Rocky Ford enterprise., 1907-11-29
OF; &,
: I" PROHIBITION
How Popular Sentiment Ap'
proved it in Late Elections
1T MADE KENTUCKY
A REPUBLICAN STATE
And Compelled the Liquor Interests
all Over the Country TO Sit
Up and Take Notice


pretensions TO giving prominence to
the prominent questions OF the day
can hardly overlook the prominence
that the question OF Prohibition has
assumed in the state election cam
paigns of this month. Nor the prom
incncc that the question is assuming
in all parts OF the country with ref
crence to- the elections OF next year.
Such leading journals as the New
York Times and the New York Her
aid, the Chicago News and the Chi
cago Record Herald and the Kansas
City Star have been constrained to
give the subject considerable share
of their editorial attention and news
space aud to print maps showing the
growing area OF Prohibition terri
tory. The Literary Digest Of last
week devoted over two pages OF its
space to comments on the situation.
with the heading: Prohibition Grow
ing Formidable" and begins by say
ing: Recent victories OF the prohibit
iion forces arc drawing respectful
comments even from papers which
/ formerly treated the movement rs 4
joke.
In n community where Prohibition
has tho general approval and supper,
and gives promise OF continuing as n
permanent policy, IL must prove OF
interest to read what tho trend OF
/ this policy is in other parts OF the
country. The Enterprise has large
constituency tina, is moro or less ad-
.icicd to Prohibition and that will
read with in,ercs, n resume OF the
recent growth and present extent Of
popular approval and adoption of re-
s,ric'ive legislation along this line.
The reports gathered from several
hxs ,tA yesvv aud
complete though given liberal space:
There arc now oniy five states in
the Union in which the widc-opcn
saloon policy prevails throughout the
i state. And there arc Just five states
Tor will be when the late cnactmcnis :
OF Georgia and Oklahoma como into
forcc) that arc Prohibition states
throughout. The first five arc: Mon
tana. Idaho. Wyoming, Nevada and
Utah. The Prohibition five arc:
Maine. Kansas. Dakota, Georgia
and Oklahoma. All the other state.
OF tho Union have some measure ot
restrictive legislation. In the form Of
local option or actually prohi- Dc
high license regulations.
Oklahoma IL Is generally known
has just incorporates Prohibition in
late ihn polieyi is also pretty well
known 10 rcsldefs OF the daily press.
The law docis no; go into force uNi
Ian. Isl. This enactment prohiy0s
lie sale or manufacture Of alcoholic
beverages fyviihin the state. Under
tic onrra ,kons of the statute every
brewery /. Gd dis;iilcry in Georgia will
have to cSosc at the bc-inning OF the
new ycay unless in the meantime the
n. hest courts in the land rule that
the iawJis unconstitutional.
This faction on the part OF Georgia
Is libtrally supplemented by other
southern states although they have
no, gone the whole length OF state
prfiibiiion. The most conspicuous
Illustrations of the growth of tenn
,,,t anec sentiment in tho South after
Gee irgia arc Kentucky and Tenncs-
sec. The former. famed for hum
drcdp years as the producer of fine
whisSics, has passed stringent local
op,icln law and this law has been
adotl;cd i'll o- out of tho ITO coun-
ties bi the state. while upon the same.
flood tide OF cola water sentiment
tho democratic party has been swept
from its immcmorial moorings aud
a Republican governor elected upon
a ten ipcrancc platform. In the cap
i,ol tSi,y OF Louisville Republican
mayot is elected over the Democrat
;c candidate who stood for repeal of
the Sunday closing law. OF the two
and a, quarter million population in
the state, ono and half million are
In dry" counties. now that the flood
-Nss st,bsidcd. But !, even threatens
10 risic again and compel the next
legislature to pass an absolute state
prohibition act. In such case. II is
rioomi1y reflected that the most pro-
ductiytt industry of the statc-an in-
dus,ry Tin which there is now $780,
100000 tinvcstcd-would be destroyed.
4 mis-, lbarrin' the possibility always
,uat the supreme court is so consti-
tu,cd ,'ha, il would risc-or possibly
stand declare the enactment un-
cons,i, u,ional. But even now IL is
only those counties of tho Blue
Grass ,ttatc contain cities more than
10000 population. that permit the
sale Of liquor.
As to Tennessee. the land of the
"moo! !nshincr" and the uncou,h. whis-
ky-jo wing mountainccr, there arc only
three. communities in which laws for
the suppression OF LIQUOR selling do
not prevail. These arc the cities OF
Mcp'iphis, Nashville aud Chattanoo-
ga. Knoxville was in tho list unit
rccc nily, but she Ion vent dry. and
the yictors in the i.ugglc cniulstj',l
Carrie Nation by smashing the fcsy
sai{ IONS which persisted in doing