The commercial. (Union City, Tenn.) 190?-193?, 1901-04-26
people and this Legislature has
acted wisely in passing it.
TERMINAL BILL.


acted wisely in passing it.
TERMINAL BILL.
The measure known as the Ter
minal bill, and which was defeated
in the Senate under circumstances
highly sensational. was another
very important matter which was
before this body for adjudication
IT'S passage would have permitted
the Tennessee Central Railway to
enter and use the Louisville g.
Nashville terminal and all its facil-
tiles in Nashville. and a strong
fight was made for it by Col. Jere
Baxter and his supporters on one
side and the Louisville & Nashville
and Nashville Chattanooga g. st.
Louis Railroads on the other The
question was argued learnedly by
the counsel for both sides before
the committee and two whole days
were devoted to it in the Senate.
The sensational affair which de-
veloped in connection with its con-
sideration is a matter of to-day.
WHISKY QUESTION.
But the most distinguishing fea-
ture Of this Legislature is, beyond
all doubt, its evident and unusual
antagonism to the liquor traffic.
The House voted overwhelmingly
in favor of any kind of anti-whisky
Legislation, and while the majority
was the other way in the Senate,
the leaders on the temperance side
managed to get through much tenn
perance Legislation in spiteot it.
The Peeler bill, which sought to
extend the four-miIe law now APP
plying to towns Of 1000 to towns
of 5000 inhabitants hereafter IN
corporated and giving them the
right to decide the question otAre-
pealing their charters and re-incor-
porating under the four-mile law,
was the most talked of bill which
has been considered. and while the
victory was for the liquor men the
end is not yet On the final vote in
the Senate on that measure there
were fifteen ayes and eighteen noes,
thus showing eighteen Senators
who were opposed to the passage
of prohibitory or local option laws
Yet the requisite seventeen votes
were obtained to repeal the charters
Of more than thirty towns tor the
express purpose of banishing the
saloons therefrom, and on Saturday
bill was passed which practically
allows every town in the state under
1000 to repeal it's charter with
out the intervention of the Legisla-
ture. 1t provides that towns in
corporated under the general laws
may surrender their charters by a
majority vote. This does not APP
ply directly to towns having spe-
cial or Legislative charters, but
when it is remembered that the
general laws permit a town having
a special charter to vote itself UNI
der the general laws it will be seen
to be practically general in its APP
plication.
Under the Peeler bill the election
would not have had the effect Of
abolishing the charter, but would
have been only directory to the
Legislature, so that the bill, which
will be the law upon receiving the
signature of the Governor, is in re-
ality more of local option meas
ure than the Peeler bill.
The defeat Of the Peeler bill gave
rise to a scandal and committee
was not considered sufficient to
justify them in making any spe-
ciiic charges, but contained some
very salty reading.
The most tangible evidence Of
the temperance leanings OF this
Legislature is the fact that more
than thirty towns s'wet' when it
met are now dry
These charters were abolished
by virtue of senatorial Courtesy, \
that sto say local Senators were
allowed to control matters within
their own districts. This policy
was insisted upon early in the ses-
sion by the leader Of the anti-liquor
men in the Senate with the repeal
of town charters in view, and he
was so far successful that the other
side found it useless to oppose the
tide and accorded the courtesy,
which was in return given them.
Only in one case was the courtesy
withheld and then the question of
politics came IN, the Senator who
desired the repeal Of the char
ter Of Athens being Republican
and on that issue the rule was
broken.
This class of legislation will be
almost certain to result in local OPP
ton being made one Of the issues
in the next Legislative campaign,