The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1911-02-15
LIQUOR AND POLITICS.


State has expressly put the saloon in
politics, has allied itself with it in the
elections, and is now urging liquor
legislation wholly and solely on party
grounds, it is indeed a piece of rank
inconsistency to see the organ of that
(in Utah especially debased party now
out with the yell to ''take the saloon
out of politics!''
Having yoked the Republican party
with the saloon, and being now engaged
in hot campaign to legislate the sa-
loon further into politics, the cry to
take the saloon out of politics. coming
from that source, is such an amazing
contradiction Of facts, declarations, ten
denotes, and purposes, that one must
stand ama- at The gall of it.
In the same connection, that organ
urges that the licensing of saloons be
commissioners, and town boards which
h-ve usually attended TO that business,
anG be vested in the courts. But as
experience has shown, our courts are SO
fully occupied with the business proper.
" coming before them, that the idea Of
requiring them TO take on this new
business is impractica BILE. Besides that.
licensing and regulating saloons is an
administrative duty that has no proper
function in the judiciary 1t is not
likely that any such inconsistent idea
could be put into effect at this late
- 4
of time when our modern separation
of functions had not been undertaken.
There is only one way to take the
saloon out of politics, and that is for
the politicians to let the saloon alone
ms political proposition. AS long as
politicians insist upon having deals with
saloon keepers and plan to have the
saloon keepers constantly at their
mercy, it will be impossible for the
saloons to keep out Of politics They
must go into politics to protect them
selves. This is clearly evident, is
ly in evidence in Utah
There is recently proposed way to
keep the saloon out of politics as
practical proposition, and that is to
adopt what is known as the Model
License League basis. The model license,
so called. is in operation in Connecticut,
Iowa, Louisiana. Michigan, Texas, and
some other States. It's idea in general
is to treat the liquor dealer substan
italy as the United States Government
treats him. to assess upon him special
tax Gotten called license), to be fixed
by the city councils, county commits
sloners, and town boards, This special
tax is paid every year. but the saloon
keeper paying 1t is not required to
apply for q license: the tax Is simply
assessed upon him for doing the bust
ness he does, and he pays that tax
regularly, and continues in business IN
definitely, without any political pull or
special effort to get what is miscalled
a license; that is, the saloon business is
put on the same basis as any other bust
for saloon keeper to have political
pull to get license than there is for
n dry goods or grocery merchant to do
il. OF course, the liquor law, or
ordinance. as the case may be, or both,
required regulation of saloons, says when
they must close; that they must keep
orderly houses; that certain restrictions
and regulations must be observed In the
interest of good order and morality. In
this manner it is held by those who
urge this proposition that the liquor
question is taken out of politics and the
saloon keeper is not subject to black
mailing, nor is he put at the mercy of
grating politicians, either local or
State. AS explained, he is simply put
by the State and the city on the same
bosis that he is put by the United
States in its internal revenue excise
regulations Those who speak OF the
operations of this model license law, so
called, speak in terms of enthusiasm.
and declare that it actually solves the
question of p.:ttino the saloon out Of
politics There is one thing certain,
and that is that there is no honest
effort on the part Of the machine poll
tieians of Utah to take the saloon
out Of politics. On the contrary, those
politicians rely on the saloon all the
time for votes and political strength.
1t is not only wholly inconsistent for
their organ to get up cry that they
want to take the saloon out of politics,
but it is so absurd a notion that its
honesty is discounted at once.
There might be another way of tax
ing the saloon out of politics, if there
were any honest intention of so doing
on the part of the political bosses of
the miscaled Republican party in Utah 4;
that would be to permit city councils
in municipalities to lay off within the
portions of the city where saloons are
to be allowed, certain liquor districts,
and give TO the highest bidder the
monopoly to sell liquor at one or a
limited number of places within that
district having for each place the sum