of
1.58.
“During the same period of time the
consumption of fermented liquors per
capita increased more than 5gal
lons.
Thus it may readily be seen that
prohibition does not prohibit, but is a
farce.”
WHY TOWNS ARC INCORPORATED,
The law books tell us that towns
aril villages were :ncorporated almost
solely to insure I he greatest degree
of home rule in local government. A
study of the subject makes it clear
that such incorporation within nar
row limits as to territory was abso
lutely necessary, for it would be un
just to compel the taxpayers of an
entire county to pay the cost of pub
lic utilities of service only to resi
dents of the town. This basic idea
of home rule was inaugurated In Colo
nial days, and has always distinguished
town governments of America. Now
come the imported agents of the An
ti-Saloon league who have set to
work to change this ancient order of
things, and by giving the power to ru
ral voters to control the domestic af
fairs of villages and towns, they de
stroy this time-honored principle of
home rule. The scheme is inviting to
the farmer because it gives him a
voice ia village affairs without re
quiring him to pay taxes for maintain
ing village governments. Yet it is quite
as unjust to permit any town to pool
with several country precincts in an
effort to control the policy of another
town in the county. I^et every tub
stand on its own bottom.
FOR BETTER ENFORCEMENT.
Hundreds of Business Men Have Joined
the Merchants' and Manufacturers’
Association Under the Following
Conditions.
"As business men and tax-payers we
favor the movement to form an Associa
tion of Merchants and Manufacturers for
the purpose of adopting measures to
bring about a better enforcement of the
Bloeunib liquor license law throughout
the state—a law making it optional with
the people of a town or city to say
whether or not liquor shall be sold. Wa
believe the said law has been of great
benefit to the state nnd that there can be
no better means for regulating the sale
of intoxicants. We stand for its striot
enforcement. We ioin this association
with the understanding that no distiller,
hrewer, liquor deali or saloon keeper is
eligible to membership. Our object is to
protect properly interests from the ill ef
fects of unwise legislation."
