Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1907-10-31
SUCH THE DEMAND OF THE ANTI.
SALOON LEAGUE.
AND COUNTY OPTION ALSO
Sale of intoxicants in Dry Towns De-
ciared to Be Irregular and Courts
May Be Asked to Pass Upon the
Question-Would Have Sheriff Ar
rest Conductor or Porter.
Are buffet cars blind pigs?"

Rev. Ulysses G. Humphrey, state
superintendent of the anti-saloon
league, says they are.
1T is possible that one of the great
through trains that runs across our
state, selling liquor as it goes, whether
in dry towns or towns where licenses
eral license to protect it, may find
there will be little profit in the trip,
for if the courts take the same view
of the situation that / do, and that
many Of Wisconsin's best versed jur-
lists do, a license will have to be Sc
cured in every license town and d
fine paid in every dry town. That
would make a trip across the state
cost the corporation running the
buffet car from $4,000 to $4,000 per
trip.
Il have been advised upon this sub
ject by several attorneys who have
made a study of the matter, and upon
their counsel l shall suggest that
sheriff in one of the dry towns through
which the blind pig passes go aboard
the train, arrest the Pullman conduct
or and every porter or waiter selling
| the wet goods.
TT would have to be arranged to
| have a detective board the train and
buy a drink in the town in order to
get evidence as to violation of license
laws, when a search and seizure war
rant could be issued upon infOrma-
ton and belief
1T may be that, as another attorney
suggests, it would be better to get out
an injunction restraining the corpora
| ton from running the train. The
modus operandi is not yet decided
upon, but some course of action will
be formulated at the meeting and an
active campaign against the 400-miie
long saloon begun land we expect to
lead the blind pigs to slaughter as
expeditiously as possible.
! This matter will be of federal in
terest when it comes up, as no similar
case has been decided in the United
States"
Mr.. Humphrey was brought to Wis
consin to take charge of the crusade
against saloons in this state On &C
count of his record made in the same
work in Indiana during the last four
years. The saloons of Indiana have
! been reduced in number until there
are but 26O townships in which sa-
looms exist, out of total of LOIS.
Ninety per cent of the territory of the
state is dry territory" according to
Mr. Humphrey.
Our campaign is well organized,
Win three standing committeCs-agi-
tation, legislation, and law and en-
! forcement committees. The latter
department will have charge of the
railway matter, of which l spoke.
The agitation department has been
holding from sixty tR seventy meet
ings throughout the state every
month.
| Our field secretary, R. Percy Hut
ton, is one of our strong workers ana
organizers, with general supervision
of the state field work. Besides NJ.
Hutton, the Rev. J. /. Seder, superin-
tendent of the Eau Claire district; the
Rev, A. H Ziecheil, superintendent of
! the Appleton district, and j. F. Baker,
Madison, author of the Baker law,
which passed our last legislature, per-
tanning to residence district local OPP
ton, devote their time to the anti
saloon work. e
Il expec that the next move OF
state wide interest, politically, of our
league will be a campaign for county
local option. At present a town OF
Wisconsin may be a no-license, or
dry town. but a municipal corpora
ton in the town may vote for AND
have a license. Under the proposed
county local license law no saloon can
legally dispense liquor within the
confines of a county which has passed
a no-license law. We now have inee
I'D thirty or forty counties that, we
think, are against the saloon traffic,
and l am sanguine enough to believe
that enough moro will fall in line be-
fore the next legislature to get such
a bill enacted"