The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1895-08-13
WHISKY WICHITA.


more of chestnutty saws and old hack
neved theorems at Wichita, in which
he likens the attitude of this city TO
that of Charleston, South Carolina, In
1861, while cannonading Fort sum-
ter. which bright and original sugses-
ton is coupled with the covert threat
that Mr.. Hoffman or somebody else
should, at some supreme moment, head
the military forces of the state OF Kan
sas and march on Wichita. AS for the
rest of his screed it is principally ad-
dressed to the editor of the Eagle and
is of still less Importance. The fool
ishness of the reverend gentleman S
mouth-service is only surpassed by the
combined hebetude and malice Of the
editor who admitted such trash to his
columns, even conceding that ma
iority Of the readers of the Capital do
not know any more than this man
Hoffman. which would be an ebullIuon
of presumption.
1t takes a great deal of that kind
of patience known as Christian foru-
tude to either calmly listen to blatant
babblings. or to attempt to SET right,
with sober words of reason, the mar
row and prejudiced. 1t would be an
utter waste Of time, irrational and
futile to attempt by any words at our
command, by any course of reason
ing, or by any number of facts. to con-
vince this reverend correspondent OF
the Capital, or anyone of the thou
sand superficial theorists and dogmauc
demurrers who strain at a regulated
Joint in Wichita but swallow the To-
peka drug store, who close their eyes
TO the two thousand government per-
nits issued to the gambling club
houses and prostitution-sinks of the
state, but cry aloud at every attempt
to curtail the evil by forcing it to exist
in open daylight, that Wichita and her
people are not wholly given over to the
bad
But Notwithstanding the fact that
the Kansas prohibitory law is violated
every day in every town in the state,
by the direct permit of the federal
government and its laws, violated ten
to fifty thousand times every day, the
state over, and to the certain knOWl-
edge of every editor and preacher in
Kansas who have joined the crusade
against Wichita, who criticize and call
her people Anarchists, we say, not
withstanding these facts Wichita is
just as loyal, her people as intelligent
and as decent as the communities in
which our critics live.
With a certain class Of papers in the
state who follow the lead Of the Cap
ital, including the class Of men with
whom Mr. Hoffman is identified, it is
Wichita and whiSkey, Wichita and
anarchy, Wichita and wickedness from
Alpha to Omega Their words are
libelous. 1t ought to be unnecessary
for the Eagle to say to the people OF
tn state that the people Of Wichita are
not friendly to the whiskey traffic;
that they appreciate the evils of in
temperance; that they do not sympa-
thize with the saloon; that the four
thousand men who protested against
the removal of the late commissioners
are not rum-soaked bummerS; that
outpouring ever touched liquors in any
form; that there is no more immortality
in this city than any city Of its size
in this state or anywhere else; that We
have as many churches as any city in
Kansas, and that they are as numer-
ously attended, as many Sabbath
schools, as many charitable and relig-
iouS organizations; that the Eagle is
not a whiskey organ nor did it ever
receive Il cent directly or indirectly
from liquor dealers. wholesale or re-
tail; and, that its editor is as free from
the vice of drink as the editor Of any
daily paper in the state, not excepting
the editor Of the Capital himself,
The people of Wichita are thoroughly
convinced Of the wisdom Of the ut
terance of General Grant when he de-
clared that the way to get rid of an
obnoxious law was in its strict en-
forcement For fourteen years has
Wichita endeavored to enforce the one
law. At times when the officers We're
favorable, such efforts were made 10
enforce 1.-The law" as were never made
to enforce any other law. So terribly
in earnest were the people, courts and
officials, so determined to terroriZe the
violatorS of 'the law" that at one time,
with the Jail full of offenders, one man
was fined twenty-odd thousand dollars
and sentenced TO twenty-five years I'M
priSOnment. BY these effortS,-Wich-
tia being as much of center for this
section CT the state as Kansas City is
for eastern KanSaS,-hundredS of thou
sands of dollars of patronage was lost,
trade was curtailed, hotels bankrupted
and enterprise discouraged. The pres
tige and advantages accruing TO 4
principal market, TO 4 jobbing and
packing point and to a center of popu-
City, Missouri. Destruction of prop
erty values and the ruin of rents was
followed by decrease of population.
Wichita in rendering 1.-The law" OBJ
nOxious by attempted strict enforce
ment found that she was dwindling to
the rule and life and limitations of a
mere country town. Wichita people
discovered that General Grants truism
| did not apply in their case. because
however obnoxious the law might be
rendered to the people of this city by
strict enforcement, Wichita was with
, out the power TO repeal or annul it: