Rensselaer Republican, Volume 19, Number 19, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 13 January 1887 — Thompson's Temperance Bill. [ARTICLE]

Thompson's Temperance Bill.

Senator Thompson, of this disi trict, introdueeAa bill to regulate | the liquor traffic, in the State Seni ate, last Thursday and which was I referred to theOmmitteevn Temperanee. The bill, if—adopted,- , wOuhVgjrvus a vf'ty^li'hvgenl a: d -A. t i. ; law < m» i v t v .add lutre gre rf> .in > <g".!.’. l ’i g the liquor t Panic rthd Rs . vi!-* \t. r .1 more i-;P. in fart, thrtn wo believe can be pas.-ed i through the democratic Senate. I ‘1 • ' • ... __ '' , * The bill makes it a crime to sell, .barter or give intoxicating liquors | ' in any quantity to any person for i : any gnUppse, except, by licensed ! pri sons and a n the premises de--1 scribed in such license. Druggists are required to pay 85. per month under,a bond of SIOOO to traffic in ; intoxicants for sanitary, culinary, 1 sacramental, medical and mechanLical pm I - only.- Lici n.-.-d I dealers for all purposes are required to pay 825 per month, and give a bond for SSOOO. The bonds me i : conditioned to keep the premises : I orderly, to prevent loafing, to ban-I . ish gaming devices,, to abolish j i screens and painted windows, to. jobey the-law as to whom, when . iand where to dispose of intoxii cants, and to pay all fines aqd. civ- ] lil damages. The penalty for vio-j [latipns includfes forfeiture ofj license.- A wiitten protest by a ; maj-rity of those voting- in . the 1 precinct, shall Lar an applicant] I ”ru;.i procuring license for all pur- ] iposes an d prevent further applies-. it ion-on Lis part, for five years.: I The t raffic, by this bill, can be j ! controlled as to the person by lo- i i ' option, and would be divorced from disorderly houses, gaming, secret crimes and drug store tippling. No appeal is allowed on the protest of a majority, and none can deal in intoxicants until his license is-paid for and* posted for

inspection. • The bill possesses many admirable features and would be, if passed, an immeasurable improvement oyUf our present liquor laws. Never-the-less it is not wholly without imperfections. The provision which gives the local option privilege is very defective, and while it would be entirely satisfactory in small towns where the number of would-be saloon-keep-ers are few, in large towns the provision would be of little practical value. This defect could be remedied by an additional clause giving to a majority of all the voters in a precinct, or, better, in a town, township or county, the right, upon a written petition, to for bid all licenses for a given period, say one- year. If, as we conceive, one of the chief considerations in favor of a high license is in reducing the number of saloons and in discouraging persons from engaging in keeping them, then the plan of making the license payable monthly is also a defect. The whole S3OO, for the year, should be paid in advance, otherwise many saloons, especially of the lower and most objectionable class, will be established by individuals who are unable to pay more than the first month's license, and who will expect to meet the successive payments from the profits of their business. If the whole sum for the year had to be paid at the beginning many such as these would be shut out and compelled to gain their living by means less detrimental to the interests of society. Again, the bill should provide that the $25 monthly or S3OO yearly rate of license was only the mininum rate, and should grant to -every county or incorporated town the privilege of making it as much higher as they pleased. Especially should this privilege be extended to incorporated towns and- cities. The license Tau of our neighboringstate, Illinois, contains such a provision as this and its practical working js most admirable. The Gawjrnor’s message appears in full in our Inside pages and also i brief summaries of the principal 4 proceedings iu the State Legislajture up to Tuesday evening.