The daily gazette., 1883-04-18
ANXIOUS To GET HOME.
THE LEGISLATURE RUSHING
BUSINESS ALONG.
sUNDRY MEASURES DISPOSED OF.
The Local Option Bill Killed in the House
The Water CommissiOn--A Misc eiIaneoas
Work.
Especial correspondence of the Gazette.

Especial correspondence Of the Gazette.
DOVER, April 18.-The House made short
work of the Senate Local Option bill yester-
day afternoon. Mr.. Sutton, from the COM
mittee having 1t in charge, reported it with
out recommendation. The House sat quiet
for a minute or two and members looked at
each other and smiled. Then Mr.. Cooch
got up and made speech against the bill.
He said there were objections TO this bill
aside from the well founded objection to all
local option bills, in that u applied to the
whole State and not TO the State by eoun-
ties. He did not favor legislation of this
character at all, deeming 1t unjust to the
public, and 1t had worked notoriously bad
wherever in force. Mr.. Cooch then read
the now widely published letter from Gov
ernor Click of Kansas, in which he showed
that local option had failed to work any
good effects in order aud morality, and had
ance States where she had stood first before
prohibition had gone into effect.
He then alluded to the working of the
law In the neighboring Eastern Shore coun-
ties, and said that In nearly all of them
nearly as many United States internal reve-
nue. licenses were issued now as before the
law went into effect. Dealers would evade
the local law and sell secretly. Mr.. Cooch
then read the following letter
UNITED STATES INTERNAL REVENUE
COLLECTORS OFFICE, WILMINGTON, Jan
30, 1888. Sir: In reply to your request for
information in regard to the number of lie
enses issued from this Office for retail liquor
dealers In Eastern Shore counties In the
State of Maryland, where the local option
law is now in force, for the year preceding
such law and the years in which such law
existed, you will please find below the re-
suit so far as Kent and Cecil counties are
concerned:
In Kent county for the year 1873, the
one preceding the Local Option law, the
whole number of retail licenses issued was
10; amount collected for the same, S45S. .33.
In Kent county for the year 1879, Local
Option law in force, the number of retail
licenses issued was seven; amount col
lected, Sl41. SO; in 1880, 12; amount col
lected, $500; in 1881, 13, amount collected,
1925.
In Cecil county, for the year 1880, the one
previous to the Local Option law, the num-
ber of retail licenses issued was SO and the
amount objected for the same 81 1880.
In Cecil county for 1881, local option in
| force, there were II retail licenses amount
collected, $261. .46.
The result in the two counties named
above is, | believe, fair average for the
rest of the counties in my district, where the
Local Option law exists.
Very respectfully,
j. M. MCINTYRE, Collector.
| Mr.. Co0ch also read a subsequent letter
| from the same source in which it was stated
| that IL retail licenses were iG1ied in Kent
| in 1889 and 20 in Cecil In the same year
| He then went on to detail the revelation
of Col. J. G. Irving Ditty, Revenue Collector
in Baltimore, as to the large number OF
| United States licenses issued by him to
dealers in local option counties in Western
| Maryland.
All this, Mr.. Cooch argued, showed how
| impracticable II was to secure prohibition
under local option law. "The experience
| In Kansas" said he, sand the result on the
Eastern Shore, shows that prohibition, un.
fair as T. is lacking in principle, is also in.
| operative"
| AS Mr.. Cooch sat down there was another
pause, and Mr. Sutton quietly said, "a
move the bill be indefinitely postponed ,
Some one seconded the motion and the chai
was out to put the question when DIR
| Lewis, whose position has been regarded al
douotful in the liquor question, sprang Il
his feet, full of fire and energy. He hoped
the House would not de this. He wanted
the bill to be given a fair show. 81 dom
consider" he exclaimed, "that anything
has been said why this bill should not pass
Nothing has been said against it. I dom
want to make speech. 1 hope the hous
will bring the bill up and vote fairly for it. ,
Mr.. Cooch thought such a request wa
only fair. The ayes and nays were thei
called and the bill was indefinitely post
poned by vote of II to 9 as follows: Ayes
Messrs. Barlow ,ComegyS, Crawford, Dukes
Frazer, Justis, Rawlin, Sutton, Temple
Watson and wheAtloy, IL. Nays-Messrs
Cooch, Denney, Jacobs, Lewis, Lowe
Messick, Perry, Risler, and Williams.
| p.pIDIy pusuINa woRR