Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1889-09-27
SENATOR INGALLS,
On Prohibition and License"

When the prohibitory amendment te
she state constitution was pending in Kan
sas, Senator John J. Ingalls, was strongly
opposed to its adoption Alleged state
nents of the brilliant senator unfavorable
TO the present law have been going the
POUNDS of the i-prohbition press. SEN
ator Ingalls, furnishes an article on Pro
hibition and License to the August
Forum which must be little dsappoint-
ing to anti prohbitionists After stating
the respective arguments of the prohibition
and license advocates and briefly outlining
the history of temperance agitation in the
United States, he proceeds to state his own
opinions and conclusions as follows:
The public agitation of the drink
question in Kansas began with the organ
ization of the Territory in 1854. The
founders of Topeka and Lawrence voted
90 enforce prohibition. The first state
temperance convention was held in 1874
and formally demanded national law on
the subject. Camp-meetinss and great
popular demonstrations occurred from
year to year. and the different church or
CARNATIONS enlisted actively in the work.
In 1879, in response to this popular de-
mand, the legislature submitted to the
people proposed amendment to the
State Constitution to be voted upor at
the November election of 1880, in the fol-
lowing words: The manufacture and
sale OF intoxicating liquors shall be for
ever prohibited in this state except for
medical, scientific and mechanical pur-
poses. The canvass that followed was
animated but not partisan. The presi-
Dental vote was ISL. $780, and Garfeld's
majority was o1,74S; the total vote cast on
the prohibitory amendment was 176, oo6;
and the majority in its favor was 2, oos:
showing that many thousands of republi-
cans voted against it. The legislature,
which assembled in January, 1851, passed
law forbiddirg the sale and manufacture
OF Intoxicating liquors, except for the
specified purposes, to take effect Nav /.
1851. Resistance was general and great
excitement followed. The liquor dealers
and manufacturers in all parts of the
country contributed literally to defeat its
practical operation.
In 1882 the republican state convention
re-nominated Gov. St. John, who had been
the special champion of temperance, for
athird term, upon platform endorsing
prohibition. while the democrats demanded
re-submission. The campaign was pas
slonate in the extreme. ST. John was de-
teated, but the rest of the republican
ticket was elected by the usual majority
tor an of year. In 1884 the republicans
again endorsed prohibition, while the
democrats denounced it and declared for
high license. The latter party re-nomin-
ated Gov Click, who had been successful
IN the previous canvass but he was de-
feated by about $4,000. In November of
that year the Supreme Court of the United
States sustained the prohibitory law, and
in April, 1887 upon appeal. held that the
power OF the state was complete, and that
fhe amendment and the statutes pursuant
thereto were not in violation of the Con-
ssitution of the United States. This end
ed the contest, and the triumph of pro-
hibltion was complete.
Kansas has abolished the saloon. The
open dram shop traffic is as extinct as the
sale of indulgences. A drunkard is a
phenomenon. The bar-keeper has Joined
the troubadour, the crusader and the
The brewery, the dis
tllery, and the bonded warehouse, are
known only to the archaologist.
y =
Sales for the specified purpose are con-
fined to druggists, who are hedged about
with the stringent provisions of the
pharmacy act, the penalties for the
of which are ingeniously rigid
and have not been exceeded for severity
since the code of Draco Physicians
prescriptions, affidavits and signatures for
he identification of the purchaser, and
pecitlcation of the disease for which he
leeds the pernicious fluid are required,
md evaslons are punished with fine, for
e'sure and imprisonment,
The sale of bitters, elixirs and other
containing alcohol, has I'M
ioubtedly increased Malaria, indigestion
md other disorders have developed in
ocalities previously considered salubrious.
no there is probably no town of one
thousand Inhabitants where bibulous bnt
iscreet inquirer, if properly vouched for.
annot find, at his hotel, or the club, or in
he cellar of a friend bottle of beer or a
TASK OF whisky But the habit of drink
ng is dying out Temptation being re-
moved from the young and the infrm,
hey have been fortified and redeemed
he li1quor-seller, being prescribed, is an /,
ntlaw, and his vocation is disreputable :
Drinking being stigmatized, is out of
ashton, and the consumption of intoxi-