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The Columbus journal. (Columbus, Neb.) 1874-1911, 1908-07-29
L. Il. PHILLIPS, ATTORNEY.

Girard, Kan, July Is, 1908. Mer-
chants and Manufacturers associa-
ton. Gentlemen-Replying to your
favor of June Sd relative to the work
ings of the Prohibitory Liquor Law,
I will say that the way the matter is
now handled, it amounts to almost a
farce. This is largely due to the way
the county and city officials handle
the matter
In this county, I presume there are
at least one hundred saloons. They
run night and day. Sundays included.
There has never been a time since the
liquor law was enacted that 1t hasn't
been sold in this county. It is worse
now than 1t was some years ago.
Very truly yours. L. H. Phillips.
The Columbus journal. (Columbus, Neb.) 1874-1911, 1908-07-29
HOW " HIT MOBILE TAXPAYERS


The last session of the Alabama le,
islaturo enacted a law providing 70,
statewide prohibition, to take efec,
in January. 1909. 1t is too soon. O,
course. to get facts showing whether
or not the new law has injured bust
ness or impaired property values; but
It is not too soon to gather facts from
Alabama showing that the TAXPAYER al
ready feels the effect of the new Doll
cy. This is shown by the following
extract from a letter written by III.
secretary of the Mobile Chamber Of
Commerce, under date of June 18th Il
the Merchants and Manufactures. a,
ISOLATION at Omaha. 1t reads as fol
laws:
by act Of legislature long year:
ago, Mobile county was allowed 10 Us.
the liquor licenses in support of he,
schools in exchange for government.
building sites. The first act of our
legislature last year gave the right o.
local option. but at the extra call q!
the legislature, state prohibition was
forced through. This will leave the
school system of the county after the
first Of January. 1909. with a large de
felt. and to make up this, a special
vote was taken two weeks ago TO Day
an additional tax of one mill. but the
voting returns show that the extra -ay
was lost; SO that our school term mus:
either be much shortened. or the sal
aries Of all teachers reduced below
living wage. This effect on our
schools has caused more heartaches
than anything else so far
NOte-If Nebraska ever adopts pro
the salaries of school teach
ers will be reduced all over the state
and the term Of school will be short
ened for lack Of funds. thus depri,ing
children of needed instruction.
The Columbus journal. (Columbus, Neb.) 1874-1911, 1908-07-29
FOR BETTER ENFORCEMENT.
Hundreds 81 Business Men Hav. Jolnea
the Merchants' and Manufacturers
Association Unoer the Following
Conditions

AS business men and taxpayers We
iavOr the movement to form an Ass0cia-
tion OF Merchants and Manufacturers fol-
the purpose Ct adopting measures l.
bring about a better enforcement OF the
Slocumb liquor license law Throughout
the state-a law making il optional with
the people of a town or city TO say
whether or not LIQUOR shall be so.t We
believe the said law has been o. great
benefit to the state and that there. e4tn b-
not better means for regulating the sale
of lntoxicants- We stand for its strict
enforcement We join this association
with the understanding that no disriIer
brewer. liquor dealer or saloon keeper Is
eligible TO membership. Our object Is
70 protect property interests from the "
e6ects Of unwise Legislation
The Columbus journal. (Columbus, Neb.) 1874-1911, 1908-07-29
c0mDalgn.

The upshot Of the Vnole movems,,
throughout the South = that the a.,
lightenment which comes from ac,r,,
experience Is educating the voters :
a knowledge of the fact that the onlv
practical means for controlling n.
liquor traffic is through the enactman,
Of laws similar to the SlOcumb license
local option law of Nebraska said -
be the best law for the control Of The
liquor traffic ever written.
The Columbus journal. (Columbus, Neb.) 1874-1911, 1908-07-29
FROM KANSAS
BUSINESS MEN
Thy Explain Why Prohibition in
that State Is a Dismal
Failure
m m naana0sa.0 IN nll0aauPoo
II IS DlMA6IRG TO BUSINESS
ewing b The Right Of Prohibition, I'm.
migration inte Kansas IN a Years
Las Deea Less Numerically
than lie Birth Rate.

The Anti-Saloon League in state con
vention at Hastings laid plans for con
Quoting q campaign In Nebraska Res
olutions were adopted declaring the
league to be in favor of every meas
ore looking to statewide prohibition
The agents Of the league were in.
structed to work for what they call
county option" County prohibition)
n the most practical means of attain
ing state prohibition.
A publication said to be the Official
organ of the Anti-Saloon League, in
Its issue Of July. 1908, said: I'VE must
have the county law to demonstrate
the value of prohibition in its larger
division before We can hope to win
the state" Superintendent Palmer of
the Anti-Saloon League in Minnesota,
recently said: We favor ultimate pro-
hibition by the state, but county op-
ION IL the nat9eal step thereto" d..
p. A. Baker, nabonai superintendent 0f
the Anti-saled& league, said: state
and national psotlDslion is the ulti-
mate object Of lie league"
The only active work being done
in Nebraska today to attain state pro-
hibition = that performed by the
active, paid agents of the AntiSaloon
League. They are travelling the state
getting signers to petitions to the
next legislature praying for a law pro-
viding for what they term county op-
t1on," but which, in fact, is county
prohibition-there being no elemen,
Of option in it.
These facts are not disputed. The
action Of the league is forcing the sup
porteRs Of the Slocumb local license
law to take steps In its defense. This
law has been on the books since 1887,
and IL regarded as the best law for
the control of the liquor traffic ever
Writtea. Many states have copied it.
Since the sole aim of the Anti
Saloon League il to attain statewide
prohibition. 1t il necessary for the sup
Dorters OF the Nebraska license law
TO ascertain the facts attending the
operation Of prohibition laws in other
states. This is why the Merchants
and Manufacturer association of
The Columbus journal. (Columbus, Neb.) 1874-1911, 1908-07-29

starting up and securing liquor PEI
mits under which liquors were dis
pensed under the provision of the
Druggists Permit Law,-the violations
of which law became so numerous that
1t resulted In all druggists permits
being revoked. The result Of this con-
dition is, that the police court records
show a very large per cent of drunk
enness, and this Is only attributable
to one soIrce-that of bootlegging.
These conditions cause the writer to
express an opinion that the prohibitory
law is not effective In the cities: how
ever, there has been no appreciable
decrease in the rentals Of business
buildings Not being familiar with the
Slocumb law. I would be at q loss
to venture an opinion regarding X.
However, I believe the consensus Of
opinion among the business fraternity
here would favor the adoption of
local option law.-Very respectfully,
J. p. Casey.
The Columbus journal. (Columbus, Neb.) 1874-1911, 1908-07-29
Veteran Editor Says Prohibition Puts
Premium on Hypocrisy.

vSsSsS" eoSt0T DAYS Pronoootoon POto
Premium on Hypocrisy.
Hon. d. R. Streeter, editor of the
Emmons County Record, published .:
Linton. North Dakota. was requested
to describe the effect of the policy of
prohibition upon the people of that
state, wherein he has published a
paper for twenty-four years. Under
date of April 20, 1908, Mr.. Streeter
writes as follows:
Replying to your circular. permit
me to say that we have had constitu-
tfonal prohibition in the state for
eighteen years. In some parts of the
state the law is reasonably well en-
forced as to saloons.
South Dakota, settled BY the same
class of people as North Dakota
that is. the same class of native-born
and foreign-born. German Russians
and Scandinavians being the bulk of
these from across the sea-had statu-
tory prohibition several years, and
then. after giving 1t q fair trial. threw
it aside some years ago through the
medium Of the referendum. returning
to license by . majority of several
thousand. I had occasion in the win
ter Of 1905 and again In the winter Of
1907 to obtain the figures as to retail
liquor dealers licenses issued In the
two states.
Strange as It may seem. prohibit
ton In North Dakota, with less popu-
lation than her southern sister, had
and has every year for that matter
more retail liquor dealers licenses
from the federal government than the
southern twin. working under high
license laws. This II caused BY the
Iact that In epma. towns and VILLAGES
The Columbus journal. (Columbus, Neb.) 1874-1911, 1908-07-29
SITUATION IN RusnvIlLE.

ssS"sSSSO 0OSbJVISISs
Editor C. L. Mayes of the Rushville
Standard writes of the local situation
as follows:
Rushville has voted out the saloons
Tor the past two years and it has In
no way lessened the liquor traflc here.
There is not train reaches this place
but what jugs and barrels Of whiskey
or beer is brought in on 1t and class
Of people who did not drink very much
when We had the open saloon now
keep 1t By them for fear they might
want drink and not be able to get 1t.
and az q consequence. are drinking
much more than they Dill when We had
the open saloon. Hardly train goes
through to Chadron but what people
go there from here and Gordon. also
Hay Springs. and spend the time until
the midnight train comes. having
jolly time. all because they are de-
prived of the privilege at home. There
Is vast sum of money spent In this !
way which had just as we'll be kept 1T
home II the business men and other
citizens of our town would take a
broad view of the situation. 1t is also
hurting the trade of the merchants as
many farmers now send to the depart
ment stores for goods. because they
have 1t in for the business men here
who have deprived them of q chance
to drink a social glass of beer when
they come to town. We are certain that
Rushville has not been benefited by
the change. At our school meeting in
July 1t was shown that we are $538.35
in the hole, with many needed repairs
to the school building. whereas three
years ago we had $3.948.46 on hand at
the beginning Of the school year. Our
valuation has been raised. taxes in
creased and the mill levy for school !
purposes raised in two years from q
10 mill levy to Is mill levy. In spite
II the raise We are $500 short and |
here ia talk Of attempting to bond the
school district to meet the necessary
expenses Of running the school. The
Try policy has proved q failure here
or sure.
The Columbus journal. (Columbus, Neb.) 1874-1911, 1908-07-29
HUTCHINSON COMMERCIAL CLUB.

HUTCHINSON COMMERCIAL CLUB.
Hutchinson. Kan. June 2, 1908. Gen
tlemen-I will reply to your circular
letter of the 10Th ultimo by giving you
my personal views only. The writer
was travelling over northern Kansas
and southern Nebraska at the time
those states adopted the present law
applying to the liquor traffic. and he
had good chance to observe the
workings of the two plans. In Lin
coin. Nebraska. high license closed all
but three places, and by requiring ad-
vance payment of the high license and
the prohibition of screens at doors and
windows. it did away with subterfuges
and sneaking. In Kansas, on the 9TH
er hand. the effects Of the law en-
cOuraged perjury and sneaking. and
general disregard of law. In my
opinion. which has been confirmed by
the test of time, the Nebraska plan is
the best, both as a true temperance
measure and for its effects upon the
morals of the people.-YOurs truly.
L. A. Beebe.
The Columbus journal. (Columbus, Neb.) 1874-1911, 1908-07-29

way % drink which II the result Of .
dry town. and the express company
II doing q thriving business IN pack
ages which bear the outward appear
ance Of the desired liquid"
A further incentive for such ofgan>
xation was the development Of the
fact that the mail-order tramc for
vet goods and merchandise shipped
into Blair has increased enormously
since that town adopted the dry policy
last spring. On reliable authority It
Is stated that the number Of post
Office money orders going to points
outside of Nebraska has increased
since April first at q ratio Of twenty.
i've to one. and the express money
orders issued In Blair have increased
in about the same proportion. All this.
Of course. Is apart from the large mum.
Der of orders sent by the farmers of
Washington county to catalogue
houses-the greater number of these
farmers declining to 60 to Blair to-
trade except when 1t Is absolutely
necessary. The net result il the out
put Of a large amount of money every
month which hitherto was spent
among the merchants of Blair. who Of
course must pay the same amount Of
taxes and rental rates as formerly. I'M
addition to this state Of things Is the
forfeiture of $4,000 per annum in H.
cense money which must be made up|
by additional taxatiOn-the burden
falling upon the responsible property
owners and business men Of Blair. This
comes at an inOppOrtune time to Blair,
which Is now in debt several th0us-
ands of dollars for current expenses.
there being registered municipal war
rants In the sum of $1,000. which. by |
the way.is the first batch Of registered
known to the municipal his |
tory of that town, since all claims |
against the city were previously paid |
without the necessity of is-
suing the city's l. o. US in the shape /
Of warrants.
In view of these untoward facts, the
of Blair found 1t necessary
to organize for concerted action I'm
support of a movement the object Of
which Is to secure relief from hurtful
conditions which have never before
obtained In that city.
The Columbus journal. (Columbus, Neb.) 1874-1911, 1908-07-29
Ess TIDE OF SOUTHERN Pro.
Al9ITlON.

1t would seem that the strength Of
the prohibition movement in southern
states had begun to wane. The revolt
OF the business men of Georgia agains,
the provisions of the prohibitory Law
which went into effect In that state
last January. owing to the consequent
loss Of business. had its logical effec,
In the nomination of Joe Brown for
governor. 1t had its effect upon the
voters Of Florida. also. In the latter
state. In June, the voters were forced
by the Anti-SalOon League to choose
between the policy Of local option and
that Of prohibition. Returns show
the localoption party won by decisive
majority.
So 1t is in Louisiana, where the f..
sues were identical with those in Flor.
Ida. the legislature having voted down
the bill for statewide prohibition and
reamrmed the faith of the people of
louisiana In the policy of the license
local option system. No doubt the
decisive action OF the Louisiana leRis.
lature was in a measure due to the
nasco In Oklahoma. where. a. eyery.
body knows. the people last year At
the ballot box adopted the policv ~
statewide prohibition; but like
Georgia. Oklahoma discovered that
the policy WAS Injurious to business.
and failed to keep liquor from the
olack man as 1t was intended to do
This is Why Oklahoma discarded n
ana adopted the dispensary svstem
like that Of South Caroline
which has been partially succession IN
keeping whiskey out Of the hands q,
the blacks. while 1T the same tine nor.
hitting the white men to get al the n.
qaor they want. The auditor Of the
worth Carolina dispensary saS, in ri
recent letter that the DISPENSE avs.
tenn abolished the saloon At conr,,
cross roads. thereby deprivin- ~
black man Of easy access TO fortv.ros
.hiskey. The auditor says fur,ne,
nat the dispensary does not not .,aI
never has lessened the total .mo,..
y liqour consumed in North Carcl,r.
me latest and most important f.i,r-.
u the prohibition policy In the son,s
'as that Of Tennessee. The -s.",.
1as most decisive. The ieeu. -.
oaned BY the leading oen Of the .,.,.
nd made paramount q ths ,.....
The Columbus journal. (Columbus, Neb.) 1874-1911, 1908-07-29
coFFgYvlLLE CHAMBER OF COM.
MERGE.

Co6eyville, Kan, June 1, 1905. Gen.
uemen-This will acknowledge receipt
of ~our favor of the o9th, addressed to
the secretary of the Citizens CONNER.
cial club, containing quotation re-
ceived from the editor of a paper 1t
Kimball, Nebraska, relative to the
effectiveness of the Kansas prohibi.
tory law. The letter as quoted, as a
general proposition. about covers the
ground. and any opinion on this sub.
ject will naturally be of a personal
character. So far as the strict enforce
ment In the state of Kansas in the
larger towns is concerned, I believe
1t is conceded to be an absolute fail.
ure; while in the rural towns It is
said to be effective. As q matter of
fact, in this city some six years ago
there were q number Of first-class
saloons running wide open. paying a
revenue to the city Of from $50 to
500 per month. This had the effect
Of raising the rentals of business
property to an abn0rmally high point,
but had very little. IL any. effect upon
property. During the past
two years there have been no saloons
In this city. but they were replaced 10
= considerable extent By drug stores
The Columbus journal. (Columbus, Neb.) 1874-1911, 1908-07-29
A NEBRASKA OBSERVER.

Kimball, Neb., May %, 1908. Gen
tlemen-The little town in which
lived in Kansas was what was termed
wet" town. For many years we had
two joints, operated under the fine
levy system. Every month the marshal
arrested the joint keepers for selling
liquor illegally. and they paid fine
Of $50 and costs per month. A preach
er came along and put them out of
business. After that there was more
drunkenness, and the formerly good
town became dead. The large number
Of farmers who formerly came to town
went to other places With the open
saloon the "city dads" of whom I was
one. could control the sale of liquor,
close the places on Sunday and at II
o'clock p. m, and at any time regulate
them and say who should not get
liquor. After they were closed. the
bootleggers got busy, and we never
could in any case lay our finger on
the culprit. More than that, our
streets soon showed the effects of cut
ting of the license revenue-$1,2 200 a
year. The city went in debt, and IS
in debt today. although the same
amount of liquor is consumed. I live
in dry" town now and am not q user
of liquor. but I would much rather see
a saloon run under proper control
than a drug store or bootlegger under
no control at all. In Topeka, the
capital city Of Kansas, there is more
liquor sold by drug stores than one
would imagine. was q delegate in
the Republican state convention which
nominated Governor Hoch U'm
ashamed of it, and in nearly every
block on Kansas avenue there were
from one to six drug stores. all Of
which sold liquor and paid no license,
and many Of them had bars in the
back room. The worst hell-hole in
Topeka was in the g. Hotel, the
headquarters of both parties and I
actually saw men fighting to get stand
ing room at a dirty bar where stale
beer was dished up In shiny glasses as
fast as four men could draw it. These
things make one sick of prohibition
which does not now, nor never did,
prohibit. worked on the State Regis
ter in Des Moines, Iowa. when that
state had prohibition. and saw the
same conditions. I know these things
from personal observation, as l used
to drink some myself-Very respect
fully, R. d. Wilson, Editor.
p. S.-The fact simmered down il
this: Whether we shall have the Slo-
cumb law as 1t now stands and the |
license money in our treasures, or
the same amount Of liquor
is used and the money all go to the
seller. The drinking man will drink,
40 matter what the Law. Isn't it bet
ter that a part Of his spendings do
some good to the public. and isn't It
better that the fellow who sells it to
him be refused the right to give him
more than he should have?
IN NORTH DAKOTA.
The Columbus journal. (Columbus, Neb.) 1874-1911, 1908-07-29
A RAID ON THE SCHOOL MONEY

Leading men of the Anti-Saloon
League in Massachusetts, confidently
predict that the legislature will enact
a law taking all revenues from H.
cense out of the local school districts
and transferring such funds to the
state treasury.
A circular. issued by the league in
support of its contention. quotes the
decision of the Massachusetts supreme
court. t0-wit:
THAT while the question of grant
ing licenses in any state or town Is
determined by the vote Of the inhabi.
tants thereof. still. the license is grant.
ed by the state. Under this decision.
the license tax ia a state tax. and the
license money Is the states money"
ETC.
BY the terms Of this bill. license
money now derived from the liquor
trafic In wet towns would go into the
common fund. and be apportioned on
the basis Of population. alike to dry
and wet towns. This would mean that
would 60 to help maintain the schools
Of dry towns in Nebraska.
The injustice of this scheme is 80
apparent that 1t need not be dwelt I'D
on. The only basis for the conten-
ton Of the league in Massachusetts,
10 the fact that such license fees are
authorized by act of the legislature,
a. they are In Nebraska. and In that
sense, the license fee may be regis |
tered as state tax.
No doubt this movement of the |
League is popular in the |
rural districts where there are no |
and where schools must he /
II such a law could be
in Nebraska. 1t would, of
compel the school districts IN
cities and towns where liquor is sold
under license to divide the money
among school districts in the country
where saloons do not exist. This
scheme would have a peculiar charm
% the rural voter. but 1t does not take
much discernment to see that 1t would
nit the taxpayer of cities and towns
between the eyes.
The Columbus journal. (Columbus, Neb.) 1874-1911, 1908-07-29

Winfield, Kan, June 8. 1908. Gentle
NERVE acknowledge receipt of
yours of the 10Th. The ex-Kansan
gives you about the correct informa-
ton as to the working of the prohibi-
tory law. yet we believe the drug
stores and the joint proposition are
better than the open saloons in Kan
sas. The objection we had with open
saloons in our town was that they
occupied the most prominent loca-
tons we had. While we believe that
the rent values were higher here when
they were running than they are at
the present time, as a whole We do
not believe the change affects the
value of real estate.-Yours truly,
Business Mems association, o. H.
Bevis. President.
Americus times-recorder. [volume] (Americus, Ga.) 1891-current, 1908-04-11
PROPOSED TO ABOLISH
CANAL COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D. c., April 10
(SpeciaD -The' Panama Canal Com
mission is abolished and the Canal
Zone placed in charge of a governor,
to be appointed by a commission, in a
bill made the subject of hearing be-
fore the House Committee on Inter
state and Foreign Commerce yester-
day.
In addition to providing a perma-
nent government for the Canal Zone,
much like that existing in the Terri
tories of the United States, the bill
extends our whole judicial system to
Panama. Some months ago a man
who was tried for murder without a
jury on the isthmus was sentenced
to be hanged. The case has been
appealed to the Supreme Court. Since
then the President has extended trial
by jury to the Canal Zone
The case was cited by Mr.. Rogers in
support of the canal government bill,
which provides that the Isthmian
Canal Commission shall cease to ex-
list on July 1, 1908, and directs the
President to place in charge of the
work on the isthmus one chief engi-
neer of the Panama Canal and Canal
Zone, and one governor of the Canal
Zone.