Omaha daily bee., 1890-07-31

censcs sold TO the prUhlOltlon state OF lOWh
| Applause.
Now want 20 give you a little astonishing
record, because some Of you people tell me
that high license does not regulate or tend TO
prohibit. The state of Iowa in lSS9 had four
times rs many licenses for retail liquor deal
ers as In the state of Alabama; twice as many
rs in the state Of Michigan; more than in the
state OF Colorado nine times as many as in
the state Of Florida; twice as many as IN tho
state Of Georgia; more than Minnesota; more
fhan Montana; four times as many as South
Carolina; twice as many as Tennessee; more
than the great state of Texas; more than r.
ginia; five times rs many as West Virginia;
and one and half times as many as Oregon.
Does not it appear from the official records OF
the government OF the United States
there are less saloons, according to
the official report, than in your
prohibition states of Iowa and of Kansas !
put that before this people for the purpose of
telling YOU that high license is a better reg
ulator than prohibition; and If You are
temperance man, rs | believe you are (speaS-
ing TO Rev. SmalO, come out Of that camp,
come out on our side, and we will preach tenn.
pcrance where it will do sOmC goods dom
preach prohibition Which ruins some men,
but Loud applause compelled the speaker
TO stop
must not forget the little state Of Kansas
down here with It's retail liquor dealers in
1889, numbering l,6ll must not forget
NEW tidUlINUiIt, Nlulllt anu NtllANhl WIN
2,2g1. And comparing them again to the
state of Nebraska we find only l,sOO i
want TO tell you good prohibition people that
YOU have been mslcd in this great doctrine OF
yours. You have listened TO men talk like
this little original package who talks for
money. Laughter. Who ubsorbs his IDEAS
without knowing whether they are true or
not lApplause]
But my Kansas brother around here wants
little more information, and | want to give
a., t,1t tI.,, ,rY,.,
on Kansas of your prohibition. / have told
you it increased the liquor traffic; | have
proved to YOU it increased the sales of beer;
and want to tell YOU 1t rctards the prosper
ity of the state and drives out the population
In Kansas, / have got the statement taken
from the returns of the election of the prcsi-
dent of the United States of he electoral
vote cast in 1854 compared to the electoral
vote cast III lSSS. ! nnd that the state of
Kansas increased in those four years bat "a
per cent, While the good state of Nebraska,
in which you live, inCpaSee under high
license more than twice the number; or in
other words, as 80 per cent to
"a per cent in Kansas. Go to Iowa,
and we have the electoral vote of
1854 compared to the electoral vote of SSS;
and the state of Iowa in four years gained
but per cent in her electoral vote, while
Nebraska gained 80 per cent How is thati
Grew six times as fast as Iowa; while Min
nesota with high license, grew twice as rap
rapidly as the state of Iowa.
| tell you that whatever you do for the
state of Nebraska, if you let these people
hem you in with prohibition all around you,
and you plant prohibition in the state of Ne
braska that the tide of immigration, the tide
of prosperity the march of progress will go
clear around your borders, and you will be
driven back just as the states of Kansas and
Iowa, and Minnesota, Wisconsin and Wy
oming and the Colorados will be looming up
with ~ han Of D.
republic in the air so high that you prohibi
tion people cannot get glimpse of the stars
on it. IApplause.l
Let me tell you what Judge Foster said of
Kansas-that federal Judge to whom al.
luded the other day-and it was put in print
and over his own signature he authorized its
publication. He says that in 1885 the state
of Kansas had a population of PCS, ,562, and
had prison population. mark you, produced
suppose, as You good people say, by the use
son out of every 1856 of all the people Of the
state Of Kansas was in the penitcntiary.
In Nebraska during the same year we had
only 259 people in the pcnitentiary !;
IN IN other words, one out OF every 9,S60.
where they do not drink 'iG@or, but follow
the good millennium law which you preach,
you had two men in the penitentiary to one
up here in honest high license Nebraska.
So it was In 1885, But mark you here is
statement that want to read to this people
of the state of Nebraska, where that same
Judge said that in Nebraska the estir1ated
population is 100000, by the census just
completed, and yet we have but one person
out of every 3,l00 in the prison, compared
with the state of Kansas where they have
one out of 1900. The argument that make
is that in Nebraska under high license you
have less people in your peniten-
itentiaries. fewer people in your poor houses,
fewer in your insane asylums, fewer idiots,
fewer saloons, fewer liquor licenses than you
have in any prohibition state anywhere under
the stars and stripes of this great republic.
[ApplauSe.
Another thing about high license. tell
you that high license Is regulator, reducing
the number Of saloons, aud l want to take
this likewise from the official report of the
commissioner of internal revenue of the Uni
ted States; and my friends can find it on
page 40, if they want to look for it. The
decrease in liquor saloons and liquor licenses
for retail dealers. From the year 1880 to the
year 1889, the decrease in Alabama was
l,0+4; in Arkansas, decrease of 337; in
in Kansas, 561; in Kentucky, 61l; in Mis-
souri,, Sl4; in North Carolina, 624 in Ohio,
2S45; in your great state Of Pennsylvania,
which defeated prohibition, decrease of
700. In the state of Tennessee, where
they defeated prohibition, under high license,
decrease of l,3l0. | could 60 on, but my
time is short. The license duty of the gov
eminent of the United States, don't care
what it is, it is not prohibition. 1t is where
prohibition is defeated.
Mr.. Small-lt is local option.
Mr. Webstcr-lt is whore they defeated
prohi bition, and showed you under, and you
know it.
Mr. Small-It is prohibition by local option,
and You know it. 1t is local option prohibit
tiOn in every state you have mentioned but
Pennsylvania. a Voice-Shut up.l 1
won't do it,
Mr. Webster-O, let him talk he can't
help it; don't find fault with him. Laugh
ter. want to remind my friend when he
made that statement that in the present state
of Nebraska where we have worked pretty
well, we have got local option, too. If it is
so good in all these states as to accomplish
good results, it is good enough for us here
That is why we reduced the number of sa-
| looms up here. We are getting TO be a mod
eratcly virtuous people here, and if the peo-
pie outside would let US alone we would get
along pretty well,
! will give another illustration from Mr.
Blair's book to see about some of the eXag-
geratcd statements which these people make
! TO prove that prohibition amounts to some
thing; and when they want to talk about
prohibition they always commence to make n
temperance speech, as if it were distinct
individual proposition, Mr., Blair puts into
his book a remarkable table gotten from some
insurance book, and found on page l07. lie
| wants TO give the rate or ratio of deaths out
of every 1000; he has got the people
who DO not drink at all, the prohibitOniss; I;
| he has the temperance drinkers who only
take glass socially and he has classified the
incorporate fellows. Well here is the table;
before give those who die between the ages