Evening star., 1908-01-14
REGARDED AS FIXTURE
Prohibition in Kansas EVIDENT
Iy There to Stay.
JAILS USUALLY VACANT
Only Helpless Old Men and Women
in Poorhouse.
SENATOR CURTIS DESCRIPTION
Tells of Steady Decrease of Grim
inals as More and More of the
Saloons Were Closed.
SENATOR CURTIS DESCRIPTION
BY WILLIAM z. CT RTIS.

south has had no effect in Kansas said
Senator Charles Curtis of that state in an
swer to my inquiry. I'VE have had 1t so
| long and so many attempts to repeal the
prohibitorv clause i'm our constitution have
! failed that it is universally regarded as
fixture with u.s. and the enforcement of
| the law is a matter of local sentiment en-
tirely
.Twenty-eght years ago the constitution
| of Kansas was amended so as to prohibit
the sale of liquor except for medicinal,
mechanical and scientific purposes. and
| laws were enacted by the legislature fix
ing penalties for it's violation. At first the
penalty was not more than $500 fine or i'm
prisonment for not more than ninety days
and for several years no violator of the
law was punished except by fines. That
did not have much effect upon the liquor
| traffic. Saloons were maintained openly
| i'm pretty nearly all the large towns and
the cities. The proprietors were arrest
i ed periodically and brought into court and
| convicted and paid their fines. which were
much smaller than the ordinary license
| fee for liquor selling in other states. The
number of arrests and convictions and
| the amount of the fines depended entirely
upon the disposition of the prosecuting Of
| ficers and the courts. and their policy was
usually governed by public sentiment.
| option. Ii the majority of the people of
| a city wanted the law enforced they elect
cd officials who would enforce it. and vice
versa. The enforcement of the liquor law
was an issue in all local campaigns, and
candidates for ONCE were selected because
| they were for or against IT.
Effect Of Jail Penalty.
But even where the law was enforced
the penalty was not adequate, and about
| ~ tote
secured an amendment 10 the law which
fixed 800 as the minimum fine. and COM
PEELED the courts to send an offender to
Jail for at least thirty days in addition
to the fine; while $500 and ninety days
/ in jail were the maximum. This amend
1 ment was effective. Liquor sellers who
were not afraid of fines would hesitate
a long time before they would render
! themselves lie BILE to month in Jail. Only
a few would take the risk.
] "The law was tested in every way. Test
suits were brought on all kinds of pre-
| texts but 1t was finally sustained by the
| supreme court. and the efforts of the
-prohibtionsts, or the resubmlsSlon-
| lists. as we call those who want the con-
stitutional amendment resubmitted to
7 r3;t III the people. only strengthened the
prohibition sentiment had upon
..e. Numerous legislatures were
/ .;a. "a On that issue, but the only legis-
ation that has been or could be passed
1
| stronger and easier to enforce. And its
| enforcement has become more and more
general, and the prosecutions have grown
more and more effective throughout the
| entire state.
| in some places county attorneys have
been compelled to secure injunctions from
the courts prohibiting property owners
! from renting their houses and stores to
liquor sellers. During some OF the lax
periods the attorney general OF the state
has brought custer proceedings against
| county attorneys. mayors and other Off
| Gals who would not enforce prohlbltlOn.
| Now we have law furnishing means by
which any official who refuses to prosecute
liquor selling may be removed from Of
| fee
I'm this way the enforcement of the
law has been growing more and more
within the authority of the attorney gen
| eral of the state. indirectly, by giving
| him ju isdiction over local officials who
| are naturally governed by public senti-
| ment and he, having been elected by the
| entire voting population of the state, rep
| resents the sentiment at large rather than
1 that of any particular locality. l think
| may be said that the law has always
been enforced in the country districts and
| IN the small towns. There are grown
men in the state of Kansas who havi
neve- seen a saloon, although | am sure
| there is none who has not seen a loco
| nodc in the cities.
Enforcing the Laws.
! Before / was elected county attorney
at Topeka l had been for several years
acting as attorney for the whisky men.
| | was nominated on an anti-proh ion
ticket and stood on a platform which
| recommended the resubmission o., the con-
| stitutional Amendment to the people But
| / was pledged to enforce the law, and
| after my election / began prepa -ations to
| do So There were then eighty-seven sa-
| looms in the city of Topeka. 1t had been
| customary to prosecute the little Offenders
| convict the strongest men and the grand
| jur~ returned Jos Ind ctments the first
| term of court after 1 was sworn in. The
| first man | convicted was the richest and
| most prominent liquor dealer in Topeka
| He was found guilty on seven counts by
a jury composed of five prohibtionsts
| and seven men who were outspoken re-
| submissionists, but were like the rest of
| our people, In favor of the enforcement
| of all laws We tried seventeen or eigh-
| teen of the moe conspicuous saloon keep
frs and convicted every one of them
| Then the smaller ones all came in and
| pleaded guilty. The court was compelled
/ to suspend sentences because the Jail was
so full that 1t would not hold any more
| Since that time the law has been
very generally enforced in Topeka" con-
| tinued Senator Curtis "and there have
been no saloons, but ii has been evaded
| more or less all the time. and the detec-
| tives have been kept busy watching
| suspicious people. There has been
good deal of drugstore business. Men
| lave had blind tigers in rooms Of pri-
vate houses, with closets to which their
customers could go and help them
| selves. Grocers and other storekeepers
| have had speaking tubes and lifts by
which liquor couiu be brought up from
/ the cellar or down from room above
One man had secret room in his cell
lar, the entrance to which looked like
the front of refrigerator: another had
bottles of whisky kept in bread pans in
| his stove: another had jugs hanging in
| his cistern from cords which his Gus
toners could hoist up and help them
| selves. The 'boot-legger' is man who
peddles whisky by the bottle. He goes
about town visiting places where men
are employed and serves them from a
bottle concealed on his person.
| ''Drummers go through the state TAX
ing orders for Kansas City liquor
houses and ship their packages by ex-
| press on what is called the jug train
A large express business is done with
all the neighboring cities and it is diff
cult to prevent that without congress
sional legislation.
Attitude of the Government.
AT first the internal revenue officials
would not give the state officers any
assistance and would secretly issue
licenses to sell liquor. but Congress has
since passed an act making the workings
| of the internal revenue bureau public, SO
that the prosecuting officers always
know who have licenses to sell liquor
in the state and are able to watch them