The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1917-03-10
Liquor Commute. Attacked.

IN passing the Reed amendment TO the
postal appropriation bill, which makes
bone dry" every prohibition state in
the union by stopping the importation
Of liquors into them, the bone dry
forces in the legislature precipitated
the big battle of the 1917 session.
Rep. Sigurd Nelson, Of Gogebic
county, brought forward resolution
reprimanding the liquor committees
OF the house and senate. which have
worked Jointly on the dry bills. The
resolution was prompted by an an
nouncement OF the subcommittee Of
the liquor committees, widely printed
in the daily papers, that the commit
tees had agreed to plan TO submit
another constitutional amendment in
April to have the people of the state
declare just how dry they wanted TO
be, following their vote for prohibi-
ton last November.
The tussle between the bone drys
and the moist forces since the open
ing OF the legislature was the reason
for the subcommittee determination
on another vote. The Anti-Saloon lea
que leaders endorsed the plan for
an April vote. So did Lieut.. Gov.
Dickinson.
Bone drys opposed the idea SO
strongly that despite the announce
ments that it had been agreed upon.
the first official announcement made
In the house of representatives re-
garding 1t was a statement by Rep.
Lynn Lewis, chairman of the house
liquor committee, that il would not be
brought before the house at all.
| This declaration came in connec-
ton with notice served by Rep. Mel.
son that he would introduce his repri-
mand resolution. On the same day
the passage by congress of the Reed
amendment. AS the latter compels all
prohibition states to be bone dry 1t
was rather discomfiting news to the
moists in the legislature, and CORE.
spondingly agreeable to the bone drys
Rep. Nelson followed with his reso
luton, one of scathing condemnation
of the liquor committees course. It
declares that the house repudiated the
action of the committee in voting Z to
2 that it would not report out a bone
dry bill and also repudiated the an
nouncement Of the subcommittee re-
garding an April vote
An effort TO have the resolution
tabled was defeated by a vote OF 48 to
49, Chairman Lewis, of the liquor
committee. warned the drys who voted
against tabling the Nelson resolution
that they were being ned into trap
| by the vets.
| Rep. Nelson had Rep. Lewis admit
that he did not charge him with being
aligned with the vets and then fol-
| lowed with forceful talk supporting
his resolution and declaring that the
| house sentiment was for bone dry
laws and that the liquor committee
was not rejecting that sentiment. Rep
Sheridan Ford. OF Detroit, said he was
| glad the state would have. under the
Reed amendment IAN honest to God
prohibition and not hypocritical sub
stitute for It," Rep. George +. Near
thur. author OF the bone dry bills,
declared that he resented the charge
Of being led on by the vets and added
that the committee, Of which he is a
member. had told him that it would
not report out bone dry bill.
A number who had opposed the
| tabling of the resolution said they
were opposed to its passage on the
ground that 1t slapped" the liquor
committee too hard. After a three
hour debate that waxed acrimonious
at times the house voted down the
Nelson resolution, 80 ayes to 55 noes.
| The battle, however. cleared the
air in regard to liquor legislation. 1t
Yves declared that bills would be forth
coming promptly from the liquor COM
mittee,, providing for bone dry laws
as well as for the moist" Wiley bill.
with the liroited shipment of liquor
clause cut out of 1t.
Lieut.. Gov. Dickinson declared that
the Reed amendment in congress
solved Michigan's law problems and
that short law covering the points
in the constitutional amendment il
the only thing now needed to make
Michigan the dryest OF dry states. An
ti-Saloon league leaders declared
themselves heartily in favor of the
passage of laws prohibiting the i'm.
portaticn Of liQror for beverage pur.
poses.
/