The Lake County times. [volume] (Hammond, Ind.) 1906-1933, 1911-02-01
DID The
VETS" HAND
II TO "ORYS"
TIMES BUREAU,
AT STATE CAPITAL.

Indianapolis, Ind, Feb. There is
a lingering suspicion in the minds of
the '.drys' that they have been handed
one by the wet democrats in the leg
islature in connection with the Proctor
local option bill The lemon which was
handed to them, they say, was in the
delay in having the bill reach the gov
ernor for his signature. They declare
that this delay of one or two days will
be the means of allowing a large num-
Der of saloons to be established in
various cities of the state and that they
are powerless to prevent it.
There are several counties in the
state in which the two years dry eriod
as a result of county option election
will expire during the month of
February, and in many of these places
the temperance people were circulat-
ing petitions and having them signed
so as to present them to the county
commissioners or city clerks, as the
case might be, yesterday, calling for
local option elections in cities and
townships in such counties.
The general understanding was that
the bill would be signed by Governor
Marshall in plenty of time to become a
| law yesterday and this would have
made valid the filing of the petitions.
The law requires a petition for the
calling of a local option election to be
filed five days before the first day OF
the session of the county commission
ers court at which the petition will be
| considered.
| The law provides, further, that the
commissioners shall convene on the
first Monday in each month, and next
MONDAY will be the first Monday In
L 1J1,- he ox.ff
lions had to be filed yesterday in order
to be considered at the February
session of the commissioners in these
various counties.
/ However. the petition could not be
filed under the county option law, be
cause that law becomes extinct the
instant Governor Marshall attaches hi
i signature to the new local option law
This would kill the petitions also 81
the drys have had to walt until tn,
bill was signed, and since the bill wa
not signed yesterday they were no
! able to file any petitions under the new
law. They were shut out.
The temperance people are now open
" charging that the delay was a par
| of deliberate plan on the part of TIL,
vets to prevent the fling of the petit
lions for local options in these places
AS the matter now stands 1t will b.
possible 70 rthe saloon people to fl
their applications for licenses in thes
places and make their advertisement
during the month of February. Thel
the licenses can be granted by the com
missioners at the March term of thei
court, beginning on the first Monday Il
March. 1t will be impossible for tn
Temperance people to file any petition
for local option elections before tina
time.
Now. here comes the second part o
the plan. Whatever saloon regulation
| law is enacted at this session will carr,
the provision that there shall be on
saloon to every thousand OF FIVE hun
bred population, but 1t will also pro
, vide that saloons operating under Ii
censes in force at the time the law goe
into effect shall not be affected by tn
new limitation. Therefore. If license
are issued before the regulation Law
becomes effective they cannot be ouste
except by a local option election. Il
this way the two bills are expected Z
| dove tail and work together. The loca
; option law opens up the territory t
the saloons and the regulation bill vii
, Keep them from being ousted there
from.
} If this really has ben the plan @
the vets to slip in the saloons befor
1