Mexico weekly ledger., 1908-02-20
WHAT o IT.
An 0klAhOma Newspaper Ears Pro
hibitiOn Has Helped Every Town
in The State.


u. Brown, father OF y, II. br0Wni
proprietor OF the Missouri Lumber
company, who married Miss Harper,
Of Mexico, Mo, called the attertlon
OF the Democrat TO the following
article, which appears In the Weekly
In~telligencer, 3 weekly paper pub
lisbed in Mexico, Mo. Cecil NJ. Bas-
kett is the editor and owner OF the In.
telligencer, and the article as will be
seen, purports to be 3 despatch from
Maskoeee. In view OF the fact that
IL is published 10 a newspaper OF local
circulation outside OF Oklahoma,
where news from Muskogee would
have no more practical interest than
news from Abysina, II is only reason
able to conclude that the article
came instead from some booze press
bureau. That It Is an infamous lie
need not be stated, the people Of Okla
bona know 1t is q lie, and the Weekly
Intelligencer knows 1t is q lie, also.
There is not a city 10 Oklahoma that
has not been greatly helped by pro.
hibition, and whose police court re-
cords will not show the fact.
The article follows:
"Muskogee, Okla. Jan. 0.-Prohi-
billion has proved q failure In Okla.
homa. This is the opinion Of pre-
scouting attorneys In the eastern
part OF the state, who have been
forced to devote practically all |,
their time to the trials OF liquor
cases since statehood was declared, |,
and who now find the criminal 1
dockets congested and the jails (
packed to s~uffocatioD. |,
According 10 law there is not q Z
saloon In Oklahoma, yet there is
not q village Of 100 inhabitants In /
which liquor is not sold and drunke- q
ness and debauchery does not pre- {
vail. The people admit that under 2
existing conditions they are un- (
able to cope with the evil, and /
declare that the regulated saloon {
is far better from a moral stand c
point than prohibition. L
In this city, with 3 population 1
Of less than 10000, there have q
been over 100 arrests for drunke- 7
ness this month, and nearly 800 e
since the first OF December. There a
are estimated 10 be 100 boot d
leggers" In the city, 10 near beer'' C
joints, at which you can get any {,
thing you want, and q dozen CT O
more druggist are becoming rich
selling liquor Illegally, In one OF
the leading drug stores the pro- D
prietor admitted that % last Sun Is,
day be sold over 800 quarts, and al
beer at IS cents q quart, and 200 m
pints Of whIskey 81 per pint tn
Arrests + frequent, but the re
traffic is 50 great the druggists are .
willing TO take the chance and pay ~
q nominal fine. III
In the Muskogee County Jail th
there are so men and women held "a
on charges Of murder, and in
nearly every instance the crimes
were committed while the often n
ders vert drunk. In MeAlester
County there have been % muir.
den since Statehood, and OF this
number II we're directly due TO
drink"
the reason for such lying to
atements In the Missouri news We
'pers is not difficult 10 lind. Missouri de
the next state in the way Of Pro- in
and the liquor interests hope st.
publishing them, even though they bill
~trageously defsme q sister state, ha
ey car manufacture sentiment ca
Alnst prohibition As we'll hope TO Sc,
eep back the oplowiDg sea with
pom. ,,s
The liquor interests have only one wa
pc, IL they knew IT. and that is 10 ,or
away with the saloon. II they az
ut accept this means, the American :
1ple will take 1t fas. enough, and or,
lie doing 50 will wipe out the In ior
too That is exactly what they m,
doing, and the day nov approaches Shl
IS not far distant When trade in ~.
oholic beverages will be forbidden mi
interstate commerce. =
Oklahomans will not ,,o
over themselves recommending ,ov
Weekly Intelligencer in the neigh ~,
hood OF Mexico, No. or out Of it. a.,