The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1911-02-22
LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEES REPORT TO THE STATE ANILSALOM LEAGUE OF VIRGIN

years ago. observant. thouSlstfuI
know to-day that the liquor prob&1 IS
Is no longer a local problem e10
never viii be again. A crisis has -
reached in our warfare. The fH444
weakness OF the present local OpttQM
law lies in the fact that the law & &
powerless to defend itself from the -
saults made upon II from with0ut 81
Under the present local option GIp
tenn the people Of Richmond and Nor
folk can nuIlify the wishes Of the p0os3
pie of Accomac and Lee. The present 4
license law gives to Richmond ana
Norfolk the power to ship their in
toxicants into Accomac and Lee, ana a
so bring INTO those counties all the
disease and woes that follow in The
train of the bottle and the jug. The
people of Richmond and Norfolk NOT
only determine for themselves th44
they will have intoxicants In their
midst but they likewise determine
that Accomac and Lee shall have In
toxicants, although q majority OF The
people of those counties do not want
them. And 80 Richmond and Nor
folk nudity the local self-governmont
of the people of Aceornac and Leo. #
The time has come for an advances
movement. Not to go forward VIII
ultimately mean to go backward. The
local option principle must be carried
| TO it's logical conclusion, or 1t will b.
practically useless. The people who
have declared against the sale ana
distribution of intoxicants In their
midst must be protected in that right
How shall this be done? Z
| Two methods are suggested for your :
consideration, one of narrower and
! the other OF broader scope. Both
were presented to the General Assem-
| bly, of 1910, and both were rejected,
but they are still alive, notwithstAud~
ing.
! The Logical Extension Of Local
Option.
! First No license granted to sell fns
| toxicants should permit the sale or
distribution of intoxicants outside the
I bounds of the district, town or city
which has decided to grant license. Tho
4 license should be absolutely restricted
to the territory which desires the sale
| of liquor, ahC should give no privis
| iege TO ship into any territory In which
/ license Is prohibited by law. II the
drunkard makers and their allies the
wet" newspapers, want local option
this Is the logical and proper extern
sion OF the local option principle. lf
/ Richmond insists upon granting H.
/ cense to $50 vestibules OF he'll In
which to train her children for the
/ Internal regie ms. let her take the fula
/ benefits of her choice and keep her
| liquor to herself. but let her unders
stand that she shall not send her bots
ties and jugs Of misery. pauperism.
/ insanity, crime and eternal ruin to
Accomac and Lee, which have voted
to keep The rum devil out OF their
midst. Surely this ought to be entire-
/ ly satisfactory to Richmond and Nor
folk. This viii be local self-govern-
-. = =
/ dram drinkers of Richmond and Nor-
folk would then be able to supply
themselves and their children with ~
many pits of perdition as their appe-
| tite demands, and they can have no
cause to complain that they have mot
been given their full rights. But when
at the last session of the General A.
sembly the bills were introduced res
stricting license. and Jug trade" they
were rejected forthwith by the liquor
forces. All their zeal for local self.
government was found to be pure
sham and rtetense, and their true po>
sition was disclosed, The liquor trait
I fic to-day in Virginia flies the flag Of
local option for the purpose OF hold
ing certain towns and cities as centern
Of distribution from which they can.
by the Jug trade" food the entire
State, and so nullify the local option
law. But let us strip the mask from
the trade and its defenders and de-
mand the passage of a law which viii
restrict the sale and distribution oE
liquor in Virginia to those sections
where liquor can be sold by law.
/ We have already heard the great
| cry of the wet newspapers that we
are proposing by this law to drive =
great trade out of our State to locate
1t In Washington, Baltimore. Cincin-
natl, etc, and that the jug trade
| Will flourish Just the same and Wire
! GINA simply will lose the revenue.
But it Is not true that the tug trades
will flourish just the same. Every
practical man here knows that the
| further you remove the source %
| supply and the, more difficult 1t bs.s
, comes to obtain intoxicants, the fewews
| persons there will be to seek for
them.
| And. Furthermore. ii is the great
aim of the temperance people of the
nation to secure the passage OF tn
Miller-Curtis bin by the Congress as
the United States. which bill will pres
j vent the notification of the win az
t the people in the sstiry''' States 'Yuu3
committee believes that the MiIles-
| Curtis bill is by far the most imn0rs
tant matter before the Congress az
the United States to-day, and that In
passage is of vital Importance to the
final triumph of the prohibition Gauss.
The prohibition OF the intra- State "iua
trade In Virginia will prove to Conc
gress that the people OF Virginia ,aSa
I in earnest In their demand to be freeA
| from the interstate traffic.
| So much for the restriction OF thu
sale of liquor to the towns and caffSN-
which grant license to saloons.
The State Wide Prohibitory Law.
The second method Is the passage
of Statewide prohibitory law. Aftor
all Is said in favor OF the restricted
I license plan, thur plan Is iogically9
only a temporary expedient 1t would
doubtless be of great value In de-
stroying the power OF the liquor trafs
| nc in Virginia by removing at on0a
! the large wholesale and shippinas
1 houses and SO the centers OF ats.
tribution out of the midst OF the dxx
| territory, and It should, In our tudgw
ment. be made a part OF our laxia.s
lative program. But the logical ana
final goal OF our efforts must be the
passage of a Statewide prohibttorY
! law. The evil effects of the sale OF In
/ toxicants, even II the sale Is confined
to the corporate limits OF certain
cities, can never be made local The
drinking mar In an Unframed. quarrel
! soma irreSpons fbte condition proo. s,.sA