Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1886-02-05
Legislation of Local Interest.


Some of the proceedings of the Legisla-
ture for the past week have been of unu-
sual local interest to Augusta county.
The debate on Local Option touched on
the whiskey interest which has eight
plants. representing $4,000 of capital, in
this county. On this subject Mr.. Echols
offered the following amendment to the
substitute for the Local Option Bill:
provided that nothing in this act shall
interfere with the privilege OF persons
licensed as distillers,'
Mr. Pollard, friend of Local Option,
hoped the amendment would be agreed
to, and it was, by vote of IS to ~,
Messrs. Echols and Lightner voting with
the majority
Mr.. Cardwell moved that the words
"that nothing contained in this act Shall
operate to revoke licenses already granted
until the time for which they were issued
expires by law be added to Mr.. Echols'
amendment. Agreed to.
Mr.. Ryan moved to add at the end OF
the 7tb section as amended the following:
"Provided that no election as provided for
in this bill. has been held within Che dis
trict of which said town is part within
two years." Agreed to.
Mr.. Ryan offered an amendment pro-
viding "that the qualified voters petition.
ing reside in the district or districts not
having local-option law" Agreed to.
An amendment proposed by Mr.. Card
we'll was agreed to.
On motion of MIR. Stuart of Alexandria.
an amendment was adopted exempting
from the operations of the act all cities of
over 5000 inhabitants. The vote stood 40
to 33-Messrs. Echols and Lightner voting
been defeated once, but was reconsidered
and adopted after a statement by Mr..
Terry, to the effect that he was waited
upon by the Secretary of the Local Option
Alliance, Friday, and was asked by him
not to put the cities in the bill, and for
that reason he had voted for the amend
ment. That gentleman bad expressed a
fear that to include the cities would i'm
peril the whole measure. Mr.. Terry was
doing what the temperance people asked.
He considered that he was bound by his
party platform to vote for local option,
but as it was in the interest of temperance,
he was willing to be guided by the repre-
sentatives of the temperance movement in
this State.
Directly this was adopted. several men,
bers, among them Mr.. Hay of Madison,
jumped up and offered amendments ex-
emptipg the particular counties they re-
presented from the operations of the act.
Mr. Hay, upon the authority of Mr.. Meade
F. White, Commonwealth Attorney of
Augusta county, stated that five sixths
of the indictments for violation of the
liquor law were in the Waynesboro' local
option) district.
Mr.. EchOls, with regard to the Waynes-
boro district in Augusta, said that Mr..
White was a highly reliable gentleman:
but he (Mr. Echols) would say just here
that in the opinion of good many people
local option in the Waynesboro district
had been very beneficial indeed. Mr..
Echols spoke of that people as quiet and
orderly.
Mr.. Hay: have no doubt of that, but
probably they would be more orderly if
they didn't have local option. Herepeat-
ed that the Common wealth's attorney of
Augusta had said that five sixth of the
indictments for selling liquor without
license were from the Waynesboro district
Mr.. Pollard: Of course; they have a
greater temptation.
The House refused to exempt Madison
or any other county.
The statement of Mr.. White as appears
from the records of the county court should
have been sixteen seventeeDths. 1t ap-
pears that of the seventeen indictments
for violation of the liquor laws in the
county, sixteen came from Waynes-
boro and one about mile outside of the
town. This fact was communicated by
Commonwealth Attorney White to Mr..
Hay. Common weaith's Attorney of Madi-
son, in answer to an official enquiry from
that officer as to with what success local
option had been enforced in Waynesboro,
the only point as which it is in force in the
county. 1t was no ref .ction on the good
order of the town. but simply fact of
official record he had given in response to
an enquiry.
THE GREENVILLE BILL PASSED.
The act to amend the charter of Green
vile has passed both houses and received
the signature of the Cover nor.
ABOUT TOWNS LOCATING HOSPITALS
IN COUNTIES.
Mr.. Waddill of Henrico, secured the
suspension of the rules and the passage of
the bill introduced 0y him in reference to
public health. The bill provides that the
Council of any town desiring to locate a
hospital beyond the corporate limits must
first secure the consent of the County
Court and of the Board of Supervisors of
the county in which the hospital is to be
located, and the bill further provides that
any city or county locating hospital,
shall pay to any person whose property is
damaged the damage done his property
The bill was communicated to the Senate
by Mr.. Waddill, and that body suspended
the rules and at once put the bill upon its
passage. 1t was passed and will become
law when approved by the Governor.
The Reason Why.
A citizen of Augusta, Ca, writing back