The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1906-03-09
A GOOD MEASURE
Proposed Amendments to the
Constitution.

At the last session of the legislature
} an act was passed proposing to amend
the constitution Of the state, provid-
ing that any person may sell or peddle
the products of the farm or garden
occupied or cultivated by him, with
out obtaining license therefor. The
act is as follows and will be submit
ted to the voters at the next election
in November.
Be it enacted by the Legislature Of
the State Of Minnesota:
Section 1. The following Amend
ment TO Article one Ul. OF the Consti-
/ tuition of the State Of Minnesota is
hereby proposed to the legal voters Of
said State for their approval or rejec-
lion, which amendment when SO ap,
tproved shall be known as section
eighteen (lS), Of said article one ~,
and shalt read as follows:
Section Is. Any person may sell or
peddle the products OF the farm or
garden occupied or cultivated by him
without obtaining a license therefor.
Section 2. This proposed amend
ment. shall be submitted to the cleo
tors OF said State for their approval
or rejection at the next general cleo
| tiOn for the year 1906, as is now pro-
vlded by law for subm isSiOn of amend
ments of the Constitution of this
State, and each of the legal voters of
said State may at said election vote
by ballot for or against said amend
ment. and if it shall appear there
from that majority OF the voters
voting at said election upon said
amendment, Eyes" or mo-" have
voted in favor of the same, then
within ten days after the result shall
have been ascertained the governor
shall make proclamation thereof and
said amendment shall thereupOn take
effect and be in full force as part of
the Constitution of the State of Min
| nesOta.
Section 3, This act shall take effect
and be in force from and after its
passage.
Approved April 10. 1905,
| Said Amendment is for the purpose
of preventing any municipal corpora
lion imposing any license or fee on
any farmer or gardener, selling pro-
duce grown on land occupied, and Gull
tivated by himself, and sold or
tpeddled directly to the consumer.
The Supreme Court of this State has
held that license imposed by any
municipality on peddling, covers the
farmers or producers, as we'll as, the
man who buys his stuff to sell again.
The GrOcers' Associations, Of the
different cities in the State, have
taken advantage of this state Of af-
fairs, and caused the arrest of several
) farmers, and gardeners, with the re-
suit that they were found guilty. and
fined for the crime, of selling produce
grown by themselves directly to the
consumer, without first obtaining a
license therefor. In some OF the
Cities the license has been doubled in
. the last two or three years. In the
Twin Cities it is now Fifty Dollars
(S50.00) per year. The arrests made
. in the Twin Cities were for the Of
fence OF selling vegetables, and fruits,
but il the mOvment is not checked
it will soon cover every article pro-
duced on farm, or garden, as the
grocers wish all such produce to pass
through their hands before it reaches
the consumer. Any one can see what
a nice thing it will be for them to set
the price at both ends of deal, Sc
. much to the producer, and so much to
the consumer. All consumers are as
much interested In this amendment
as any one, unless they want to pay
higher prices for what they eat. 1t
is also poor advertisement to send
. out to the rest of the world, inviting
them TO take up land and open farms
in this State, and then make them
pay license to sell their stuff unless
they sell to dealer. Lots of encour-
agement to diversified farming in
that. There is nothing in the pro-
posed amendment preventing the
licensing of dealers or peddlers, other
than the actual producers, and
growers.