The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-04-06
NIX COUNTY OPTION
BILL PROVIDING FOR THE REGULA-
ZION OF LIQUOR BY CoUN-
TIES
TURNED DOWN IN THE HOUSE.
AMENDED AND REAMENDED TO
SUIT VARIOUS FRIENDS OF THE
MEASURE.
'URNED DOWN IN THE HOUSE.
DENIED PLACE ON THE CALENDAR.
Satisfaction to Temperance People
Lies I'm the knowledge of How
Many Friends They Had.e

I0dL0O Dy the mouse III cOInInlCLee Oh Cne
whole yesterday afternoon. 1t was
not supposed, even by the friends Of
the bill, that it could become a law.
and the only purpose was to make the
fight for the benefit Of the sentiment
which could be created. The utmost
hope of the friends Of temperance was
that the bill should get place on the
| calendar, being recommended for pas
sage, although the necessary So votes
| were not anticipated for it's passage.
| Mr.. Jacobson was in charge of the
bill, although it was introduced by Mr..
Hollister. The purpose Of the bill was
! to permit a submission Of the question
! OF license or no license to the voters of
| every county, and, If a majority voted
! for no license, then no license should be
granted in any part of the county; but,
if the majority Of the entire vote Of the
| county was not against license, then
the vote Of any town or village in the
county the majority Of which was
against license should be sufficient to
keep saloons out of that town or viii
lage. This was a decided discrimina-
ton against those who favor licensing
the sale Of liquor t ~
The fight for the bill was one in
which the ultra high license element Of
the Republican party and the Prohi-
bitionists of the state had co-operated,
and for weeks past the citizens Of Min
nesota have exercised the right of pc
! tition untrammeled and unhindered.
hundreds of these expressions of the
popular will having been received and
referred to the committee on temper
ance; some were against, but generally
they were for the bill.
When the measure was reached Mr..
Jacobson presented two amendments,
| one to require so per cent of the votes
of any county to make 1t mo license"
and another amendment to strike out
all that portion Of the bill which per-
mitted towns and villages to go mo
license," when the majority of the total
vo1e of the county was for license; at
the same time denying the same privi-
lege to the liquor side.
Mr. Jacobson explained that in a
county in which a bare majority was
in favor Of mo license" it had been ar
gued that public sentiment would not
sustain the law. He therefore pro-
posed to amend it to rob the opponente
of this argument The amendment
was adopted with a few opposing votes
which came from the opponents of the
bill, and also from the friends who In
sisted that majority should rule al
ways. Those who opposed the latter
proposition were Mr. Abbott, of Fart
bault, and Mr.. Underleak, of Ohm
sted. Mr.. jacobson said that he was
personally opposed to the second
amendment but presented it simply to
make the bill as acceptable to as many
members as possible. He withdrew
the second amendment.
Then Mr.. Underleak moved an
amendment to provide that the ques-
ton Of license or no license" should
be settled at special elections held for
that purpose. He cited the experience
of Chatfield, where he resides in which
the question of license or no license
overshadows all other questions at
their local elections and the fitness Of
candidates is a matter Of secondary
consideration. The amendment was
adopted and provided as follows:
Any county in this state may hold special
/ elections upon a petition Of 10 per cent of
the legal voters of such county, to vote upon
! the following question, viz. Shall license
! for the sale of Intoxicating liquors be granted
within this county or any municipal subdi-
! vision thereof?
Such special election shall be held In the
| manner provided by the election laws of
/ this state, but such special election shall
| be held in any county more than once in
two years.
/ The bill was also amended to read:
| Immediately upon the completion Of
/ the canvass of the votes cast at any
such special election the county auditor
shall, in a book provided, etc, keep d.
record, which record is to be prima
| facie evidence of the votes cast and ad-
| Missile"
! The amendment proposed by Mr.
| Jacobson. which provided that 50 per
| cent of the votes cast should be neces-
sary to make the law take effect in
any county, was also adopted, and the
! corresponding changes in the bill pro-
viding that more than 40 per cent
should be able to defeat it's adoption.
Mr.. Jacobson made the one speech for
the bill, addressing the house in
! moderate spirit for a half hour He
said the principal argument against
the bill was that the liquor license
money was needed. He denied this by
| charging that saloons were the cause
| of great deal of the expense Of every
county on account of crime. Besides
| if money was wanted it would be Jess
| injurious to the state to license the
Louisiana state lottery or some other
/ gambling scheme. He claimed that If
the bill was passed half of the counties
| would be without saloons, nor was he
| afraid Of blind pigs, In Lac qui ParIe
| county the large majority of the peO-