Newport Votes Itself Dry by Sixteen Votes

By a vote of 110 to 94, the citizens of Newport voted on Tuesday, Sept. 7, against the licensing of the sale of intoxicating liquor in their town. The election passed off very quietly. Both sides had teams out rounding up voters and hauling them to the polls. Outside of the saloon men there were no active workers for their cause. The drys wore badges proclaiming their allegiance and worked hard. School children and ladies also wore dry badges. Wintemute's tent was utilized as headquarters for the drys, and the ladies in sympathy with the cause served coffee and lunch during the day. A large number of ladies were at the headquarters lending the inspiration of their presence to their workers.

Out of a registration of 254, there were but 204 votes cast. A number of those registered were unavoidably out of town, and a number of workmen were at present in the harvest fields of the Palouse and Big Bend country. The anti-saloon people had prepared a list of 25 of those registered whom they intended to challenge, but of these but seven appeared and tried to vote. Of the seven, four withdrew when challenged and the other three were sworn in and deposited their ballots.

The arrest of James Pote for illegal registration on Monday evening doubtless kept quite a number of those registered, about whose right to vote there might be some doubt, from attempting to exercise their right of franchise. Pote was arrested on papers issued by Justice Hart. He took a change of venue to Justice Long and was released on bond until Wednesday afternoon, when a hearing was held and he was discharged on the ground that there was not sufficient evidence of illegal registration introduced by the anti-saloon prosecution. Pote is a plasterer who, it is alleged, registered for the Spirit Lake, Idaho, municipal election of last spring. Attorney Sherlock appeared for the defense and Attorney Meier of Spokane for the state.

Tuesday evening Washington Avenue was lined with people awaiting the announcement of the result. When the news came that the drys had won, while it was received with pleasure by those who had worked hard for the result, there was no demonstration or a disposition to show undue elation at the discomfiture of the saloon forces.

While there is a wide difference of opinion among our people as to the wisdom of voting the town dry, and it could not be expected that the saloon interest would feel good over the result of the election, there is a general disposition to accept with the right spirit the will of the majority, and also to give the new conditions a fair trial, and to that end insist on a strict enforcement of all the exactions of the local option law. If Newport is not to have a regulated and licensed sale of liquor, let us see to it that we do not have illegal traffic. If the law does not work out fairly and satisfactorily to the majority there will be an opportunity to again express a choice in the matter at the next general election. In the meantime a strict enforcement of the law will be necessary to give it a fair trial.

The petition for the election in the county unit is being filed at the county seat today, and the election will be held on Nov. 9. The petition will have a safe margin of signers, and it is safe to predict that if the saloon is voted out in municipalities, where it can be regulated and closely watched, the voters will see to it that it cannot run in the smaller towns where there is no municipal regulation.

Of the other towns in the section that voted on Tuesday, Chewelah is the only one to go wet, with 121 votes for license and 55 against. Colville went dry by a majority of 34, the vote being 154 to 120. Kettle Falls and Deer Park went dry by good majorities.

A petition for an election is at present being circulated in Bonner county, but the date for the election is not yet set. Of all the Idaho counties that have so far voted only one has gone wet, Ada county decreeing so on Tuesday last. Those who claim to know say that Bonner will easily go dry, but at that there will be saloons in Old Town for the better part of a year, as the saloons are not put out of business in Idaho until their licenses expire.

Chewelah is the second town in the state of Washington to go wet. According to present indications the larger part of the state will be dry within a year, except the big cities, and it may be presumed that the next move will be a state-wide prohibition.

The saloons of Newport, Wash., will be closed on Dec. 6, according to the law, extracts from which relative to enforcement are printed in this issue of The Miner.