The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1896-03-14
RAINES BILL

md Ifs Political Eject inKew York Dl-
asnesra WIN Help The Rrpnblleans
More fhan Ihr Dsnsrra.s- asnriils %
High Lsernss.
NEW YORK. March IL. Had The ma
jority in the state senate been turned
from the purpose to alter completely
the inethod Of dealing with the sale Of
liquor. no as 10 restrict and regulate H.,
.,.en that majority would have been
4 fnlrly criticised Cor iadecielDn. ".
and incaracify The Hefiate has passed
The measure which Is knDEn as the
! Rafnna blil. BIZ a vote Of nearly TWO to
one. 81 10 Is TO be exact.
4 As the measure efnbodies a recom-
mendatl0n which was nflde By the goy-
/ efnor. and as Il r. believed --.nt on the
whole he n safirsled with Il, Il Is pro-
| bahie shat Il will become the LAW Of the
state, and Thus Mex fcrlS Will have ga
an a great 6tef,fn advance 81 Its relation
70 the liquor uztile.
Very few Proposed measures IN recent
years iiape bern 50 violently artRgO-
fiIzed as This one The Democratic rep
resentatives, nearly an OF whom come
from the iareer cities Of The state. have
been fierce In their accusation. and with
a Little ineonsistenc haze ee,lafed maj
the proposed measure ncrid be likely TO
destroy tiae Republican party IN the
state. IL such were 10 be its probable
effect. then Al has gceined rs thcush
| these Democratic Represents YES ought
| TO do very little 70 prevent the passage
OF the bill. Their violent Rntlpathy has,
caused the suspicion 10 be created that
Il Is not the future Of the Republican
party which leads them TO denounce the
measure, hut the fear that such a law IS
the Raines bill will be. win weaken the
Democracy.
No especial attention needs TO be paid
to the anger OF the Democracy and the
less reputable Housekeeping class. The
bill is recognized by almost every fair
minded person as a step in the right di-
rection. 1t Is in accordance with the
common disposition throughout the
United States TO impose larger prices
for the privilege OF selling funor, and 4
Beverer restrictions upon Its sale The
committee made careful examination
OF the statutes OF an the states. and
found that where there had been recent
legislation II had all been In the direc-
tlon Of high fees for licenses. and Sc.
verer restrictions.
II was discovered that even in the
states where the prohibition sentiment
has BEEN very strong there 10 marked
tendency tovard license, or at least 10.
cal option. with very high charges for
the license Vermont seemed TO be the
only exception TO this tendency. II was
discovered that in Connecticut, where
q year ago q very high rate was adopted
agalngt the protests OF the less reputa-
BILE liquor sellers. and many Of the DEM
ocratic leaders, the results have been
very satisfactory.
To politicians everywhere 1t Is proba-
bly, OF interest 10 know that the effect of
the Raines bill upon the political sittia-
ton In New York viii be, than what the
effect In restricting the sale of liquor
and In eliminating the low and vile
places, will be.
Some pains have been taken to get the
opinion OF fair-minded men OF either
party. and the statement made this
morning by a very prominent Democrat,
who has perhaps as thorough a lsnowl-
edge of political conditions In New York
as any politician has gained in recent
years. Is fair suggestion Of opinion as
II has been found to exist. This man
said: That SO far as there would be any
political effect 1t would be likely to help
the Republican, rather than the Demo-
cratic, party. In the state at large II
would be likely to bring to the Republic
can party good many of those who
have for years acted with the Prohibi-
ton party. In the city of New York 1t
could not harm the Republican party.
and might be of great benefit to II, and
In perfectly proper way. 1t could not
harm the Republican party in New
York city because the vast majority of
those who are in the loquor business and
who are opposed to high license are all
ready in the Democratic party. The
Republican party would not lose their
support On the other hand, the
chances are that those reputable sellers
of lIauor who are able TO pay the high
license fee, many of whom are entirely
willing to pay II, since they regard II as
q cheap method of getting rid of good
deal of competition, Will be likely, 80 far
as they are Influenced politically at all,
to support the party which adopted this
law.
Furthermore, this Democrat said that
the law absolutely puts an end to the
power OF the saloons In politics In New
York city. Even IL O new political ma
chine be created II will be a state ma
chine, and Its influence will not be ex-
tended to the voters as has been so long
the case In New York city. The corner
saloon has been the headquarters of
many OF the Tammany district organi-
cations. II has been the political club
room OK the GUM, the sou, ana ttle ulS-
honest man. The saloonkeepers as q
class have been compelled for many
years to pay tax to Tanmany hall,
and II is believed that at times the sum
thus raised has been q very large one.
Under the new law nobody will have to
pay q tax for protection, nor for iniiu-
ence In getting license, or In keeping
Il. The more reputable liquor dealers,
meaning by that those whose places are
not the haunts OF the dissolute. will be
interested In assisting the authorities In
preventing Illegal selling, and intrac-
lions OF the law. The fact is, the I'M
preston among the ADLER politicians OF
either party Is, that the influence OF this
bill, so far as II has any. upon the for
tunes OF either party, will be beneficial
TO the Republicans. That was the COM
ment Of the man who knows New York
city well, and who is a Democrat, He
went so far rs to say that he believed
that II the people OF New York state
were to vote upon the single issue OF
high license and the general principle OF
the Raines bill they would support II by
more than hundred Thousand MAORI
~. Perhaps a majority Of two to one.
Then again the Republicans. who OF
course aid not want to adopt any meas
ure which would be likely TO cause the