The Butte inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1901-1912, 1901-08-12
It iffRANCE REFORM As IT SHOULD BE-.

Recently the nrohihtionists have pub
lished statistics respecting the seizure
of Illicit distll,ries that are misleading.
II Is; asserted that during the fiscal year
Of 1899 United States ,aarshals surprised
s1aO of these unlawful plants and de-
stroyed 2.1Ol. arresting at the same time
I'll persons. Not one Of the distilleries
1t is alleged. was found IN a prohibition
state. The fact IS that 1856 We're taken.
and Of the numhar the enormous proper
ton Of 673 carried IN lucrative bust
ness in Georgia, which, with the ex-
ception Of four cities. is a prohibition
state. OF the 5S5 arrests actually made
Pas We're in Georgia
Arguments based on a Justification Of
the government records cannot strength
en- the cause Of prohibition, which has
been losing ground 1T the north steadily
with experience and education It is q
we'll demonstrated fact that temperance
makes the most ra.id advancement un-
der wise restraint OF the liquor traffic,
aided by natural causes The trials made
OF drastic prohib'toty laws in some Of
=
tensified the evils sought to be remedied,
and developed new ones.
The state most favored for experiment.
al legislation along prohibitive lines,
both by reason Of The bucolic character
OF its people and the diffusion of popu-
laticn, was Iowa. Here the prohibition
movement acquired sach force at one
time that the constitution was amended
so as to enable the enactment Of legisla-
ton against either the manufacture or
sale of intoxicants, and as a result
vast amount of property was virtually
coniscated. Smuggling began at once
and became widespread. The back
rooms and Easements of drug stores
blossomed into groggeries Private
drinking clubs sprang up in all the
towns. Illicit compromising of intoxi-
cants, more deleterious than the mer-
chandise Of the saloon, became a secret
occupation assuring big profits. The
consumption of bitters, and other quack-
cries having alcohol for base, Increased
beyond belief Frequently men in the
spirit of bravado. rather than from
mania, resorted to bay rum and watered
alcohol. Before the unorganized con-
spiracy to evade and render the law ridi-
cuous the most fanatic officials found
themselves helpless to enforce it.
Then the legislature passed what was
knows as the Clark amendment, an en-
forcing expedient rarely eaualled and
never surpassed by making body in
this country. 1t provided for the payment
of a reward to informants and prosecu-
tors on the flimsiest evidence; stipulated
conviction on unsupported testimony. and
taxed the defendant for all the expenses
of conviction in addition to other punish
ment.
This led to dreadful crime that
scandalized the state. and for time
excited the interest of the entire ma
ton. A shyster lawyer, for mere pur-
poses of gain, induced two women, the
wives of ministers, to file informations
against the saloon keepers of Sioux City,
a community which had disregarded the
state statute and adopted the license
system. Two breweries We're in full blast
prominent citizens, republicans and
democrats, among them the judge of the
district court, the prosecuting attorney
the sheriff and the mayor: bankers anc
merchants. The petition to the city
council, advocating the imposition of g
high license and restriction Of the traffic
was signed by all the leading taxpayers
and the president of the Young Mem!
Christian association.
When the women appeared in cour
they were Knocked and badgered to flight
A minister named Haddock. indignan
at the proceedings, undertook to vindi
cate the law and one night was assassin
ated in the presence of ten men. VIII
had solemnly sworn to kill him. TIL
inquest was a travesty, the conspirator
disappeared one by one, and justice neve
would have overtaken them but for tn
enterprise of a Chicago newspaper. A
it was only three of them received shor
sentences to the penitentiary, and tn
actual murderer as accused in three con
fessions of accomplices, never was con
yicted. This marked the climax of tn
prohibitive campaign in Iowa, whose ex
perience is an example of avoidance.
Americans, as stated in a recent inter
view by NJ Cambon, the French ministe
At Washington, are becoming distin
xuished as a sober and abstemious PEG
ple. Natural causes are operating t.
make them such. and the educationa
mains taken in the schools OF most o
the states is contributing to that end
With the development of our Industrial
Transportation and electric systems
with the necessity Of mastering new ant