Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1883-1888, 1883-10-04

consu ution, must command the obedience
, of every citizen" After the courts had
passed upon the amendment and the Law
We had 6 right to believe that this vita
principle of government would be heede(
BY the people of loyal Kansas, and We con
6dently waited TO see the Law obeyed. In thu
rural districts throughout the STATE, tb,
saloons closed. The open dram-shop beSar
to disappear, and has steadily decreased il
numbers from that day to the present. Ths
people 10 the smaller towns and cities has,
iound it necessiry TO prosecute offenders
hut by vigorous effort in those localities
the traffic has been place under reasonable
control. While the secret Gales Of liquor
still continue, the open Gram.shop, in three
'ourths OF the cites Of Kansas, is now 9
thing of the past; and if there hsd been an
honest effort to enforce he law in the larger
cities, the result in the rural districts would
have been very much better than il now il,
| Within three month after these legal con
tess ended. it became apparent to the peo-
pie Of tae State that the larger cities were
In lesgue with the saloon-seepers to Gefy
our const tuition and strike down cur laws
The cities of Topeka, Lawrence. Lssven.
worth, Atchison, Wyandote, Wichita, and
|
sale of liquor, aud to wink at violation Of
tie law. The CITY governments determined
TO derive q revenue from this uni wful bus
inese; snd there was an org lnizsd effort on
the part of these cities to uuliify
the constitutions and laws Of Kan.
sss upon this liquor question. E1-
Outraged by this spirit OF i4wlessness In
| the larger cities, number of the smaller
cities followed in the same line, and this
produced in the State spirit of lawlessress
which assumed alarming proportions. A
party OF nuili6ers began to cry out that the
law was failure, and to demand its repeal
They enlisted to aid them not only the &c
loon keepers in Kansas, but the liquor
power Of the whole nation. Organized re-
sistsnce to the law began in all the larger
cities. The money of national brewers and
liquor dealers associations was sent into
the ate to resist the enforcement Of The
law, and to pay fines and costs a sessed
against criminals agsins. our laws. Asys
temst,c efjrt was made to intimidste the
ud iciary Of the State, to suborn witnesses,
and to bsibe jurors. Tie proposition was
openly made, thst men should be put or the
jury who would peGure themselves to ,reen
| saloon keepers, and money was sent into
his Sac to be u ed for this purpose. In
| the election Of 1882, a gigantic effort was
| made to overthrow our cause AMI ac-
| compish the resu5mission of the q1es-
| ton. BY reason of She corrup.
influences used, and he leihsrgy and mis-
takes Of tie Temperance people, the third
term issue, the railroad scare, and political
jsslousiss. cur candidate for governor WIS
defeated, and this wae heralded over the
country as the Gefs,t of Prohibition. All
other causes we're thrus: out OF sight, and
prohibition was Eeid up before the people
as the cause OF the de eat If our govern n.
rhe magnitude OF the conspiracy to strike
down cur wors did not become
apparent TO the people ua,ii after
mis- partial d feat. ar !: this construction o.
it, which grew out of it. The people then
saw what these trai,orous city governments
were doing hey saw Whist the upfsithful
officers ofthe law we're trying to accomplish;
they SAW the power Of foreign inter .er- nee
they saw the d. 6snt attitude of the liquor
sellers; and from tbs moment the tide be-
gan 10 turn in our favor. We met in con-
vention in this building ia January Of last
year, TO place our breasts agsin.t this tide Of,
lxwlessness and crime. 1,24l delegates,
representing every organized county in
Kansas, met here, and solemnly
protested against the series of out.
RACES which had been perpe.
trated, and demanded the retention and
enforcement Of the law. We then and there
recognized the Kansas Stale Temperance
Union, fer the enforcement II our laws, and
the building of a sentiment that should
sustain them forever. The claim set up
by the party OF nulli6ers proved to be false,
as they knew it would. The Legislature
did not submit the ques.ior; the Legisla-
lure returned Senator Plumb, an out,poken
prohibitionist, to the Uuited States Senate;
and prohibition still lives and rules in
< snsas. /, is stronger to day than it ever
was before. From the ugly jaws Of partial
defeat, we will wrench complete and glor
ious veiory,
Al our last convention we adopted plan
Of organigati IN, aad went to the people with
L. 4 more spleudid activity has never
been known in any part of the world upon
the te importance question, than The people
have exhibited in Kansas during the lasi
six months From the irs. d y Of March
10 the first day Of July, a period of four
months, / was constantly IN the held, IN
company with NJ. v. Il. Bennett, engaged
IN the work or organizing the State lem
perance Uaiou. We visited over fifty
coun les in Kansas, going only TO the
principal cities. During these four months
over $4,000 was subscribed to
the Union, and splendid list OF
membership is taken in every city where
we spoke. Weheld great meetings every
where, in numbers and enthusiasm. The
work of enforcing the law in the rural dis.
tritts revived with the work OF the U iion,
and to-day there is no Law in the Stale more
vigorously enforced than the prohibitory
liquor law. This can prove by . good
many saloon-keepers who now !anguish in
Jail 10 Kansas, and BY others, over whom
larger fines are hanging than they are able
to pay. We have not entirely stopped the
sale Of liquor openly in the larger cities Of
the State. In some Of them We have not
yet made vigorous efcrt.
As is we'll known, We have been devotipg
especial attention to the city of Topeka dur.
ing the past ninety days. We have met
with good encouragement from the temper
anoe people of this city, but have found here
deep determination on the part of the
saloon keeper and the city government: to
defy the efforts of the State Union to en-.
force the Law. We are received with marked
disfavor by tine lawless clement snd some
who claimed to be reasonably nice people
mined in the nopn1ar clsmor