The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1912-02-15
NOW THE SUBSTITUTE.

was made more manifest yesterday by the In
PRODUCTION Of wet" enabling act, looking to
a submission to the people OF questions per.
tanning to the liquor traffic.
The patron OF the measure, Delegate Wise,
follows a modification Of the familiar reason
been held In local option States upon the
question of State prohibition, to-wit; Tha.
where a large segment of the State has awaited
itself Of local option privileges TO vote liquor
out of its territory. 1t is unfair to give such
a section a vote upon the question Ct whether
wet" communities shall or shall not license the
sale of intoxicants
The explicit answer to such criticism is
that we are living under a Constitution framed
by the fathers with certain rights pertaining
TO the State, and with the State fixed as the
unit of state sovereignty. What the majority
of the people of the State declare to be the
law, is the law for the State Had 1t been tho
wisdom Of the trainers of the Constitution fur
Their to divide sovereignty, the city might have
had It's independent and related power
with the State, That. however, Is not the case
The line ha5 somewhere TO he drawn. The
quasi-public corporation of the county, the
municipal government of the city are both SUBJ
servient to, and the gift of. the predominant
eighty of the State
Taking Delegate Wises proposition for what
| 1t is worth from a logical point of view. 1t
will be seen that what he contends for Is USE
less and vain In respect to the facts. Tenn
perance legislation is, in its nature. progressive.
1t gains foothold and spreads its influence
from a small nucleus of expeiie and demon
stration Local option was devised as mean
Of giving expression to community sentiment.
When sufficient community sentiment was de-
veloped to indicate a Statewide sentiment, It
became the right and privilege of local option
to progress to the point Of State option That
] this is right and Just 1t needs only the admit
I ted facts concerning the liquor traffic TO prove.
/ A wet community can corrupt dry one.
A vote for license In one place may negative
| the good effects of vote for mo license In
! another place. 1t comes down In the end to
a question OF whether the aggregate of dry
communities. representing majority of the
| State. have or have not the power to impose
! their collective idea Of governmental wisdom
on other communities. The matter is one OF
| selfpreservation. The right" Ia undoubted
The inquiry Is one of policy. entirely
Representative Wise's bill does not, however
take the frank ground usually assumed in the
similar argument used in prohibition elections
II does not assume that the counties which
have awaited themselves Of local option to vote
dry are, in reality, wet and apt to con.
tinue TO vote prohibition for the mean pur.
pose Of spiting their neghhors. Instead Il
holds out an alternative the perncious idea
of tho sale by the State In sealed packages
otherwise. the "Dispensary' system. THAI
this Is the worst measure that could be adopt
cd with relation to liquor is q conceded opinion
States have tried 1t. Counties have traficket
in 1t, Cities have made themselves by-wort
by humbling themselves ton it's degrading In
fuences In It's trail lies corruption that 1,
worse II possible. that unrestricted sale by
individuals. To propose dspensary. in the
present state of enlightenment as to what
dispensary means and leans to. Is to propose
no less than a surrender of all that good con
science In government has attained.
But the fundamental mistake in this and all
other substitutes which may be introduced Is
this: We not in prohibition election
We not concerned, for the present, with
whether prohibition il bad thing a good
thing We are concerned .on the contrary
with very plain and very simple proposition
That proposition 10 this. II one fourth af ths
qualified voters OF Virginia announce them
selves as in favor OF definite policy with re
spect to their government. is II not true that
In democracy such proportion of the popu
lation is of enough Importance to demand an
election to determine whether or not that policy
shall be applied In government?
u That IL the head and tail OF the Jordan
act
! Homilies on the evils OF the saloon are at
this juncture as much out OF place as sophis
| tries as to the question OF personal liberty
in commonwealth where all law Is the law
OF the majority.
The maater Is one OF real democracy.
| The qrestion Is. whether or not the Senate
| that from the people will have the au-
dacity to deny to the people their reasonable de.