The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1888-02-21
LOCAL OPTION.

Numerously signed petitions nave
gone in to the Legislature, asking that
BODY to establish what is known as
local option" in Utah; that is to say,
to prescribe by law that the people of a
county. precinct, town, or other po-
litical division. shall say by their votes
whether or not intoxicating liquors may
he sold in he specified district. These
petitions have come from all
parts OF The Territory, and
undoubtedly represent the ma
iority sentiment of the community
as a whole. Tney are entitled to intel
ligept and respectful consideration,
which we doubt not they will receive
The n, after involved is most important.
It is important N a moral sense and
otherwise, and ought to be acted upon
Wisely.
If the legislators were polled it would
be found that perhaps four out of fivr
ara consistent advocates of temperance,
and probably three-fourths of the mem
bers of the Assembly are prohibitionists
in their sentiments. If the proposition
were presented to the people, we do not
doubt that fully four.ffths of the
mature men and women of Utah would
vote against the liquor Traffic. And yet
how mauy intelligent, obserVant per
sons not troubled with mania, are
there here who would favor the adop-
ton of prohibition as the general law of
Utah? Not many, we take it, for the
intelligent, observant persons have
been made to understand how
idle it is to attempt prohibit
ton where any considerable number
of people are given to tipping. 1t is
not therefore, question of what we
would like to do, but of what We can
do. Prohibition is possible in some
Utah towns; we heartily wish it was i'll
all: but it is not; hence, will it be wise
to attempt it? Will it be statesmauship
to undertake some hing which you
know cannot be accomplished. Wilt it
be the part of wisdom to undertake to
deceive ourselves with the pleasaEt fc-
ton thattherei is no liquor selling because
the statutes say there shall be none
all the while the facts being patent
with us that the liquor traffic contin-
ues and intemperans. is not checked?
As suggested, there are districts in
which real prohibition can be main
tanned, and there are others where the
thing is out of the question. Salt Lake
City is one of the latter; Ogden Is an
other, Park City is third. and many
more might be enumerated. And yet,
we do not doubt that in most
of these places an overwhelming
majority of the people would
vote against the license of the
liquor traffic. Salt Lake, with its two
or three score of drinking saloons, would
vote fully two to one against the lega'-
izjng of the liquor business, but the one
would get his liquor all the same. The
per centage of prohibitionists in other
cities of less population is larger than
here, and in these cities the bifuIous
would imbibe. Provo and Logan and
other cities have demonstrated the
Truth of this.
Oar present liquor law is fairly good
one. 1t is the best we have ever had
and is working well. The liquor traffic
is under better regulation and control
tnan ever before since there has beer
what might be termed traffic in liquor
The license is high, and the authority
of the officers and the courts for the
enforcement of the statutes is sufficient
Then why change the law, especially il
the change shall not contemplate ar
improvement?
We say this, not because we are not
in favor of prohibition, for we are in
favor of it, but because we believ>
it would be unwise, inn olitic anG
unstatesmanlike to attempt to enforce
prohibition in the larger cities. and
more populous districts of the Terri
tory. AS to the small towns there is
prohibition now. or can be if the people
will enforce the present high license
law. We cannot see how local option
can bring any advantages or work any
benefits which may not be had under
our present law; and we can see how
local option will put the public to
enormous expense and involve it in
perpetual trouble without materially
les ening the consump ion of intoxi-
cants.
Now GEN. SHERIDAN has f, 1t called
upon to deny that he is candidate fol