The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1908-10-03
KANSAS COHNENT
LIFE IN A DRY TOWN


The author of this has written much
tommyrot at divers times in defense or
the superstition that it is a great blow
to town to deprive it of it's cherished
saloons, and thus lose that revenue"
which Is regarded as essential to the
maintenance of schools; and the only
excuse that he can offer is that he
believed what he said.
However. years residence in dry
town has knocked the underpinning
from good many ancient beliefs and
prejudices.
1t has been a long time since En-
porfa mas enjoyed the inest1ma bic
blessing OF a saloon revenue. For sew
eral years Emporia has paved couple
OF streets each summer; this summer
the contractors have had their outfits
at work, and when the snow flies there
VIII be two or three miles OF fine new
brick pavement.
1t is the general belief that the
town that has to pike along without
saloons is always on its uppers and
has to grind the faces of the people
by way of taxes. Well, the people of
Emporia don't look much like the vic
tins of ruthless tyranny. They have
fine homes, or are building fine homes,
and they still have a few bucks left to
blow in for automobiles and other
trinkets. 1t would be good for some of
friends who view with alarm when
prohibition is mentioned, if they could
take ride through little old Empory
some fine evening and see the really
imposing residences now being built;
not two or three of them; not dozen
or SO; but more than a hundred. And
the people building these homes are
the salt of the earth; men OF SUBS
lance, who have made the town their
abiding place, to educate their chill
dren in and to end their days in; and
one chief reason why they choose the
town is that booze traffic has no foot
ing within the city limits. Emporia
is the picture of prosperity and peace
and happiness.
The old boyle of heavy taxation in
| prohibition communities has done
much service and has scared good
| many, but when all is said and done,
| it is only boyle.
The favorite argument against pro-
hibition is that it can't be enforced;
and it is customary, in trying to DEM
onstrate the truth of the argument, to
point the finger of ccorn at certain
| Kansas towns which have had some
| experience with joints and bootleggers,
and whose police court dockets record
many cases of drunkenness. 1t Is
| true that there are Kansas towns with
| joints. notably Leavenworth; it is also
true that the jointists there are going
| out of business as fast as they can,
after a losing fight of many months,
which has put a good many OF them in
| Jail and ruined the rest of them
Walt Mason, of the Emporia Gazette.
WHEN THINGS GO WRONG.
! 1t Is easy enough to smile when
things go right but he is fool who
smiles when things go wrong. A man
| should hide his sorrows but the man
who is just as happy when he ought to
be unhappy as he is when he has a
right to be happy is a born idiot. The
man who deserves credit is the man
who forces things to come right. He
ought not to be expected to keep on
| smiling He ought to be allowed to
set his jaws on his back teeth and
determine to do his best when the
sun begins to smile again. We are
believer in the doctrine of smiling
but we hate to see man who does
not take things seriously.-Lawrence
| Journal.