The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1911-03-03
THE GIANT LIQUOR BILL.

/ ported by three Senators, and which
may fairly be called the giant bill,
| It is an immensely long, complicated
measure that would give rise to no end
of litigation. and would be OF not the
least benefit to the State or to any
community in it if it were enacted.
The passage of bill like this is a
clear defiance Of common sense and OF
candid public service. We Judge 1t
can hardly be possible that the House
would agree with the Senate in the
passage OF monstrous bill like this.
1t has been found impossible for the
legislators TO agree upon the meaning
of the Republican State platform of last
year, as that platform had relation to
the liquor question; and naturally, IN
the passage of bill like this, de-
signed to carry out pledge which is
uncertain and Indefinite. the bin is as
uncertain, indefinite ard incomprchen-
sible as was the platform itself,
It is absolutely certain that the
whole liquor status of the State would
be overturned By the passage of this
law, We have now j settled, adjudi
Gated condition OF the liquor question,
which allows every community TO SET
tie for itself whether 1t will have liquor
sold or not. It is pretended that that
is the design of this immensely long,
complicated bill: but, If that is the
design, what possible gain can be had
through the unscttling of the present
status which establishes local option
precisely what this bill undertakes TO
establish, but which it would over
turn and throw the whole question into
contention and litigation for years TO
come.
There is absolutely nothing to gain
by the people of this State from the
passage of any such measure as this.
There is nothing but contention, wrang-
hing, and bitterness to be derived
in any possibility through this evil
measure. Nor, IL must be confessed,
does the House measure present any re-
lief. In fact, both are about as bad as
possible. each in its own siuuous way,
and each containing "jokers,' provo
cative of litigation and imposture,
II is singular, indeed, that n body
such as the Utah legislature Will de.
vote large portion of its sixty days
session to undertaking to foist upon
the people eXtravagant and tricky
measures such as these. 1t is especially
that this should be done, when
VIC have in the State already a perfect
ly adiudicated and well settled basis,
the very thing that all OF these meas
ures nominally undertake to bring
about. There is not the slightest gain
in any direction possible to hope for
in any of the liquor bills that are in
troduced, and specifically from these
two, which arc now prominent, Nei
ther offers any relief, but each presents
a mass of complicated machinery where
by the result, which we already have
in full measure, is to he reached. 1t
Is as though man, already having
bought and paid for a wagon, should
undertake to reopen the transaction
and stave off payment, finally bringing
1t about through complicated means, i'm
posing n multitude Of crooked condi-
tions, giving his note that would draw
interest part of the time at one rate
and part OF the time at another, and
finally, after a long delay, much con-
tention and eager effort TO find out the
status Of the bargain, then at the
end paying the various notes, with in
terest, and landing at the last with the
possession of the wagon fully paid for
at the end Of twisted and sinuous
passage as through a ram S horn-being
after much trouble and cost, Just where
he was at the beginning.
AS stated, we have already the status
which all these bills profess to bring
about. The status we have is fully
settled by the courts. The means
whereby tho status that we already
have is TO be brought about through
these bills can only be utilized at the
end of costly and tedious litigation
And So why put in n ram s horn to pro-
vide the means of passage for measures
that are unnecessary and that, at the
end of the sinuosity, do not even pro.
fess to rive us anything different from
what we have, or any Improvement on
the law as declared?