The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1911-01-03

. ties upon application of the people,
and the absence of such requets has
been taken as indicating drift of pub
/ lie opinion.
The plan of removing official derel-
ects as outlined was proposed in the
Burnett act of the first 1910 special
session, but could not be adopted ow-
ing to heavy opposition. The chief
objection then was to clothing the
executive with power to remove an
elective officer with the possibility of
making such elective officers author
|ity subservient to that of state ap-
pointee. In other words, if the state
officer would not, and the local Off
Ger could not enforce the anti-liquor
| law. the latter would be made to suf-
fer.
Opponents of the plan to be pre-
scented during the third legislature ia
yor continuance of the state dispen-
sary along lines outlined in the Bur
nett act, which would mean abolition
only of local dispensaries. The state
agency would be made a clearing
house for disposition of confiscated
goods. however, with the array OF
state enforcement officers conspicu-
ously absent Like the other plan, en-
| focement would be left to local Off
GERS with the governor authorized to
remove them for failure to enforce
the law, not however, until such Off
Ger had been given hearing before
court. The idea would be to ship
to the state agency all confiscated Ii
Quors for resale to dealers outside
! the state, and so per cent of the net
revenue would be retained for the ben
eft of the state agency and 30 per
cent paid into the salary fund of the
county wherein the seizure had been
made. As a variation it was suggest
ed that half of what the state agency
received be spent in enforcement in
the same county, the state enforce
ment officers in these cases cooperat-
ing with the local officers.
While the active prohibition advo-
Gates will be engaged in solving the
liquor problem from their viewpoint,
another force will be working TO have
passed reasonable local option and
high license amendment to the state
constitution with view of supplant-
ing the statewide prohibition feature
of the document This was attempt
ed through the initiative and referen-
dunn last November, and the amend
unanimous wishes of local option ad-
vocates, received larger adverse ma
iority than it was probably entitled
to.
It is planned to have the legislature
Suggest" to the people what has
been termed n model local option
and high license law. Under the
Taylor act of the first 1910 special
session. put through for the purpose
of promoting interests of the grand
father amendment to the suffrage ar
ticle of the state constitution, the To-
cal option and high license "sugges-
J ton would he taken up by those in
terest and initiated. In such event
| rhe Amendment would secure ad.
vantage of the so-called grandfather
ballot, which bore the single line
For the amendment and to vote
against which the elector was requir-
ed to draw pencil mark through
the words. Failure to do so voted the
ballot for the proposition whether the
alton would also shift the burden of
iustructing the voter. Heretofore it .
has been the business of promoters or
advocates of proposition TO educate I.
the voter how to cast an affirmative I.
ballot. but provision governing the /.
for-the-amendment scheme requires /.
mat the opponents educate the SltC- /
tor how to cast killing vote. Realiz-
ing that the single line ballot has .
served it usefulness, however one of .
the earliest bills of the session from
another source will be to repeal the
special Taylor act.
The position of Goy.-elect CruCe on
the dispensary or local option propo-
sitin has not been made public. al
though It has been hinted that the
diSpensary system had 20 at least be
oyerhauled. This has been taken to
mean that in event the dispensary
was not abolished an array of new