Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1891-06-04
OUR WESTERN LETTER

due not from lack or things 10 Wrltei
but from lack of time to write of them.
During the past year Kansas has man
aged to keep herself prominently before
the eyes of the nation, and has occupi-
ed no small place in the affairs of the
world. The two great objects of inter-
est being the ''original package divi-
vision," and the political revolution
last Fall when the Alliance swept ev-
erything before it, and completely
wiped out the famous $4,000 majori-
ty," electing nearly all the important
and non-important officers, and barely
failing to electa governor and state su-
perintendent of public instruction.
The 'original package" business is so
dead that it is not worth talking about.
butit may not be uninteresting to re-
view what has been accomplished by
ten years of prohibition. The last de-
cade has been ore of struggle and tur-
moil. AS in the fifties was fought the
great battle to free Kansas soil from the
| fastening upon it of human slavery, so
III IuS clSu las DctlI CtIIlcu Ou IS6
conflict to rid the state of that worse
slavery imposed by the liquor traffic
And the end is not yet. Kansas has
been slandered by those who wished
the law to be failure. Men have pre-
tended to be posted and have written
letters to eastern papers, which were
full of Misrepresentation and willful
exagerations. The liquor power has
poured money into the state by thous-
ands and hundreds of thousands to aid
in defending those arrested for violat-
ing the law. Justice has been pervert-
ed by the subpoena of witnesses and
the bribery ofjuries. Everything that
the ingenuity of men, backed by an un-
limited use of money, could bring to
bear, has been brought into requisitiOn
to make the law imperative. One of
the strongest weapons has been the at
tempt to create the impression at home
and abroad, that the law is imperative.
With strange disregard of logic they
insist that there is more liquor drank
| in Kansas than before the passage of
the law. and insist that men are fools
who question their statements. They
want us to believe that they are spend
ng all this money, and taking all this
trouble in behalf of personal liberty"
that is, from motives as pure and disin-
terested as situated Leonidas, Tell, Sid
ney, Washington, Jefferson or Lincoln.
They claim that man has an inherent
right to drink all the liquor he can
swallow, just as he has an inherent
right to breathe the air of heaven.
When the ''original package" decision
was promulgated, it seemed for time
as if everything was lost, that the ten
years struggle had been in vain. Cor
iginal package houses" appeared every
where, but soon in many places dissap-
peared, the owners being fearful of the
outraged people. Not even the tenn
perance element itselfsuspected its own
strength. The promptness and enthus-
iasm with which the people rallied to
the support of the law of the state, was
a surprise to friend and foe. 1t resem-
bled the uprising of the North in 1861
Curiously enough the tables were turn
ed, and Kansas was seen advocating
the doctrine of state rights, theory
(which was supposed to have been set
tied by the war. But the result was
different. The mutterings of the com.
/ lug tGUlDCSU tcGtCuGu w dSIlIuSbOu1 dIlO
Congress hasteued to pass the law Civ,
ing to each state the power to regulate
its own internal affairs, and the storm
was quieted.
Then the whiskey power tried anoth
er plan. A re-suhmission convention
met in Topeka, little plan was devils
ed to trap Gov. Humphrey, and to Sc
cure his presence, but the governor re
fused to ''walk into the parlor.n tina
the spider had prepared for him, anC
the convention. went home full O
wrath, and vowing vengeance. They
met again and nominated governo
and state officers, on re-submisSior
platform, but when election came they
were not even up to the usual numbe
of votes. A bill was passed by the las
legislature, providing for a constitu
tional convention, and the resubmis
sionists, with impudence claimed
, victory. But as the bill was passeC
J by the same legislature which votet
] down a resubmission resolution, and a
the bill providing for constitutions
convention received the support of al
, parties, their claim seems somewha
extravagant. The fact is that the pres
6uL COIlSIIlutIOu Vi AdLodS 10 Wei Idui
ty, and the need of q revised one is seel
, by all. No one need fear that the pro
} hibton plank will be left out, though
Now what has been accomplished b,
these ten years of prohibition? Thesa
} loon and its attendant evils has beel
practically banished from the state
7 Crime has diminishedin marked de
| gree. Drunkenness has dimished il
J like proportion. Time and again
have seen thousands of people gather
ed in Clay Center, and not a drunken
man among them, and the police fore
. was conspicuous by its absence. !
: young lady, twenty years old, told m
: she had never seen but one drunke
t imam. The police judge in Lawrence
j.. elected last Fall, had his first case las
9 week. Lawrence is town of 1906
:, people. The children are growing t
$ maturity with no knowledge of froste
Q windows, screened doors, or the SINE
4 of whiskey. On their way to schoo
0 they do not have to pass a dozen or s
saloons. Then in every school
b taught the evil effects of alcohol an
: tobacco. Bloated faces and red nost
r are rarely seen lin Kansas. No or
0 pretends to say that no liquor is drum
n In this state; far too much is brougl
in, but it is for the use of the "old t
,- pers," who will have 1t at any prit