The Newport miner. [volume] (Newport, Wash.) 1899-current, 1909-08-26

i - 'no ooCldl evil. Thew
nave catered and pandered to the worst
passions and impulses in human nature
AND they have done all this in q cold.
olooded desire to increase the volume
Oh the1r business. But the number Of
such dealers is comparatively small.
AT the same time, one such man in Tho
business is one too many. Liquor laws
should be so framed, that it would ba
extremely difficult, if not impossible.
Tor men of this stamp to get into tho
iiquor business, and the law should
also provide simple and easy way TO
drive out those that have gotten in
Inc limits of this article preclude a
lengthy discussion of the question of
a legislative remedy for the evils con.
nected with the liquor traffic. But T.
Will not be amiss to suggest a plan of
regulation which, in the Judgment of
tne writer, would be a step in the right
direction.
In formulating liquor legislation, we
should be guided by two fundamental
principles. The first is practicabilitv.
The question to be determined at the
outset is, what kind of excise law.
under givent conditions, with men AZ
they are in their individual and social
life, and with political standards as
they are, will effect the best results
The trouble with much of our lepisla.
ton is that it has ignored limitations
imposed by actual conditions. Legis-
lation is not the expression of ideals
nor of moral yearnings. The law should
represent the nearest approach to the
ideal that present conditions will ad.
NIT OF. Another equally important
consideration, following on this is that
the same legislation is not adapted for
all communities. Hence, liquor legis-
lation should provide for very large
measure of home rule. But there is
right and wrong kind of home rule.
The so-called local-option system that
now obtains in many of the states,
is the wrong kind. It is unsound in
principle and demoralizing in it's eff
fects. 1t is at variance with the gen.
eral policy of regulation. 1t is part
of the policy and program of prohibit
ton. It is an instrument placed in
the hands of prohibitionists to enable
them to gain their end little by little
Now, all the features and provisions of
a state liquor law should be mutually
consistent and harmonious. All parts
Of the law should have the same gen.
eral intent and conform with the same
general policy. But, under the present
local-option system, the state is fol-
lowing two opposite policies at the
same time. This kind of local option
gives the local community too much
power and too little power. The peo-
pie have no power to say who shall
receive licenses and what moral and
other qualifications shall be required.
They have no power to determine the
question of prohibited days and hours;
no power to determine the amount Of
the license fee, nor to set a limit on
the number of licenses to be issued.
There is no option on any of these mat
tiers of practical administration that
properly come within the scope Of local
self-government. The community has
option on only one question-whether
the liquor traffic shall be legalized or
prohibited. This local-option scheme
reverses the true order of political ad-
ministration It withholds from the
local community those minor but i'm
portant powers that the people in the
local community are in the best posi-
ton to exercise wisely, while it con-
fers upon the local community that
supreme power of life or death over the
liquor traffic which ought to be re-
served in the hands Of the state. Under
this system the liquor dealers and the
public are in a constant state Of un-
certainty as to the fundamental ques-
ton Of regulation or abolition. At
every local-option election, there is the
possibility of a complete revolution
Of policy. Today the liquor business
is just as legitimate as any other bust
ness; tomorrow, it may be under the
ban of the law. The question is never
settled. Neither side ever wins a per-
manent victory. The state alone should
settle this all-important question of the
legality Of the liquor traffic. A ques-
ton like this, involving the funda-
mental rights of property and OF per-
sonal liberty, should not be left to
the decision of a majority vote at
local election. On the other hand, the
state, after establishing the legality
of the liquor business everywhere with
in its borders, should grant to the local
community the fullest freedom and
power in the matter Of regulation.
Starting with this general principle
of state rule in matters of general pol
icy and home rule in matters OF local
administration, the following is a rough