Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1895-12-18

Representative Dees' Unique Bili to Be
 Presented to the Mississippi Legislature
 A Radical Feature Which He Thinks
 Will Pass.
 An excise bill with unique features is to be introduced in the Mississippi leg
 islature shortly by Representative M. A. Dees. The present law is generally unsatisfactory, being too severe for citi- zens who favor the sale of liquor and not severe enough to please the Prohi- bitionists. Mir. Dees proposes to take all the responsibility for the observance of the liquor laws off the shoulders of tho saloon keeper and put it on q deputy sheriff to be placed on duty i'll every sa- l loon in the state. He asks people to give 1 his proposition careful consideration be- fore they follow tho perhaps not unnat- ural first impulse to jump on the bill because of it's radical features.
 The bill provides that q saloon may be opened i'll any part of tho state where q local prohibitory law is not i'll force on tic payment by the saloon keeper of | $1, GOO for q license Of this sum $500 | is to go to the state treasury, $500 to E the county treasury, $500 to the munic- ipal treasury of the place where the sa loon is opened, and the remaining $100 is to be set aside as q fund for paying temporary deputy in case of need From the money paid to the county and mn nicipality salary is to be paid to reg ular saloon deputy, who is to be on duty in the saloon at all times when the sa- loon is open for business. It is to be the sole duty of the deputy to see that there are no violations of the law in the sa loon to which he is assigned. Under no is the deputy to act as clerk or in any capacity whatever ill the service of the saloon keeper. All statutes at present ill force placing any responsibility on saloon keepers for selling to minors or after le- gal hours, and for all other breaches of the law, are to be repealed, and the sa- loon keeper is to take the following oath:
 ''I solemn1y swear that Twill not sell any intoxicating liquors during the con- tinuanee of this license. except in the sight of and under the police supervi sion and direction of the deputy sheriff, and I will faithfully obey his instrue- tions in all matters that affect or con cern the police supervision of the dram shop for which have license
 Saloons may be open only 12 hours in each day, and never between the hours of midnight and a. m., nor between midnight Saturday and 6 a. m. Mon day. But the saloon keeper may choose [ for himself the hours of opening and ! closing, provided his place is open but | 12 hours i'll the IS specified by the law. If the saloon keeper or all assistant, or any one for him, sells even one drink when the deputy sheriff is not present, his license is to be forfeited, and he is to be prosecuted for violation of his oath. 1
 Not only is the deputy not to act as bartender, or to go behind the bar, but, further, he must not take drop of in- toxicating liquor of any kind in or about the saloon in which he is on duty He is not to accept any gift, Cor kind ness, from the saloon keeper that may be construed by tho latter as putting the deputy under an obligation. The deputy Is alone responsible if any minor, drunk ard, Indian, intoxicated or other pro- hibited person gets drink. He is to be responsible for all disorderly conduct or any kind of lawlessness ill or about the saloon, and if he fails in his duty he is made liable on his bond and must be discharged and prosecuted. A room is to be set apart as kind of temporary jail, in which the deputy may place any disorderly person until a constable is summoned and arrives. Every one in the saloon is to be subject to the call of the deputy for assistance ill preserving order
 Mir. Dees thinks his ideas are sound, and that his bill has an excellent chance of becoming a law. He argues that the only way we can expect to see our laws executed and obeyed is to make it to the pecuniary interest of the party intrusted with their observance and execution. , He doesn't think people will obey the law just because it is right so to do until the millennium arrives So he would make it pay both the saloon keeper to obey the law and the deputy to sec that the law is obeyed and make the penalty severe and sure. New York Sun.