The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1911-06-04
License Election Is to Take
Place Just Three Weeks
From Next Tuesday,
June 27.
ACT CONFLICTING
IN IT'S PROVISIONS
However, General Intention
Appears Only to Be to
Obey the Spirit of
the Measure.

Three weeks from Tuesday the peo-
pie of Salt Lake, for the first time in
history, will vote directly on the quea..
tion of whether or not liquor shall be
sold under license. The people will
simply vote either for or against sale.
In case they vote for sale, conditions
will continue much the same as at
present in Salt Lake, except that the
city council is required to pass ordi-
nances regulatory of saloons in con.
formlty with the liquor law passed by
the last state Legislature. If ma
JorIty OF the electors vote against the
sale OF liquor the city council will be
required to enact prohibitory ordi-
nance, TO be effective October ! next,
and to be enforced in the manner pro-
vlded by the state law on the sub
ject.
The liquor law, under which the
election is to be held, is decidedly
complicated and capable of various
constructions. 1t is admittedly long.
and cumbersome and in many instances
was proposed by the Republican party
at its last state convention as all anti
dote for prohibition and framed and
passed by the last state legislature as
compromise measure. So. many sec,
tions were eliminated, altered or added
to please one side or the other. or at
the dlctatlon of the politician, that the
liquor law presents patchwork ap.
pearance. Many declare that the com
phcated construction of the measure
nullihes what beneficial results might
be expected to accrue from piece of
supposed temperance legislation. Some
attorneys, who have gone into the mat
ter, declare that in several vital points
the law is invalid.
Law Is Accepted.
However, the officers and the saloon
men have accepted the law as it came
from the legislature and have attempt
ed to comply with its provisions. Prose
cutting attorneys have agreed as TO the
Interpretation Of the measure in its
vital points and somewhat of uniform
method of enforcing the measure has
been adopted. In some instances it is
certain that the letter of the law is
not being enforced because this could
not be done without subjecting q few
TO great Inconvenience. The LIQUOR
dealers, however, have shown dispo-
sltlon to conform to the spirit of the
law. to such an extent that in Salt
Lake the officers have found no grounds
for complaint and no prosecutions for
violations of the law have been be-
gun.
1t was the original intention of the
legislature TO make no change in ex.
isting conditions until after October /.
The plan was TO have election features
of the new law become effective i'm
medlately and to. make the remaining
portions of the law contingent on the
result Of the election. Thus, if the
community should vote "dry' that
portion of the law dealing with prohi
bltion territory would become effective
after October | as an aid to the com
munity. in enforcing the prohibition
community voted wet" then 'ti the - in.
tention was to have the licenses issued
after October l in the manner pre-
scribed in this measure and the reeu-
lations enforced after that date
Unfortunately, the trainers of the
measure neglected to write their in.
tentiolS into the law and, while the
measure states that the result of the
election shall become operative after
October ! of this year, no such pro.
vision is made as to the effectiveness
OF the remaining portions of the bill.
Hence, the other portions OF the bill
come under the constitutional pro.
VISION which makes laws enacted by
the legislature, unless otherwise stip-
ulated, edectlve sixty days after the
OF the state Legislature.
The result is that the regulation fea-
lures and the provisions for the en-
forcement of prohibition became effsc-
tive on May 8.
Complications Arise.
The complications naturally ensuing
made 1T impossible to enforce the let
ter of the law. For example, there were
persons holding unexpired saloon H.
reases under the new law. Yet there
was no provision for the revocation OF
licenses and the refund of license fees
prior TO October l. This condition
and other similar conditions arc met
oy the officers and attorneys by disre.
sarding features of the law which
would upset present conditions until
after October i, with the understand
ng that from that time on all of the
eatures of the law will be enforced
Attorneys have agreed that all present
liquor ordinances, not repugnant to
he general liquor law, remain in eff
ect until October J. when they will be
uperseded by the features of the law
made operative and the new ordinances
made mandatory by tho result of the
liquor election.
Special attention in the new liquor
aw is paid cities of the first and see
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