The Pensacola journal., 1907-09-10
MR.. PORTER SWALLOWS
BAIT, HOOK AND ALL.

Editor, Pensacola Journal
Dear Sir: note your very inter
esting article in Sundays Journal, and
1 hasten to congratulate you on your
ability to write intelligently and in
terestingly upon the question of pro-
hibition without any pretense to con-
meet it with the Christian religion,
with which it has no more connection
than the Holy Bible has with Web
steris bIue-back speller. It is refresh
ing to discover that the question may
be discussed upon it's merits, disasso-
cfated with extraneouS considerations.
l desire to express my keen appre-
citation of your timely notice that most
of your propositions are loaded" for
to fOrewarn is to forearm, and is an
act'O chiYalry that is rare, even in
forensic combat. Some of them are
SO paIpably loaded that / confess l
have not the temerity to attack them,
but the less formidable ones, l ven
ture, in ''sportive daIliance," to toy
with and trust to luck to escape dis
aster.
You say: THE test of the dollars
and cents value of any business to a
community is always found in the
dollars and cents which iL leaves in
the community. If 1t leaves more
money in the community than it takes
out, it is worth the balance or differ
ence between what it leaves in and
what it takes out"
Your position is we'll taken, but very
poorly defended. With such faultless
premises, you might have constructed
an argument of such force that it
would have fortified them against
successful attack, if the material for
such argument had been available
but prohibition handicaps its ablest
advocates by its paucity of material
with which to construct an argument
You say: Now l take it for grant
ed that if it can be shown that the
liquor business in Pensacola adds
nothing to the town, but, On the other
hand, really takes a great many dol
lars out of town, it ought to be reas-
onably clear that prohibition will not
only not hurt the town, but will act
ually help it. We are told that the
liquor business in Pensacola aggre-
gates $l,5OO,OO0 per year. To be con-
servative, let us cut it down to 81 1,e80,-
600 per year. What does that one
million dollars Representatives. much
more wealth added to the commu-
nity?-that much more property on the
tax ookS?-that much more money in
circulation? Does it? Or does it rep-
resent-simply the swapping of SO
many dollars between PenSacolians
who buy liquor and those who sell it.
without adding one single dollar to
the community and without putting
dollars worth of property on the
tax books? / do not know what pro-
portion of the retail price of liuuor
goes to the brewer and distiller. but.
putting it at low estimate, at least
20 per cent of the million dollars
spent annually by the. retail BUYERS of
Pensacola goes to the wholesaler in
other states and to the railroad COM
pany for freight. That means that
S250,090 is annually sent out OF the
city for liquor Now, if, on the one
hand, it is conceded that we have
made nothing by our annual swan
of million dollars between ourselves.
it cannot, on the other hand, be de-
MED that we have at least lost this
S250, 600 which we send out of the
city for liquor, and We are therefore
that much poorer because of the
business
If l understand the proposition that
is covered up by this mass of verb
iage, it is briefly this-that Pensacola
spends 81 900 900 annually for liquors,
25 per cent. of which does not come |
back to the city, but goes to those
who supply it.
Does not the same condition apply !
to dry goods, groceries, grain. feed |
stuffs, hardware. coal, lumber, tim |
Der and every other article of COM |
merce that comes into Pensacola |
from other states? Does it inpover-
ish Pensacola because the cost of !
production and transportation of |
liquors is absorbed by their producers. |
any more than by the producers of |
the other articles mentioned?
Liquor, like every other commodity |
sold in Pensacola, is sold at a profit, |
and every buyer of it pays in profit his
quota of the amount paid to the pro-
ducer, just as is done by the buyers
of every other article of commerce:
and in this way comes back to the |
city, through the liquor mems licenses.
taxes, salaries and wages paid to
their employees. all of which rs spent
in the city or deposited in its various
banks
AS well may the communities which