River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1908-12-31
SALOONS OUSTED
FROM VAST AREA
MORE THAN HALF THE SOUTH'S
TERRITORY NOW DRY.
LIQUOR THE GREAT ISSUE
Cities the Only Remaining Strong
holds for Rum DeaIers-DIfficulty
of Enforcing Prohibition
Laws Recognized.

Laws Recognized.
Chicago. Dec. ga wave of prohl-
bition has swept with such remark
able effect over the south, and Sentl-
ment has so crystalized against the
saloon and it's kindred evils, that the
dawn Of the new year opens upon
vast stretch of territory absolutely
bereft of liquor, while the area where
anti-prohibitionists have triumphed
marks the battle-ground for impending
fights for and against the sale of in
toxicants.
Significant of the magnitude this
problem has assumed is the fact that
in many states prohibition looms up
as a political issue of chief concern to
the voters, obseuring other municipal
and state questions Other states have
disposed of the issue, temporarily at
least, by the passage of statutory
laws, whose efficiency must yet be
tested. In still other states the will
of the majority expressed at local OPP
ton elections, has restricted the sale
of liquor to the larger cities where the
| liquor men generally are fortified
against attack from the temperance
| folk.
More Than Half the South Dry.
Reports rejecting accurately the
present stage of the prohibition move
ment in the south show that more
than half the south's territory is "dry"
absolutely, and that in the remaining
| area listed as wet the sale of intox-
| icants is upon restricted sale. 1t Is
| evident that the cities are the only
remaining strongholds for the saloons,
and it is unlikely that this condition
will be modified, except through a
radical change in political thought,
| through failure to enforce the laws
against the linquor traffic, failure to
| solve the problem growing out of de-
| ficits in county, municipal and state
| treasures from loss of the whisky
tax, or inability to cope with the IL
| licit sale of whisky, and, perhaps,
| other obstacles which follow in the
wake of prohibition.
Georgia Is Experimenting.
Georgia now holds the center of the
stage and for a year has been expert
menting on what is strictly near
| prohibition" law in that it forbids the
| sale of liquors containing more than
| four per cent. of alcohol. Statewide
| prohibition laws become effective on
January in North Carolina, Alabama
and Mississippi, in each of which a
majority of counties had heretofore
prohibited the sale of liquor. Prohi-
| bitiOn advocates in Louisiana have
| suspended their fight to test the new
| Gay-Shattuck law for the regulation of
| the liquor traffic, which also becomes
operative January 1. The anti-saloon
people say they will be content if this
law is enforced rigidly.
Tennessee is the chief center of in
| terest among the other states where
statewide prohibition fights are in
| progress. The prohibitionists assert
that a statewide bill will pass the leg
islature which they expect to organize
and control. With the backing of the
state machinery, the local option
forces are equally confident that such
bill will meet defeat. Kentucky the
union, with 119 counties, has but four
in which the sale of liquor is not pro-
| hibited. Virginia presents string of
victories for the anti-saloon element,
| as prohibition now exists in 80 of the
states 100 counties.
Texas to Vote on Amendment.
In Texas, where more than half the
counties have accepted prohibition,
| the voters soon will be called upon to
vote upon constitutional amendment
for prohibition. In Arkansas two
| thirds of it's area-75 counties-is
dry" and the question of statewide
! prohibition will be presented to the
| voters for decision. Florida is partly
"dry" through local option, and like
some of the other states, the sale of
liquor principally is confined to the
cities.
The results of prohibition generally
| are cleaned from reports indicating a
| great decrease in the record of ar
rests for drunkenness, an increase in
the bank deposits of laborers, fewer
cases of wife abandonment, and a de-
( crease in criminality generally. The
| difficulty of enforcing the prohibition
| laws, however, is conceded to be one
of the chief obstacles to it's absolute
success in many states, and this phase
of the question together with a fall
ing off in revenues, is to some extent
battling to the authorities.