The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1905-09-06
"WET STATISTICS
West Virginia Analysed BY State
Anti-saIoon League Official.

In the last issue Of the American
Issue. a temperance paper published
at Columbus. o.. Theodore Alyord, the
State superintendent of the Anti-sa.
loon League in West Virginia, writes
OF this State as follows:
West Virginia has ffty.fve counties,
with a population Of s5s,ooo, according
to the Federal census Of 1900.
These fifty.nve counties may be d.
vided with substantial accuracy into
three classes:
First-Those in which no license
are granted for the sale Of intoxi.
cants comprising thirty.two In all.
This is gain Of eight counties In
two and one-half years.
Second-Those counties In which
liquor licenses are granted in only
one town each. Our constitution
gives to the county commissioners the
right TO grant licenses, but the Legis.
lature tunder probably mistaken
idea Of It's powers) has conferred
special" charters on towns or cities
In twelve counties by virtue Of which
the city council grant licenses with.
out the consent OF the county COM
missioners. The liquor men In West
Virginia are always urging these "spe-
cial' charters, because they think
the people ought to say whether liquor
shall be sold in any town. OF course,
this is what you are fighting for in
Ohio, but conditions are different
here. Under our loose election laws
and the custom of buying voters as
openly as one purchases cattle, our
towns nearly always go "%et," when
the question is submitted to vote.
Third-There are left eleyen coun.
ties in which licenses are granted all
over the county, wherever anyone
thinks he can make the liquor bust.
ness pay.
More than two-thirds of the terri.
tory OF the State is thus under prohi.
bition, complete or partial.
From the whole State there are 7s4
persons confined in the penitentiary
at Moundsville.
The thirty-two no-license counties
have population of 426,223 and have
LOG persons in the penitentiary; while
the twenty-three other counties have a
population of 532,577, with 642 per-
sons in the penitentiary.
If we consider the counties having
saloons in only one town apart from the
rest, they have 1874 persons in the
penitentiary, while the eleven coun-
ties with saloons everywhere they can
be made to pay, have 45S felons in
confinement
Out of every 4,o22 persons living in
the thirty-two no-license counties
there is one person in the penitentiary;
in the one-town license counties, one
out of every 1871; and in the other
counties, one out of every 500 of the
population.
Three no-license counties have no.
body in the penitentiary; four have
O--S So>i' anu ehS hiSheSt ID ulut lTOIn
each Of three counties.
or the license counties, Mcdowell
has SO in the penitentiary, or one out
Of every 100 of her population, and
Fayette county has .15s, or one out Of
every 2o2 residents.
Fayette and Mcdowell are rural
counties. the largest town in either
having but 1884 people in 1900, and
the next largest but 442. OF course,
they are mining communities; but SO
are Harrison and Kanawha counties,
these having, however, saloons In but
one town each. In the former there
is a city Of 5000 people. and she. has
one person in the pen out Of every
1923; while Kanawha has a city Of
about $4,000 and one out Of every COL.
OF her people at Moundsyille. A large
share of the troubles, Of this latter
county arise in, Faysffes y. 30
Against Fayettcss ISS nafegs. the 90
poiteense counties haye But Jog. and
the twelve sone.town license counties
have 1876. ~
= In fhe 90 nf.ltpenre icor,ntse, = IN,