The Magnolia gazette. [volume] (Magnolia, Miss.) 1872-current, 1888-03-31

AACOhASu NbOh thCJ AOith a SNSAdi
compact are equals in rights and
privileges aud that no men are
entitled to exclusive privileges"
Let us see how the twenty-five
real estate mattel works. l live
in a District where tnere are five
hundred legal voters. Twenty
five real estate holders could go
before the Board of Supervisors
and recommend a man. He could
make the application. l would
then have to obtain two hundred
ard fifty-one citizen signatures
before | could defeat HIM. Each
one of his twenty-five men would
weigh as strong politically as ten
men on the counter petition.
THUS the legal equality of citizen
ship would be destroyed and the
equilibrium of the civil weight of
the citizen would be disrupted and
the cardinal principles Of Demo-
cracy be wrecked.
Suppose we take the test in a
large town like Vlcksburg where
there are five thousand voters.
Twenty-Five men here could form
the ground work for saloon
while two THOUSAND ard five hum
dred of the best citizens of the
city could not overcome tho twen-
ty-fve who were oD the whisky
recommendation. In this case
one citizen on the whisky recon-
mendation would weigh more
than one hundred men on the
counter petition. Did any law
ever dreamed of in a Democratic
State ever rival this in its broad
stre;cl towards anarchy? Our
government is founded upon the
even balance of the weight of
citizenship, and such a law as
would destroy this equilibrium
would destroy at once our liber-
ties. Wonderful indeed the Gov
ernor had not put this emblem
OF oligarchy in his other pocket
and then he would have had two
wonders near HIM? One of De-
mocracy and one of oligarchy.
The Twenty-Five man clause Is
but Il recommendation of charac-
ter, not petition on which to
build a saloon. The law plainly
alludes to it as Il recommendation
and nothing more. The language
of the law is: "License to sell
NAY BE ordered by the Board to
any male person over the age of
2l wears when such applicantJ is a
resident of the county who in the
opinion of the authority granting
the license shall he of good moral
character and a sober aod suitable
person to receive such license; /;
by the recommendation TO THAT
EFFECT in writing signed by at
least 25 real estate owners in the
district" etc. Now do not the
words "To THAT EFFECT" estab-
lish the fact that they are simply
to recommend him as to character.
They are not to ask for him to
be licensed. They simply are to
state that he IL a suitable person.
Surely the liquor man ought to
feel well If he thinks the legisla-
turc made SO downy a bed for
him. Surely he must Think his
millennium near at hand; must
feel like old Cedric the Saxon did
when he thought his Heptarchy
was returning.
There is no conflict between the
requirement Of a petition US under
the old. and a recommendation
uhdcr the new law both are
legitimate things and were inn
plicated supeicessicn can have
little weight, where the new
stature says, "That the Acts in
relation to the sale of vinous and
spirituous liquors as found in
Revise ! Co le of 1850 and Acts
Amendatory thereof, shall GOVERN
and CONTROL, the granting and
issuance Of license TO sell such
liquors . This confirms the we'll
placed supposItion that the require
ments of the Code must be com
phed with and those of The new
law also.
There is another phase in which
tho equilibrium of the citizen is
destroyed by the usual interpreta-
ton of the law, but we have no
space for 1t now.
ITO be coatinued.
T.
The House Committee on Com
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