Pine Bluff daily graphic. (Pine Bluff, Ark.) 1893-1942, 1913-12-19
disagree On Time Of Publ
cation of Saloon License
Petitioners
WITHDRAWALS ISSUE
Much Depends On County Judges
Going Act Is Being Construed
Over the State.

There id a prospect that the Going
bill will have an effect that was
not anticipated by the trainers of
that measure, and that the entire
state will be dry for ten days or
two weeks after the first of Janu-
ary. =
The a!torneys for the liquor men
in Little Rock and Pine Bluff have
stated thar no steps require by the
law can be legally taken until after
the law Lecomes effective and that
the saloons must be closed until aft
er the publication of the petitions
and the action of the county judges
on petitions for license. Some Of
the attorneys for the saloon men here
do not agree with the Little Rock
attorneys in the matter of the pre-
liminary steps in the fight. Some
agree that the law does not becom
effective until from and after Deem
Der 81 and that until that GATE the
county iu!ge can take no action upon
the petitions for the license. While
the Little Rock attorneys have stat
ed that the petitions can not be pub
lished until after the first of the
year, some local attorneys take diff
ferent view of the matter, stating
that the petitions are merely for the
purpose OF giving expression to the
wish Of the people and that there is
nothing III the law that prevents pub
lication being made prior to January
/. Further they declare that as the
Going bill is made cumulative to the
law already in effect and repeats
none, that the law providing for Ii
censing of the saloons from January
4 to December 81 is still in effect
and that it is the duty of the county
Judge to pass on the applications on
january l. as in previous years.
/ Moreove:. it is stated that there is
nothing III the law specifying the
time that the signatures shall be
secured and published; that the nat
ural inf .rence of the law is that this
shall be done prior to the termination
of the license, and that the present
complication, which arises from the
manner in which the emergency
clause reads, will force the courts to
construe it as intending the same
course this year, especially as there
is no provision made for a hiatus in
the license situation.
Clamp On Lid.
/ The law is so indefinite that no
one can :ell what it is intended to
mean, stated an attorney yesterday
If the Little Rock attorneys are
correct in their advice to the liquor
men, and that the legal fight can not
begin until after the beginning OF
the new year, then the state may De
dry for a month or more, for there
are a number of legal points TO DE
passed on and in addition to those
there is likely to be prolonged
hearing ON the facts in nearly every
city. Take the matter OF signatures
and Withdrawals. 1t is almost Ger.
tain that there will be a number Oh
contests over these and if testimony
is heard on all of these, the hearing
may be drawn out for month VI
more.
We may have to close ten days OF
two weeks, said one of the leaders
of THE liquor element in this city.
Our attorneys have not yet 1uils
agreed with the attorneys at Little
Rock, ana II the latter are recog-
nized as the leaders, then the bottles