The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1910-01-21
THE aSrr-sAIooS League.

Inoswn guidance, FeSotsttoi t4'sti ShNAisa
a ana Assembly grant IL petition, the
iiam,srue should seek to secure suea
' d,us election at the esriiest
Tex practicable time during The present
ana ear--uulesa some new DEVELOPMENTS
OF hould render it inadvisable,"
mar ma This curious concluding pEovlso-
eousdded by command OF the so-caheu
pois1oderates in the convention--wih I'M
by oubtedly excite smiles among the dis
e assionate. of course it cancels and
W-iiniIifes the meaning OF the whole res
low.Iution. without it the executive
cou onmittee OF the Anti-saloon League |
TODD under orders 70 take steps to
Iy ecure q Statewide election during |
gui $40, the earlier the better. With
couhts clause tackled on the executive |
mir II omm,ttee is practically left free TO
'nurake the steps or not take the steps as
mob sees ht.F And that Is exactly where
tia,ile matter stood before the mandatory
upcesolution was introduced.
aft The fruit of the league convention,
NJ therefore, is a petition to the Assem-
Nv ,iy TO legalize special liquor election
sid.n behalf of Statewide prohibition.
mot seems practically certain that the
Nc Assembly will not grant this petition.
TeSts members were not chosen with any
Wirererence to the liquor issue. No ante
-.lecron pledges were exacted Of them.
a.rhey are under no obligation, politi-
cal or moral to do anything about the
| matter. me great majority of them
Sare Democrats, and most of these stand
fast by their party principle of local
option, which is the exact converse and
antithesis of Statewide prohibition.
Many of them have no Faith at all in
Statewide prohibition. Many dread
the disruptiEe effects OF a hard-fought
Iitquor campaign. Many utterly oppose
the principle of the referendum, by
which the Assembly is forced 10 abdi-
R,ratc its powers at any time on demand
of fraction of the electorate.
These legislators cannot see that the
tAnti-saloon League has any claim upon
sshe two parties which entities it to
sestraordinars legislative favors, ut
1terly contrary to the principles on
(which State government is admins
Itered In Virginia. Nor can The Times
1pispatch. II we are TO have liquor
referendum here. let us first, as this
lpaper has several times suggested,
make lawful the principle of the refer
Icndum as applied to public questions
and provide s.he Proper machinery for
cts management. No such legal sane
7ticn attaches 70 it to-day and no such
machinery exists.
Honest and jealous prohibitionists.
believe that their cause is far and
away the biggest public question Of
the day. and The Times-Dispatch re-
CARDS their opinion with the utmost
Prospect But IT seems that they should
concedc a similar respect TO the opn-
ions of other men.
There are mon In virginia-many
thousands Of then-who believe that
the building of good roads IS an intin-
itely bigger and more important issue
than closing up the saloons. There
are thousands of other men who put
above everything else the extension
of our school system. or the develop
Snent of town and country sanitation,
I er4the spreading Of the gospel OF sci
entilc agriculture. All of these men
would like 10 get three or four or ten
times as much money for their special
hobbies as The Legislature is willing
TO give them. il the -Anti-Snloon
League gets the right to carry it's par
7 ticular speciality over the heads of the
recognized law-1naking body 10 the
4 people, there no reason why precisely
the same right should not be given to
che Farmers. Institute, the Virginia
q Good Roads Association or any other
group OF men who have, or who can
y Ri work up, the necessary following.
But the Anti Saloon League petit
tions in its own interest only. IT re-
quests that the General Assembly shall
suspend Legislative government in Vir-
ssinia long enough to permit it to reach
a goal which it cannot reach, or pre-
fers not 10 reach, through the estab-
lished agencies. There is good reason
TO believe that the General Assembly
s Will fail 10 grant this request. 1t Is
poss!ble that a special liquor referen.
dunn measure may be got through the
House but il may be accepted as {
N fact that ii win never pass the sen
ate OF 1910.
This means that there VIII be no pro
hibitiye liquor legislation passed 4
Virginia prior 10 the year 1912. W
now record the opinion that there wi
Il DO none passed then Some OF III
aeagpers themselves have touched upo
ss the waning influence of their orga,
# i1zatiom In our judgment their al
Ipraisal or the situation was accurat
/ jsrhe Anti-saloon League reaphed 4
lesnith of its power al The. tSorfolls 60
s vsnt.on in February. 900, Theirs, U
M nsr thss Ersxeat mama cement. III n