The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1909-03-18
A ROTTEN DEAL.

After sixty days of pretense, of de-
bate and hourishes. of buncombe and
1amboyant oratory. the legislature
comes back to the fold and meekly
takes up the original Cullen hotel bill
framed by the federal bunch as a sub
stitute for real liquor regulation.
Briefly outlined. the bill proposes to.
Place the licensing power in the
hands of a state board of examiners.
Permit local option elections in coun-
ties and in cities of not more than
1900 population on petition of % per
cent of the voters.
Prohibit retail sale Of liquor by drug
gists except on prescription. Prohibit
breweries from becoming surety on
license bond Of retail dealer, or from
being owner OF partner in retail license.
Closing saloons from 70 D. m. to a.
m. except on Saturday, when saloons
are TO close at D. m. and remain
closed until 6 a. M. on Monday.
Looks well. doesn't it, and yet in the
simplest terms possible it proposes to
place the absolute control of the liquor
business in Utah in the hands of a po-
litical machine controlled by the brew
ers and liquor dealers.
Not only that, but it deprives the peo-
pie of every county and municipality of
any voice in the issuance of licenses,
so that no city authorities or county
authorities could refuse a license to an
improper person If the state board de-
cided to issue it. Conversely, the Sc
lection of licenses is given into the
hands OF a single state board, so il
would be possible for the state ma
chine 10 punish any saloonkeeper OF
liquor dealer who refused TO contribute
to the proper campaign fund, and to
reward such as showed disposition to
be good.
IF the measure had been devised to
offer temptation for political blackmail
il could not have been framed more
scientifically; it offers every facility for
just such a partnership of political ma
chimes and liquor dealers in politics as
has cursed the whole session of this
legislature. And by that same token,
il it becomes a law it viii make the
liquor business the target of every pro-
fessionaI blacknailer in politics.
Seemingly the measure suits the
liquor interests, because they were rep
resented on the conference committee
which drew up the measure; and they
count either on the defeat of the bin or
on lax enforcement of its provisions.
foc on no other theory can some por-
lions Of the measure be acceptable to
them.
If the intention was to effect the de-
feat of any legislation, the bill is adj
mirahly drawn. Certainly no member
with any regard for his political future
can afford to vote for the proposal TO
take away from his constituents the
right to pass upon licenses in their own
county OF town. In the larger cities,
the closing hours are so absurd. so i'm
possible of enforcement as to invite OPP
position from the city members. So
that. taken as a whole, it looks as
though a Job had been fixed up to beat
auv regulation and at the same time
make it look as though the machine
had really tried TO do something 10 pla-
cate the public demand for reform in
the methods of the liquor dealers and
saioonkeepers.
In any event. the outcome of sixty
DAYS of agitation will be the settlement
or the debt due the liquor dealers by
the Republican machine and the defeat
of the sentiment which demanded hon
est regulation, & restriction Of the
dives. the limitation of saloons and
compliance with that broad public
policy which seeks the separation Of
the saloon interests from politics
The machine and its allies. the liquor
interests. may regard the result Of the
session with satisfaction; and if their
purpose was to defeat the viii of the
people. debauch legislation and estab-
fish a corrupt influence for further po-
lltieal operations, it has been sue
cess. On the Their hand, successes of
that sort the country over have invited
retribution and disaster for both the
politicians and the liquor dealers who
engineered such deals; and they need
not be surprised if the people of Titan,
regardless of party. retaliate in kind
The history of the whole movement
in this country shows that the prohi-
hition wave is due quite as much to re-
sentiment at the interference of the
liauor interests in politics as it IS TO
dislike of the traffic itself; and the PEG