Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1894-10-31
REGARD 1T AS A FAILURE
People of Kansas Do Not Think Much Of
Prohibition.
One Reason is That There Are So
Many Ways of Violating
the LAW.
of The Evening Star.

Correspondence of The Evening Star.
TOPEKA, Kan. October "a, 1894.
Until recent years the campaign cry
which always solidified the democratic vote
Of Kansas was down with prohibition" In
1885, when the democratic party reached
high-water mark and cast 10000 votes for
United States Senator John Martin for gov
ernor, prohibition was the chief issue Of the
campaign. In the campaigns following, the
farmers alliance movement, which drifted
into the peoples party, placed this question
in the background, and the result is that
Kansas is honeycombed with clubs, joints.
"speak-easies'' and holes in the wall. where
the bibber can quench his thirst as often as
he desires. Until recently, the vendors OF
Intoxicating liquors concealed their BUSH
ness in back rooms which could only be
reached through long and dark Railways.
or cellars and Easements, with openings Into
the alleys or side streets. Within the past
few years the viclators of the prohibitory
law have become more bold and open ana
have moved their former joints down stairs
into ground-noor rooms on the principal
streets of the towns and cities OF The state,
where line bars have been fitted up, which
are adorned Win the most costly cut-Slass
and all the paraphernalia necessary In the
conduct of a iirst-cl1ss saloon.
In many of the towns the club Is yet
very popular resort. This is particularly
true of Topeka. 1t would make mstropon-
tan club man stare to see the combination
of ma ter ial that goes to make up the club
rooms of Topeka. Some of these clubs are
located upstairs, With the stairways leading
unostentatiously into the rear of an office,
or store, or billiard room. Others are recog-
nized among the institutions of the city, the
membership being made up of the best citf-
zers of the town. In the majority OF clubs
an extensive locker system obtains, and
ana cid Of
square boxes, each with a numbe-, and be-
longing to a member, theoretically his per-
sonal property. The locker is always well
stock ed with choice liquors. When he wants
a drink, say of beer he takes out a bottle
from his locker, deposits 1t with the bar
keeper, and receives in exchange coo, beer
from the faucet That is, he does this in
theory, and If put on the witness stand, is
sure that he did so. The fact is, he simply
exchanges a dime for the beverage, and
leaves the supply in his locker, to grow
cobwebbed with rich old age. In some or
these clubs persons do not get beer. They
call for hop tea, and they get a 9ecoc.ion
that smells like beer. tastes like beer, but,
as old rounder put it, 1T won't make
drunk come" Just what hop tea is no one
has been able to tell. The average drinker
confesses that he cannot detect any differ
cree between it and beer, and then when he
comes to the witness stand he cannot
swear that the liquor was other than the
most innocuous of beverages. The dispen-
ser of this stuff is thus protected in the
courts, because hop tea is not considered
intoxica ting, and for this reason he catches
his victims both going and coming.
Easy of Access.
Club membership is not difficult to obtain,
nor is there any chance Of black-balling.
There is no committee on credentials, no
balloting, no Formally. The candidate Is
introduced by the club manager to a coarse.
blank book, In which is written the con-
stitution of the club. This merely sets
forth the name and specifies that the or
gGnization is for mutual Improvement.
Gives the object as being to elevate the
club members, and declares that none shall
be responsible for debts or obligations.
A fairly respectable club has no trouble
in getting several hundred names on it's
nor can testify to having purchased any
thing not theoretically his own, being a
part of the club belongings, there is
tomb-proof stability that satisfies the Kan
sas conscience, and makes the hot winds
and drouth seem less severe by furnishing
an antidote for dusty threats.
Thus the Kansas thirst continues to be
quenched, and the Kansan does not have
10 go beyond the state line to do il. In ad-
dition to clubs. joints and bootleggers, the
festive pony or eighth" keg is shipped
in by the carload, stored in ice houses and
tapped with exceeding frequency by the
boys 1t is not very difficult to secure a
party of eight or ten to offlciate on such
occasions-indeed, no failure has ever been
recorded.
In addition to the clubs and other places
where liquors are sold by the drink, the
multiplicity of drug stores In Kansas IN
dicates that prohibition does not prohibit,
and that the longer the law remains on the
statute books the more 1t Is violated.
People have lost respect for the prohibition
question in this state. and seem to regard
it as a failure. and the sentiment Tor legal
option and high license Is growing In all or
the larger towns and cities.
However the woman suffrage question,
If the women of Kansas are given the right
to vote may change this sentiment, and It
NAV be that through their influence the
prohibitory law will be more generally en-
forced than ever before. In fact, some of
the speakers on the stump declare that IL
the men will entrust the ballot to the
men of this state they will show to the
world, few years hence, one of the most
intelligent, sober. enterprising and enght-
ened commemorative of the Union.
Advices From Minister DENLY.
Two important and significant Japanese
victories recorded by United States
Minister DENLY In cable to the State De-
partment from Pelsin yesterday. He says
that the Chinese forces have been defeated
at Chin Lien Cheng and have retreated to
Moukden. Also he reports that the Japan
csc have taken one of the Chinese forts at
Port Arthur.
across the Yalu river In Manchuria, ana II
marks the first real aggressive movement
by the japanese on Chinese soil, Tor IL Is
believed here that the preceding movements
on the west side Of the Yalu river by ths
Japanese have been in the nature or Skin
Chinese forces.