The times-news. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1927-current, 1937-02-24
NORTH CAROLINA's LIQUOR LAW
This bill stinks to high heaven"

This bill stinkS to high heaven
Representative Murphy of Rowan coun-
ty speaking in reference to the Madison
county bill, but his words may with equal
force be applied to the liquor control
act
That law reeks with the Odor OF booze
in a way that is highly suggestive to all
citizens who are interested in examining
alcoholic StinkS.
The LIQUOR law contains minor provisions
which may conScientiously be approved by
drys for control" of the liquor traffic; but
the law is maSquerading under false pre-
tense as a county option liquor measure.
In reality it is measure to make the
whole of North Carolina wet-legally or
illegally-under the cloak of legality. 1t
does not meet the requirements OF local
option law in any essential provision.
An honest local option law, giving the
people of each county the right to vote for
or against the legalized sale of liquor,
would protect dry territory in so far as
possible against the encroachmentS OF the
booze business. This law affords dry ter
ritory no protection whatever.
Section IA of the act provides that 1T
shall not be unlawful for any person to
transport" alcoholic beverages up to one
gallon in amount from county in North
Carolina coming under the provisions OF
this act, to or through another county IN
North Carolina not coming under the pro-
visions of this act"
That section lets down the bars and de-
stroys the protection to dry territory which
an honest county option law would pro-
vide.
Of course this section and Section 10,
which Immediately follows, contain provi-
sions which are supposed to control the
traffic, prevent bootlegging and that sort
of thing; but no intelligent person, wet or
dry, is so Simple as to imagine that this
alleged brake on the traffic will work when
the whole field of operations is opened up
and made to order for bootlegging by the
provision of the law legalizing transporta-
ton in dry territory.
Of course residents of dry territory can
have legalized liquor; but they can also
have bootlegged liquor, and this many per-
sons will have under the operation of this
act. Designed, as we were told it was, tc
break up bootlegging, it will promote boot
logging on large scale in dry territory
If the law protected dry territory to thu
extent of making transportation into ant
through dry territory violation of the act
persons transporting liquor in dry territor!
would, upon being caught in the act O.
transporting, be thereby branded as Law
violators. Under the law as it permit
transporting what can the law enforce
ment officers do about it if the transporte
complies with the requirements of Section
IA?
The regulations provided by the act a
to holiday closing, selling to minors, sell
ing before or after hours, Of course ar
reasonable regulations, but like all regula
tons designed to control the liquor busl
ness, THEY will be dolatef,fand they pla.
right into the hands of the bootleggers
South Carolina with its liquor stores ha
found this to be true. But few days pas
that the South Carolina newspapers do no
carry stories of the capture of moonshin
stills and bbotleggers.
Other bad features of the liquor Law
are, for example, Section "a, which pro
vides that alcoholic beverages are defne'
as beverages of any and all kinds contain
ing more than q per cent. of alcohol b.
weight. The law docs not apply to o
regulate the possession, sale, manufactu