Smyrna times., 1907-07-31
large store of the Nuttle Hardware

Company.
Shaking hands with Mr.. Nuttle, 1
said, "Well, you seem to be doing a
little business. J" eyes," said he,
scarcely catching my drift, "we are
doing some business"
1 said, 81 thought business was
paralyzed when local option prevailed,
that's what they say about you over
in Delaware"
"Oh," said he, 81 understand. You
are going to vote on the question this
fall. L hope local option will win out,
and from what hear 1 believe it will.
Why, sir, consider the sale of liquor
in a community to be worse than a
scourge. 1t is positive demoralizer
1t is a blood-sucker of business.
If a merchant can thrive in
wet town, how much better he would
succeed if the competition of the rum
seller were removed. Why, this town,
and the whole of Caroline, was never
so prosperous as it is to-day. Every
body is easy. The burden of private
and public debt is light There are no
failures in business, no drunkards on
our streets, no loafers on our corners.
The moral tone of the town is high.
The people of Caroline would never go
back to the license system. They
know a good thing"
Mr.. Bates Stephens Says Local Option Has
Made the Eastern Shore Prosperous.
There is no man better known
throughout Maryland than M. Bates
Stephens, the State Superintendent of
Schools. 1 found him in his snug
apartments in Denton, coat off, and
hard at work getting ready for the
opening of the schools in the Fall.
I said, "Mr. Stephens, 1 would like
you to tell me something about the ad-
vantages of local option in Maryland
''WillingIy," said he willingly, but
my dear sir, local option speaks for it.
self, and in more forcible language
than l could use. Caroline County is
one of the most prosperous sections of
the country. Take the town of Den
ton. Since the county went dry there
has been a marked improvement in
morality and business thrift. Our Jail
is practically without prisoners, our
almhOuse never has more than a dozen
inmates, and they are not the victims
of the drink, but of misfortune. Oh,
thereis general prosperity from one end
of the county to the other. Let me
point you to good object lesson:
Calvert County under the old license
, system was PROSTATE. Nature never
did very much for Calvert County,
anyhow, and together with that fact
and the sway which rum had there,
! Calvert was looked upon as dead To-
: callty, from business standpoint. st
D Mary's County, which adjoins Calvert
/ and where natural conditions were faI
Y better, completely overshadowed it. 4
few years ago Calvert went dry, anC
soon the moral tone of the communit,
began to improve; business began t,
boom, until to day Calvert has throw
t her wet sister, st. Mary's, completely
- in the shade as fer as prosperity and
I thrift are concerned.
&. "Ah, yes, the wonderful improve
ment in Caroline is directly traceabl,
t to the operations of the local optioi
a law. You will find only one opinion
j. about it here. I am satisfied that i
:, the question were resubmitted to tn,
Il voters of this county it would get th
,, approval of at least ninety per cent @
our intelligent voters. I hope Dela
d ware will follow our good example,"
d Lewis Says Speak-essies Cut No Figure.
spent an hour with Heury r, Lewis
y prominent attorney and a Delawal
% can by birth. He spoke in the m os
p" glowing terms of what the local optic
. law had done for Caroline. Said he
% ''it costs this county practically nc
thing to look after criminals. w
don't have any. Our Court is seldol
70 in session more than a week, and th
:, work of the Grand Jury is merely pei
- funetory. The expense of term
= court here is not one fifth as much
= it is in one of your Delaware counties.
- GAS to speak-easies, said M
Lewis, when 1 spoke of them, "the
- do not give us any trouble. OF courl
" when a district first goes under loc
option, it is natural to suppose th
= more or less illegal traffic in rum wi
spring up, and indeed is liable to {
so at any time should vigilance becon
of little lax, but they can easily be pU
er to rout. remember several years ae
It. when Mr.. Towers was States Alto
r. ney, they broke out here aud there i
ng the county. Towers went after the
10 in his determined way, landed abol
w thirty of them in the House of Correc