Washington sentinel., 1901-01-05

Prohibition In New England,

local option, has rejected the Local
| Option bill which has been under
consideration. The vote in the
Senate was II against to Il for and
in the House it was 40 to 9s. This
result is disappointment to many
| Vermont men, who had hoped
from their agitation for a different
result In State which has had
prohibition since 1855.
i IS ~" ~ the incongruities oil
pron'o.-.-..s -. 1t exists IN soUae Of
the New England States, that while
ir is against the law Of Vermont,
tor instance, to manufacture, to
have on hand or to sell intoxicat.
ing liquors OF any kind, there is
one wholesale liquor dealer in
Vermont paying a tax to the Gov
erument Tor the privilege OF doinr
what the State law prohibits and
makes a penal ofense. In Maine,
where there is a like agitation for
local option as a substitute for con
stitutional prohibition, the Inferno
Revenue collections amounted la
year to S5saooo, and a consider
BILE part Of this sum was collect
from retail liquor dealers,
numbered 1900 in the s
Maine, notwithstanding
that the constitution o
explicitly and uncond
hibi,s trade in splr"
mente1 liquors
The first law p,
or manufacture
liquors in Maine
1850, and has been
nearly halt a century,
ception Of a temporary
during the tgo years
1855 and 1887. In the
the Prohibition law was
and, its enforcement HI
lax. an amendme ent
constitut on was adg
make its enforce
gent. This pr
mitted to d
voted tor
The to- nc OF Maine ar the
general election in the same year
was I3o, 900, and $1,000 voters,
therefore, did not participate in the
settlement Of the question.
The constitutional amendment
was adopted bya majority OF the
voters OF the State, but, as the In
ternal Revenue figures attest and
as the licenses procured by indi-
yidual liquor dealers show, the sale
Of intoxicants continued uninter-
Euptedly in Maine, and an effort is
to be made when the Legislature
meets to get its assent to the SUBJ
mission of another constitutional
amendment repeating the prohibit
tion article and permitting the
Legislature to adopt a high license
law Tor the sale OF liquor under
certain prescribed conditions at
the option OF a majority OF the citi-
zens OF each town or county,
Maine would not be the first
| prohibition State to change its
| position as to liquor selling. A like
amendment to the constitution OF
Iowa was adopted in 1872, and was
in force until 1894, when it was
| superseded by the present law,
which establishes high license
where locally demanded or author
lied, at the rate Of 5000 for each
saloon. Georgia, which has been
the foremost of the Southern States
IN advocacy Of prohibition, adopted
in 1887 a law which established
/ prohibition in those counties which
favored it and an annual tax On
saloons ot 1900, or very high
| license. in the others. Subse-
queutly the number Of counties
which had established prohibition
increased so as to include a large
majority OF those in the State, and
| last year a bill was brought for
ward in Atlanta extending the prin-
ciple OF prohibition to all counties
and doing away with liquor selling
in Georgia. The Representatives
Of the prohibition counties were in
a majority in the Legislature, and
the bill Tor prohibition was passed
in the lower house, but was de-
ieat,d in the State Senate, and the
| agitation there for a new liquor
law has not since been renewed.
The defeat Of local option in
| Vermont is likely to exercise con-
siderable influence on the agitaT
Tor It in Name.