Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1907-07-05
LEAGUE
A FORGE IN IOWA
Organization Under Its Present
System and Management Ac-
complishing Results
EFFECTIVE WORK is DONE
League Has Become Recognized as a
Force for Good in Enforcing Present
Laws and Opposing Undesirable Leg
islation-Laws 1t Has Had En-.
Acted.
Special to Times-Republlcan.


Des Moines, July 5.-On the fifth
floor Of the Iowa Loan & Trust Build
ing, occupying two little back rooms is
the office of an organization that has
introduced new method into the liq-
uor problem campaign. The Iowa An
ti-Saloon League was organized in
Iowa in 1896 but there was little or
nothing done for seven years till the
fall of 1903, when the league was re-
organized and since that time claims
to have accomplished more in actual
tangible results than had been accom-
plished in many years in the state be-
fore.
For years the work Of temperance
in Iowa was confined to organizations
that sought to make sentiment and
organization that sought to capture all
the political machinery of the state or
enough of that machinery to be able
20 throw the liquor traffic out bag and
baggage. The primary purposes of the
anti sal loon league is to make the sa-
looms live up to the laws that are al
ready on the statute books and to get
as many more good stringent liquor
laws as possible and defeat as many
laws in the interest Of the liquor traf-
fic as possible.
Here Is what the league has ac-
complished to date:
Defeated circulation Of mulct petit
tions Of consent in twelve counties.
viz: Emmett, Pocahontas. Sac, Grundy,
Cedar, Iowa, Benton, Muscatine. Lee,
Audubon Cherokee twice, Shelby and
Monroe.
Defeated brewery petitions in Des
Moines once and has second one
where they think it is useless.
Defeated petitions in Mason City,
Marion, Colfax twice, and Knoxville.
Secured the passage of several good
laws, among them law limiting the
life of every mulct petition of consent
to five years, of which one has passed,
secured the passage Of the c. O. D.
liquor bill which will cut off about
1000 small towns from receiving liquor
by express C. o. d. and defeated sew
eral bills in the interests Of the liquor
business, incluring the McManus bill
that allowed liquor to be shipped to
prohibition counties.
Prosecuted s21 cases Of violation OF
the liquor laws, not incluring those at
Burlington and Dubuque. Every sa-
loon keeper in Sioux City has been
placed under injunction. Ten have
closed there, eight have closed In AL
bia. two in Monroe and one in Foster.
At Burlington and Dubuque the league
assisted.
These are of course only a part Of
the things that the league has done.
1t took a paper The Dial of Progress,
which had 5000 debt, paid off the debt
and has the paper now self-supporting.
1t has thorough system of bookeep-
ing. engages a lawyer to devote all MS
time to the leagues work, has eight
agents in the field all the time and mas
twelve more that devote part OF the
time making total Of twenty who can
be called upon at any time and thrown
into one locality to conduct a fight
against the saloons.
II is safe to say, without fear of Of
tending anyone. that for the first time
in the history of Iowa there is an ac-
tive organization that Is ready all the
year round and able to cope with any
move of the liquor interests. AS
matter Of fact, all the temperance
forces of the state are united in the
league. The league is governed by
board of trustees Some of these trus-
tees are a permanent body and the re-
mainder are delegate trustees elected
from the various state church organ
izations
When the league starts in to fight
the circulation Of a mulct petition 1t
publishes the names of everyone who
signs. It claims that this is strong
deterant to signers. There are many
who would like to sign If no one knew
anything about 1t, but when the league
spreads broadcast the information that
1t will fight the thing by publishing the
names, they are harder to get. If Pc
tition is started in town, within
twenty-four hours a horde of anti-sa-
loon workers can be in the same town
fighting against it, securing signers to
a remonstrance.
None of the anti saloon league Of
ficials ever believes that there will be
a brewery in Des Moines. They went
before the booster committee and that
committee decided not to work for the
thing and to take no part in it. If
the brewery is erected it will take a
year to build it. Two years will then
have expired of the time limit, and the
brewery could run but three years be-
fore another petition of consent would
have to be circulated. Capitalists are
slow to invest on such shaky mat
ter and for such short term. Fur
thermore the league has given notice
that as soon as the first gallon Of
liquor is made it will go into the courts
for an injunction and there are lots OF
legal questions that the best lawyers
will hesitate over as to the legality of
THE petition of consent.
In the line of legislation the leagues
chief cause for pride is in the time
limit bill. That was passed In 1905.