The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1908-03-06
The LEGAL STATUS
OF LOCAL OPTION

50 far, the advocates Of Local
Option in st. Francois county have
won in every legal proceeding insti-
tutcd to thwart the petitioners and
deprive them of their right to vote
on Saturday. The first step taken
by the attorneys for the saloon and
liquor interests, that is, the first
open step, was TO apply to the SUI
prene Court of the State for Il writ
of prohibition against the county
court. The effect of such n writ
would have been to prevent the hold
ing Of the election rs ordered. The
Supreme Court told the eminent at
torneys who applied for tn" writ to
go before their own circuit court
This they did. They applied to the
Judge of this circuit ut his home in
PerryNillc and he set Thursday,
February 18th, as the dat" for hear
ing the arguments and the place,
Pennington. The whole day was
consumed in the discussion Of the
matter. In II clcar-cut deaisiOn, one
that permitted of no misund"rstand-
ing, the court held that the county
court had not exceeded its juris-
diction and that it had also pro-
cccded legally.
On Monday, March 2nd, the at
tOrncys for the saloon and liquor in
tcrcsts went To St Louis before the
st. Louis Court Of Appeals. Here
application for some extraordinary
writ was made. After hearing the
attorney for the space of about half
an hour, the court sitting as bench,
that Is the entire court, refused to
issue the writ. Application was then
made to the supreme Court for a
writ Of prohibition, which was de
MED.
One of the points that has been
definitely passed upon, is the Farm
ingtOn census, sustaining the posi-
Some Written and Unwritten History.
The charge Of unfairness has been
made in the matter of making up
the petition because the petitioners
did not exclude the City Of Farm
ington. 1t is charged that they
should have had census taken and
then voted Pennington separate.
In answer il can he stated that.
|. The whole matter Of Local
Option was not the work of n days
agitation; nor was the circulating
Of the petition done in secrecy and
darkness. For IA considerable length
of time before tn" petition was filed
with the county court tn" whole
matter was aggressively agitatcd, n
long time was consumed in prcpar-
ing the petition. All parties inter
csted knew that the matter was to
be presented to the county. Their"
was ample time for those who de-
sired the city OF Pennington to vote
separate to make legal census, to
present the same to the county
court, or what would have been more
efficient, to have had a petition of
ten per cent Of the voters of the city
to the city council askign for city
election. With all Of the informa-
ton they had Of the progress Of the
movement, this the parties inter
ested in the saloon aud liquor bust
ness did not do.
.. While II is difficult to prove,
nevertheless 1t appears that through
out the whole matter these inter
ests had the advice of some of the
ablest lawyers in the county. May
it not be presumed that, acting
under that advice, they permitted
the petition to be prepared and pre-
scented to the county court thinking
that later they could annul the
whole matter, not only in the city of
ullIlllEN'll l''N III NV " ll'l' N'"hNf
Notwithstanding the will Of the
people, as yet uneXpressed but which
they feared would he for the removal
of the saloons from the county.
3. Since the matter has been
brought into the courts, the city
council of Pennington has displayed
IA remarkable activity in the matter,
All activity which might have been
more efiicaciously made before the
petition Of the voters of the entire
county had been filed with the Coun'
~ court. The first step taken by
the council, and on its own initia-
tive without any petition or other
expressed sense of the citizens OF
the city, was to take census. This
step was taken on the night of the
day that the petition was filed with
the county court, which, in itself, is
evidence that some at least of the
council were not as unprcpared as
would appear on the face of the