The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1911-03-10
INDIANA'S
LIQUOR LAW
Interview with Gov. Mar shall Upon the New
 Enactment.

Thomas R. Marshall, Governor ot 1 Indiana and possible candidate fol the Democratic nomination for Pres.
 ident has given to representative o1 the National Model License League
 the following emphatic statement oi his position on the liquor question:: \ ITO begin with, let us be under stood that 1 am not a saloon man.
 T believe in the doctrine of local Self-government, which in Indiana, l have construed to mean the city and the township as units, rather than the larger units.
 II have serious doubts as to the possibility of. the enforcement of any prohibitory law until the sentiment of a community rises to the degree that the use of intoxicating liquors in that community is drowned upon. I be- iieve that the city and the township have the right to outlaw the saloon. Upon the other hand, I do not be- lieve from the viewpoint of constitu- right to compel any one to adapt his mode of life to my mode of life. T have therefore, felt that until people come to believe that the ex- cessive use of intoxicating liquors is detrimental, not only to the individ- ual citizen, but to the State at large, that in all those communities where a majority of the people do not want the saloon excluded, it should be strictly regulated. In other words, it is infinitely better to have them ob- tain liquors openly at licensed saloons rather than in dark and surreptitious ways at illegal places. I have, there fore, been much impressed with the regulatory features of the Proctor regulation law which I, as Governor of this State, have just approved.
 This law fixes a limitation of one saloon for not less than five hundred inhabitants and the Board of Com missioners ,at it's first session, may raise the limitation to one to a thou sand.
 .'The license fee is ample but not exorbitant.
 .I do not believe it is so much the question of the size of the fee as the character of the licenses, which de- termineS the conduct of the saloon. Conviction of a felony is a bar to the granting of license. Any one twice convicted within four years of vioIa- tion of the liquor laws. or convicted of five violations in his life can not ate from the business many undesir- able men. A license may be revoked or suspended for allowing immoral women to frequent the place and for gambling, and must be revoked upon the holders third conviction Of viola tion of the liquor laws. The remon- strance laws of Indiana are preserved and strengthened.
 "I was opposed to the transfer of the license in the beginning, but now I believe that the transfer is the best reward that can be hung up before a saloon keeper to induce him to obey the law. and the fact that the license is renewable from time to time, so long as the man obeys the law is a very potent factor in eliminating the ,1-1x@ f,~rN,, lN1i
 ''The most serious feature from the standpoint of the State (and I hope, people will distinguish between the standpoint of the State and the stand point of the church) is that the sa- Ioonkeeper has been in politics. I be- lieve he has been in politics because it has been necessary that he might obtain and retain his license.
 4 Therefore, this legislation, which now enab bles him to renew and trans fer his license so long as he is a law abiding citizen, takes him out of pol itics.
 ''There are many other admira ble features in this regulatory measure and I hope and believe its adoption by the general assembly will result in such 8 careful management of the saloon business as to take it entirely out of politics and bring about good order and absolute obedience to law"