The Gisborne Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. FRIDAY, JANUARY 15, 1909. AN AMERICAN LIQUOR BILL.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2400, 15 January 1909, Page 4

The Gisborne Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. FRIDAY, JANUARY 15, 1909. AN AMERICAN LIQUOR BILL.

To legislation on the liquor question there appears to bo no end, and tho latest experiment having for its object tho removal of alcoholic abuses is to ho tried in the Southern States of America. In the State of Louisiana a measure known as the Shattuclc Bill has just, passed tho Legislating and is creating an immense amount of interest. It represents the efforts, of that section of the community which desires to save the “trade” .from the extinction with which it jjs threatened by tho Prohibitionists, by improving tho liquor business and making it so “respectable” that pubic opinion will come to its support. Some of the provisions indicate how thoroughly radical is the change that is to be made or, at any rate, attempted. The number of saloons in the *State, and particularly in the city of New Orleans, will be very considerably reduced. Not only will it be more difficult to get •licenses for now saloons, but many of the old ones will be closed by the mere terms of the law. No matter how long a saloon may have been licensed or in operation, the fact that it is within 300 feet of a church or a school will close it ipso facto. The provisions in regard to tlie persons taking out licenses for saloons will in themselves close a number now in existence. No woman can hold a license —and there are some fifty holding them to-day. No one but a citizen of Louisiana can get a. saloon permit, thus shutting out not only foreigners but residents of other States —and a notification of an intention to become a voter will not suffice; tlie saloon keeper must be already an actual bona fide citizen of Louisiana. All amusements ore prohibited in saloons. There must be no gambling, no spartring, wrestling or other exhibitions, no pianos, organs, musical instruments or music, not. oven “chairs, ’ in which tho tired cutomer can. sit down and rest. He is supposed to come in for drink and leave as soon as he gets it, and no attractions arc allowed that will tend to keep him there. Saloons for blacks and whites together are prohibited, and provision is made for such a separation, of the saloon and grocery as will put an end to one of the worst evils of the situation —the cause of much of the prohibition sentiment that has recently sprung up in Louisiana and of tho Shattuck Bill itself. The law is far-reaching, as we have said, and meets most of the existing abuses; but laws after all are only good as they are enforced. "Whether the Shattuck Bill proves effective or not depends upon tlie manner in which the local authorities enforce it. There are many openings for subterfuge and violations of the law, and it will require vigilance and active work oil the part of the police. The Shattuck Bill is certainly a hold experiment and the result of its operations will ho watched with interest in many parts of tho world.