The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1895-07-31
LOW DEGRADED TOWN.
Not 10 Per Cent of Leavenworth-
ians Are Church Members.
PER CENT BELOW ANY CITY IN TIE US.

IOFCeQ-OR0 "a the OAAC6 OOAAAAAS-
aiouers a Common Drunkard.
Judge J. F. Culver, of Emporia, the
state temperance union organizer who
visited Leavenworth and held a tenn
perance meeting in that city Monday
night, found the degradation of the
town even worse than he had been told.
To STATE JOURNAL reporter Judge
Culver said: "Leavenworth is actually
the lowest and most degraded town l
was ever in. In all the years of my life
l have never seen anything like 1t. Even
the preachers of the town are not unanl-
nous for the enforcement of the law.
Some of them are opposed to it and 9th
ers are afraid to take a stand against the
saloons. Just think of it, less than 10
per cent of the population of the
town are church members and
there are less than 1900 white Protest
ants in the whole city. There Is
not another city in the whole country
which has such percentage of tough
citizens"
Judge Culver dictated for publication
a statement of what he saw in Leaven-
worth with his own eyes, in which he
says:
saturday night visited ffty-two open
saloons, two wholesale and fifty retail,
wider open than I ever saw them in Chi
ciago or New York, or any other city on
this continent There were sixteen dis
orderly houses, full of women. doors and
windows open, with all kinds of declara-
tions at the door and otherwise. Soldiers
from the fort and veterans from the home
seemed to be the chief patrons of both
the saloons and the disorderly houses on
Saturday night.
''On Choctaw street l found a man ly
ing on the pavement, apparently dead
His face seemed to be covered with
blood, but man ran out of one of the
saloons and says, He is not dead; he has
not been murdered and rubbed his hand
over his face; That is made by the cleo
trio light reflected from the leaves of the
trees We went to the police headquart-
ers and reported him, and they answered
that they guessed that was the man they
had just brought in. They had gotten
him in before we got there.
"Sitting in front of the National hotel
on Sunday night, 1 saw one man SO
drunk that he could not be awakened,
and another man nearly as drunk as
he, trying to take care of him. There
were fifteen places where, while front
doors were closed on Sunday night,
there were side entrances where the light
shone out on the sidewalk and could be
found without any difficulty. The largest
number of persons l saw congregated at
one bar in the city of LeavenwOrth while
l was there, I saw at the Il atioual hotel,
where I counted eighteen persons stand
ing, and seven or eight sitting who
seemed to be in the exercise of drinking
Both the wholesale and retail places
were as wide open as they could be.
There was no effort to conceal anything.
Even the screens in many places were
not before the doors, and the glasses and
the liquors in bottles were arranged IS
they are IN all we'll regulated saloons"
On Monday Judge Culver interviewed
about fifty business men and well known
citizens including the mayor and police
commissioners.
Among the others he interviewed Col
D. r. Anthony editor of the LeavenwOrth
Times. Speaking of his interview with
Colonel Anthony, Judge Culver said:
HE assured me that the story that
Governor Morrill, had been notified that
if he attempted to close the saloons his
bank would be wrecked, was absolutely
true.
Since coming to Topeka I asked the
governor about it but he saws
the story is false. Colonel An
thony said: i am opposed to
the enforcement of the law or any at
tempt to enforce it until it is enforced
in all the other towns in the state When
the law is enforced in all the other towns
in Kansas it will be time to come to
Leavenworth. The law can't be enforced
here The governor is a hypocrite; the
church deacons and elders are hypo-
critics; the officers of the state temper
ance union are hypocrites. l have lost
$4,000 in trying to enforce the prOhibi-
tory law in this state, and every body
went back on me, and I was left to stand
it alone. Hunt, one of the police COM
missiOners, has not drawn a sober breath
in twenty-five years, and alcohol has
destroyed his physical and mental DOW
ers.
Il interviewed James W. Brown, who
said: The law can be enforced in this
city. The police commissioners should
be in harmony and the governor should
be in harmony with the law and its en-
forcement If we had police commits
siOners who were in harmony with the
law, backed by the power of the state,
there is no question in my mind but the
law can be enforced in this city. The
present police commissioners are not in
sympathy with the law. Hunt, a men,
Der of the police board. is a drunkard
and is drunk almost every day and night
In my judgment the whole board ought
TO be changed
"Mr. Pate, merchant said: 4 think
the law can not be enforced. They did
not enforce it when they had the oppor-
tunity, and this is not the time, and there
is certainly no opportunity now If the
governor would help you, would the tenn
perance people of this city take holdT'
1 asked. He said, No, the people have
lost all confidence and they fear that he
will leave them in the lurch We are
afraid of him The commissioners will
not do more than they are compelled to-
al. c. Long, an attorney, said: The