Mississippi leader. (Jackson, Miss.) 1892-1895, 1893-04-25
HOPE FOR MISSISSIPPI.
The Liquor Traffic Steadily Los
ing Ground.
The New Constitution II Reg
ular saloon ParalyZcr.

, Glance at the Present status and Flu
turc Prospects of the Prohibition
Cause in the state.
S,stial Curr~pandcnc OF The Voice.
JACKSON. Miss. April IL. The cor
don is drawing closer and closer around
the liquor traffic in Mississippi. Under
the old constitution. in all Local OPP
tion contests, the ignorant. irresponsi-
Bile floating black and white vote was
the saloons bulwark. The new consti-
tuition. with its educational. taXpaying
and other rigid requirements. sweeps
this away. Out of eight counties which
have held Local Option elections dur
ing the last II months, all have gone
against license but one, and the saloons
carried that 10y mere scratch. All OF
these we're saloon counties before. and
the net gain of seven counties added
TO the Al already dry" increased the
dry counties to Is ont of total of
- in the State.
The new dram-shop law, with its
many rigid features. taken i'll conjunc-
ton with the revised franchise laws. is
al.o playiug hqvoc with the saloon bus
mess. Meridian aRd Columbus, the
two largest and most prosperous cities
in the eastern portion OF the State, have
lately gone dry" because the saloon
men could not secure the signatures of
majority % the registered voters to
their petitions for a rene@a. lie the law
requires At Columbus a majority
counter -prtitian was filed, which makes
il unlawful for any LICENSE 10 be issued
for ~ months, As Meridian and Co
lumbus were the nnty places in Laud-
erdale and Lowndes counties. respec-
lively. where liquor was sold, they are
Hqw added to the Prohibition counties.
Holly 3ptluss. enc of the largest towns
in north Mississippi. iu~ ..QH.e dry.
as Meridian did. adding Marshall to
! the iiat If Prohibition counties, max
ing3 il ali ai.d total gain of 10 un-
der the new constitution,
Here at the State Capital, where 9
saloons existed last year, several have
closed rather than pay the 5000 State
and municipal tax and undertake to
comply with the rigid penal provisions
of the law. One-half OF Jackson
dramShOp- keepers were indicted by the
last grand Jury for not keeping the law,
and this will cost some of them dearly.
The same influences are at work in 9TH
er saloon counties. notably the Delta,
or the Black Belt, and many saloons
which have heretofore fiOurished are
closing as fast as their old licenses eX-
pire.
Altogether it may be said that Mis-
sissippi is making as encouraging pro-
gresS in Kidding herself of the legalized
liquor traffic as could be reasonably
hoped for under a High License and
Local Option law. Indeed. public SEN
timent and the complexion of the last
Legislature were such that d straight
out Prohibition law for the entire
State could have been easily passed at
the last session but for the timidity
and t"mporizing policy of the non-par-
tisan Prohibition leaders whose coun-
sci was sought and prevailed.
As to the enforcement OF Prohibition
in the dry counties, it can be said of
truth that it is as satisfactory and
successful as its wiseSt and most san
gnine advocates ever anticipated. In
whatever it fails could be easily
remedied by th6 proper change in the
United States Revenue and inter State
Commerce laws, which the Prohibition
Party is pledged to revise. Hon. j. B.
ChriSman, Circuit Judge of the Jack
son Judicial District. has several times
lately declared from the bench that
the laws against the sale of liquor in
dry" counties of his district are a.
well observed and successfully enfOr-
ced ~ the laws against larceny, burg
larly. assault or any other crime, and
that the amount ef crime and cost OF
court expenses he had observed during
his Ii years on the bench are from sc
to 100 per cent. greater in the license
counties than in the Prohibition coun-
ties.
The party Prohibitionists of the
State are much encouraged by the in
crease at the last election OF 800 pei
cent. over their vote of 1888, aud are
preparing to reenter the field and press
forward. THE MISSISSIPPI LEADER
which was published here last year, has
just been moved back to the flourish,
ing city of Bfooki.ayep, its old home
So miles south, and will FeseHe publ,
cation on the 18th inst, with imp royed
facilities. 1t viii hereafter be owned
| by stock company of loyal party
Prohibitionists, and b. r. Hobbs. its
founder, and one of the gamest and
most faithful Prohibitionists in the
State, will continue as its editor
Chairman Henry Ware. of the Prohi-
bition State Committee, is planning to
put a State organizer IN the field at an
| early day, to cooperate with the com
mittee and the State paper in forward
ing the interests of party work There
will be no election in the State before
/ that of Congressman in 1894. to be fol
lowed by a general election of State
and county officers in November, 1895.
Several portions of Mississippi nave
recently been severely scouraged by
cyclones. Portions Of Jasper and Clarke
counties were visited iaGt week. The
course of the cyclone was hortheastly,
cutting a clean swath three miles wide
through Chickasahay Swamp, twisting
and splintering the largest timber into
one great mass of wreckage. Reports
Indicate that the Dath of tho evolona