Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1912-03-25

an ordinary question as not to have
fully understood the scope and pur-
poses of the amendment submitted to
them Now we find ourselves here
again meeting another proposition. On
the face IF IL it does not appear per-
haps to be the same one | have read
ii in the brief time we have had TO
consider the matter, and as / read
1t there is good deal of surplus Ian
gnage contained in it. Recognizing the
fact that the people have voted to re-
tain the amendment which prohibits
the sale of liquor, which amendment
was the only obstacle of course to this
Legislature, or any other Legislature
passing license law without being
coupled with local option, the trainers
of this statute or this resolve have
said that the amendment in certain
cases shall not apply. In order to
make the matter a little simpler to a
mind earnestly endeavoring to get at
the real meat of this question, | viii
read what | believe to be correct
version of the proposed amendment,
stripping it of its useless words. 1t is
this: This section shall not apply to
cities nor to towns, 81 per cent. of
whose legal voters so determined by
written notice to the Legislature. and
in any ease license or other regulatory
laws shall be subject to local option
II Is not Well framed result which
would DE left in the Constitutions ii
this resolve should be passed by the
people 1t would not read in a way to
make the Trainer of this plan proud of
his work in my Judgment. In SUBJ
stance, the Constitution read by a
man from another state and not fa-
matiar with the history and the de-
tailed work which we have been GO
ing through, man would take I'D
our constitution and he would find a
certain section which says that the
manufacture and sale of liquor shall
be forever prohibited throughout the
State except in the cities and towns.
He would be likely to say: "Please
tell me what there is left where this
Constitution is going to apply" and
| would say to him, "0n the wild
lands and plantations" That would
be a rather absurd result. You say
that this provides that certain kinds
of laws may be passed by The Legis-
lature IL this amendment passes. be-
cause it says: This section shall not
apply 20 cities in which the manu-
factrre, sale and keeping for sale of
Intoxicating liquors may be permitted
under such regulations as the Legis-
lature shall provide Why. gentle
men. that is absurd If the part of
the SEXTON which reads: This Sec
ton shall not apply to cities" is pass
ed it Will remove constitutional pro-
hibition from the Legislature. So I
say that while this is supposed to be
different proposition II is practically
the same proposition that was put
up to the people six months ago, be-
cause of course the object attempted
to be achieved by the Legislature has
always been a license law with local
option, and no sane Legislature per-
mitted to do so by the Constitution
would ever pass anything but IL
1ense law coupled with local option.
AS | look at it, this is a distinction
without a difference.
If our old friend John Bunyan. who
wrote Pilgrims Progress We're alive
I think he would put this in an allie
gorical sort. of a way, and l think af-
ter having in view the history of these
matters and this legislation or pro-
posed legislation he would say that
there was a long road leading to a
beautiful city fulled with plate glass
and called probably The City of High
License and Local Option, and along
this road he would say pilgrims We're
in the habit of passing But this road
was the only road 10 this city and it
wound through a ravine in which had
been built a rock barrier or wall put
there by the owner of the country;
and at the rock barrier were always
stationed three guardians think the
name of one of them was '1ra, II
don't remember for sure,-and these
pilgrims came along about every two
years and got as far as the rock bar
rier, and every time they held an in
terview with the guardians who told
them that their orders were that they
should not even approach the owner
of the country concerning the matter
of removing the rock barrier unless
two out of the three agreed, and as
two out of the three never agreed, tho
pilgrims had to go back into the
country from which they came. But
one year they came along,-and II was
not very long ago,-and they found
three new guardians at the gate, at
the barrier, which barrier prohibited
progress of course any further along
the road; and the pilgrims who came
clever than the previous band which
along that year We're rather more
had progressed thus far on the road,
and they came along and found these
three guardians, and they were met
by the same old story, and the pill
grims said "How long has this rock
been here?" and the leader of the
guardians said it had been there
about 80 years; and they said: Sup
pose you go up and ask the owner of
the country il he won't permit 1t to
be removed Well they said, it takes
two of us to agree to that, and we
will talk it over and one of them
was going up and one absolutely re-
fused and said he would not under
any circumstances go: the other
said: 1T has been a long time
since the owner of the country
had this thing put up to him be-
fore, and there has been a
| lot of agitation and talk about it and
maybe he has changed his mind, and
! two of us will go up and ask him
about it," which they did. And they