Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1884-09-26

There has been considerable interest CN-
cited throughout the country. over the re
suits of the new prohibitOry law in Iowa.
Both sides have been inclined to look upon
the experiment as Il sort of test case The
pruhiiti,nistS have lccn confident that ii
the a,l was given u fair ella cr in Iowa. il
would work just rs well Is it does in
Maine. or any other state. while The high
licyuS" ncn and the liquor dealers. ON the
other hand. have been iu Il H. confident hat
the law would prove "a fiat failure. Per
hapS it may be too soon rs yet to assume
that the question is definitely settled, but
certainly the tendency of affairs in Iowa
up 10 the present time has been decidedly
in favor of the law. That il has succeeded
even better than il friends dared to hope.
i surely as encouraging Il condition of
things as could well he expected That 1t
has succeeded at all, is more than its opp0-
ncntS were willing to allow AT the outset
In discussing such II question as this,
nothing is so valuable rs the personal tes-
jimOny Of one who has been upon the
ground, and has investigated the actual
state of affairs practically and thoroughly,
aS an impartial observer should. We find,
in the current Boston CongrcgUtioHuliSt,
. just such thorough and practical tcsti-
mony as his, from correspondent who
/ has made the working of the prohibt0ry
! law in Iowa a study since its first enforce
ment in that state. Since July /, lsSi,'
he says, IL have been at iifty-one railroad
/ stations, on SIX line of road. in nine coun-
( tie, of Western Iowa; only ut one station,
Council Bluffs, have | seen any beer kegs
- la, CHI
] toNiCatlng liquors one year ago beer
keys were seen at thrcc-tGurths Of the sta
tDnS. The railroad are
apparently observing the law. thus
making 1t very announcement for thos,
who wish to sell to procure supplies %
This is cncouragcing testimony; for il
the railroads of Iowa stand by he law. il
viii he practically impossible for III,
liquor dealers to obtain sufficient supple,
To carry on their trade, The currcspun
dent of the "HgrCgdtioH0iiNt hints at thC
possibility of CuEcca.ment or Conniyunct
ON the part of the railroads, but we do not
believe IN the FIRST place, that the rail
road companies would cndaugcr their re
putatiuE and their legal status by any sucl
conniNancc, and, in the second place. ",
do not believe that they could do il sue
ceSSfully if they tried to- The prohibition
lists have prOverbially sharp eyes. and {
curiously nquisitive turn of mind, against
which nothing prevails except occasionally
the utmost cunning of the small liquor
dealer, who makes the art of conceal
ment the study of his life
Withregard to the closing of the saloons.
the correspondent of the congregational
iSt says: NEARLY all thA slloDnS
in the smaller places and mann
in the larger places, closed the
third of July. In seven counties l42 81
looms out of Il total of 1863 closed prompt,
without waiting for prosecutions" Sucf
Il wholesome fear had the prohibitory law
inspired, even before IA single penalty hat
been melted out. 1t is plain that the Il
quor dealers of Iowa stand in mortal fcnr
of their, SO-callcd, "cranky" opponents
they may sncer rs much as they please "A
the fanaticiSm of the prohihtOry party, $,
long is they obey with such commend
able promptncsS the first whisper of tn,
prohihitOry law
The CoHgrcgItioHdijSt publishes detail
ed reports from seven counties of Western
Iowa, and in only one of the seven cuun
ties N'OttaWatomc) is the law found to III
openly violated. 1t might be expected tina
in such Il place as Council Bluffs Their
would be evasion and even violation of tn
aW, The city government of Council