MULES AND LICENSE PLATES

Like the animal they champion, they are stubborn. They won't quit until the job's done.

They are the Missouri mule people, and they're back.

Emboldened by their successful campaign to grant the mule official status as Missouri's state animal, the mule people now want the animal arrayed on the state's redesigned license plate.

There seems to be consensus among many Missourians that the old white on red style must go. But is the state ready for a mule on the plates?

It's one thing having the mule as a state animal. Mule-lovers will appreciate the designation, and those who aren't fond of mules can ignore it. Surely some state has made the opossum -- or some other unsavory beasts -- its state animal with little protest. But those states don't then put the critter on their license plates.

Charles Woodford of American Legion Post 63 in Cape Girardeau spearheaded the earlier Missouri mule effort. He now is taking the lead to get the mule on the state license plate. He makes many of the same arguments for the license mule as he did for the official state mule: The mule was instrumental in the early development of Missouri. At one time, half of all work done in Missouri depended on the mule.

Good reasons for making the mule the official state animal. We like the mule, but putting it on license plates is another matter.

A committee of state officials is holding meetings across the state to elicit public suggestions on the new license design. After January serious debate will begin on the new design, which must be decided by April 1.

That should be enough time to determine whether Missourians are clamoring to give the prestigious state animal even more stature on the state's license plates.