The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1912-05-29
ment wss ever ratified in the history of
the country
THE LIQUOR CONTROL.

,
ter Of controlling the liquor traffic il
this city. There was prclminar,
skirmish last week in which the doc
! trins contended for bv the commission
was conceded in principle by tho dis
trict court practically en- banc. Tht
specific case now apparently to bc mad,
a test is the refusal Of the commission
to grant liquor license TO the Inter
mountain LIQUOR Company at IS East
First South street. when Judge Morse
had passed the application for license
as legal and proper, entering an order
of the court accordingly.
1t is manifest, however. that if such
order Of the court takes away the dis
cretiop OF the Commission in tho mat
! ter Of granting licenses. then the com.
mission might lust as well have nothing
| At all 10 do with the matter. We cannot
believe that the law intended anything
of that kind, and the reasoning of the
| court in its construction Of the law as
cited heretofore, is directly contrary TO
the contention that would affirm the
legality Of Judge Morse s order as an
arbitrary rule for the commission TO
follow
Whatever may be done in this case.
1T can easily be made one of very
compreh hensive character. 1t can be
made to test the constitutionalty both
of the liquor law and Of the law fore
ing the commission form of government
on this city without any reference TO
the will Of the people. Inssmuch as the
constitution is plainly against the in
vestment in any special commission Of
ANY municipal function and since
the commission is clearly special one,
imposed upon Salt Lake CITY alone, as
frst-class city, it is easv TO see that
general and direct challenge Of the
law establishing the municipal commits
sion can be made in this suit.
The liquor law is also open to at.
tack upon a number of points. as indi-
Gated heretofore In these columns
There are many inconsistencies, and we
believe unconstitutional provisions, in
the liquor law These can all be brought
to the attention of the court, a ruling
bad upon each and every one of them,
and from such rulings appeal can be
taken to the Suprem. Court of the
State, which is the ultimate AUTHORITY
of all these questions Giving the
courts the say in overriding the COM
mission in the matter Of licenses. would
be 10 transfer the control Of the liquor
Inn IN .5t Sn he 4
trict comprising Salt Lake, Summit,
and Tooele counties, a largely extrane-
Gus jurisdiction.
The litigation which was inevitable
on the passage of the voluminous and
inconsistent liquor bill has not yet fair
ly begun. Perhaps this suit will be
real beginning of that litigation. 1t
will be remembered that The Tribune
pointed out that the State Of Utah had,
prior to the passage of this liquor law,
-adjudicated system Of handling
the liquor business in this State. And
the new law purported to do no more
than the old, that is. TO gire local op-
tion. That system had been adjudicat-
ed, everyone understood precisely what
the law meant, every one knew Just
what to expect under given state Of
facts. Now, however, it is impossible
to know Just what this liquor law means
in any given case, and the dragging in
OF the courts TO supervise the issuing
OF licenses, which is an administrative
or ministerial act, so confuses the whole
system of administrative government
that 1t is impossible to see either the
sense or the constitutiouality Of il. The
courts supervise the issue of the license.
and then if any question arises, the
courts will be required to pass upon
the legality of their own supervision.
That is, the courts will act as admins.
traitors and also as Judges of the le-
gality of their own acts in view Of lit
igating questions that may arise. The
incongruitv Of this is manifest, aud we
do not believe that the highest court
in the State could possibly find any
wav 10 reconcile these distinct and an
tapogistic functions of the district
courts.
We are glad to see the commission
stand firm upon the rights of the muni-
cipalitv in controlling and regulating
the iuuor traffic. 1t is certainly high
time that the powers, duties. and func-
tious Of the different administrative au.
thorities be definitely fixed under this
most extraordinary and contradictory
liquor legislation. And so VIC welcome
this test case, expecting thercfrom. If
il is broadcncd, as it can easily he
brosdeDcd, the most important results
for tho state and the various cities
therein.
CAN'T COUNT ON LA TOILETTE