The daily morning Astorian. [volume] (Astoria, Oregon) 1883-1899, 1893-04-05


A bombshell was sprung In the ranks
Of a section of the city council last
night that upset and Knocked out Their
calculations, md utterly threw over
their plans. When Councilman WEIGH
got up to Introduce an ordinance that
he said related to gambling" h moral
and sanity gentleman who were pre-
pared to jump on the license PROPOSE
ton with both feet, braced themselves
I'D for the slaughter. But in a couple OF
moments they sat back In their seats
and wondered where they were at. Mr..
WEIGH instead Of bringing in the prop
osition to license gambling, produced
the ordinance suppressing 1t entirely,
and completely wiping 1t out, making
1t q crime, and %forbidding any form of
gambling whatever to exist or be car
ried on in the city.
Now for a little retrospect. Ever
since the question Of gambling was first
mooted, Councilman WEIGH has bitterly
opposed any pandering to the evil. He
attempted on one occasion to force the
council TO suppress 1t by bringing In
the very same ordinance as he read
last night, and he failed signally in his
D Since that Tina, and purely
for the reason that II was found abso-
lutely impossible to close 1t up alto
gether, he and others have turned
their attention to the licensing ques-
ton. During the discussion Of the last
few weeks The Historian has carefully
watched the growth Of public senti-
ment, and has noted with mingled feel
ings the sudden qualms of morality dis
played by certain councillors against
the idea OF q license. These gentlemen,
White SlOlIHlllB az thS hSW PiVPSoisiOHi
were careful to express their heartfelt
desire that gambling should be done
away with entirely.
So to test their honesty, to catch
them out Of their W mouths, and to
decide once and forever their sincerity
or their hypocrisy, 1t was determined
to bring them up with a round turn
and make them come out boldly for oil
against total prohibition.
The ordinance. as will be seen by oui
report, was read a first and second time
and then Councilman McGregor moved
for a suspension Of the rules and a
final reading. One vote upsets this,
and Councillors Bergman and o'Hara
called NO." In answer to their names
thus deferring the matter till next
Tuesday night. During the next seven
days there will be a few puzzled parties
in the city who will devote all Their
energies to hunting a way out Of
the muddle. They are between tn,
devil and the deep sea, and we propose
TO force the position.
Our stand Is that It Is impossible II
a city like Astoria to carry through ar
ordinance totally prohibiting gambling
and we have recognized the introduc.
ton of heavy license as the only alter,
native. so let the proposed ordinance
be passed and every attempt made tc
enforce 1t. The quicker It is done. The
quicker the public will see the strength
of u argument, and the fact that We
are right in holding licensing as tn,
best way out OF the difficulty. For the
result will prove the impossibility Of
any better scheme for restriction OF
the evil.
At tho next meeting Of the council
thanks TO last nights move, we will
see these men compelled to stand W
boldly and prove by their official votes
and actions what they mean. They
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