St. Landry clarion. (Opelousas, La.) 1890-1921, 1906-11-10
NO PROHIBITION
in The SEVENTH.
The Petition of Taxpayers, Praying For An
Election,
TURNED DOWN BY POLICE JURY
The Same Request From The Fourth Ward
Is Postponed Until
Next Tuesday.

There will not be prohibition in the
seventh ward Of the parish of st.
Landry, for the year 1907, at least,
unless the Police Jury should choose
to reconsider it's action of last Mon
day on the question, which there is nc
probability of its doing in the face Of
the decisive vote by which the peti-
tion of people Of that ward, praying
for an election, was turned down.
Two weeks ago the Clarion gave
out the story that there was move
in the seventh ward Of the parish to
obtain prohibition in the territory EN-
bracing that ward, and that the mat
ter would come before the police
jury at this meeting. Strange as it
may seem, the publication was the
first intimation of the move that many
of the people of Vile Platte, the me-
tropolis of the ward, had; the prohi-
bitionists, the antis claim, having
worked the petition so quietly that
their tracks had remained covered
from the opposition. The prohibition
lists, however, deny any surreptitious
intention, avering that they were not
supposed to go to men known to be
opposed to the move in search Of
their signatures to a petition calling
for a prohibition election.
However this may be, there is no
doubt of the fact that it was late be-
fore the antis discovered that the
pros were after them, and then began
scurrying for signatures to counter
petition, and revelations Of signatures
to the prohibition petition.
The result Of the energy displayed
by both sides was that when the
police jury met in regular session last
Monday it had before it two petitions
from that section, each containing
about the same number Of signatures
each over FIVE hundred. The antis,
however, claimed that their petition
was more numerously signed, if the
names of those who had revoked their
signatures were taken off of the pro-
hibition list.
The chief arguments of the antis,
represented by L. Austin Fontenot,
ESQ.,, of 0pelousas, and r. L. Derouen,
were that the enactment of prohibi-
tion in one ward of the parish would
not accomplish the object intended
by prohibition, and would on the
other hand injure the ward, and par
ticularly the town of Vile Platte,
which has the only two saloons in the
ward, commercially. Vile Platte, they
argued, was maintaining streets and
other public improvements, and had
recently improved the school house
and contemplated other public i'm
proyements thereon, with the liquor
license money; that the result of pro-
hibition would be that blind tigers
would operate and Whiskey would be
imported via the new railroad now be-
ing built into that town.
The prohibitionists were represented
ON the floor of the police jury by Mr..
Rene L. Dossmann, who spoke in
favor of the petition. He simply, in
behalf of the signatory citizens, asked
for the privilege of an election, SO
that the voters of the Seventh Ward
might register their sense in the
matter.
A motion by Mr.. Adraste Lafeur,
that the petition be taken up and con-
sidered, was tabled by vote Of IL to 4.
After the petition of the Seventh
Ward had been disposed of, Rev. P.
O. Lowery. of the Fourth Ward, asked
the privilege of the floor, and, in a
forceful and able speech, presented a
petition asking that an election on the
question of prohibition be ordered to
Le held in the Fourth Ward on Dec
ember 28th.
The petition was numer0usly. signed,
and as there was no counter petition,
it looked like the election would be
ordered, when it was ascertained from
a statement of Mr.. Lowery that the
petition had been circulated hurriedly.
The jury concluded that perhaps the
other side was ignorant of the fact
that petition was being presented
asking for an election, and determined
that it were best to postpone the
matter until next Tuesday, when the
jery is to meet, in order that both
sides might be heard. It was so done
by a vote of II to 5, the matter COM
ing to vote on a motion by Mr.. Des-
hotels that the the action above out
lined be taken Mr.. N. w. Richard,
member from that ward, wanted the
matter considered at this meeting
and so voted. In fact he was draw
ing up the ordinance calling for the
election when the motion to postpone
was put and carried.
There is but one saloon in that
ward at Melville.