The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-02-16
EFFECTS OF PROHIBITION < NKANSAS CITY, KANSAS


 posed of two bankers and three mer- chants. who had been appointed by the business interests of the city, came to my office and spent an entire morning presenting these arguments and beg gfng me not to enforce the law. told them that was not responsible for the acts of the Legislature. that I did not put the prohibition law on the statute books of Kansas, but had taken an oath or ofice to enforce 1t and intended to do so even if 1t made a desert of wyandotte County and turned our hourishing city back into field and for est
 T did not know what the result would be- continued Mir. Trickett. II did not know whether the city would be injured. but I had a duty to per form, and performed it to the best or py ability. For eighteen months Kansas City, Kansas, has existed witht out saloon or a gambling den or bawdy-house. The mayor, who de- clared that the saloons should run, was turned out of offfce and fined ST. OO0i we busted the chief of police and the county attorney; 500 buildings are under permanent injunction not to be used for the sale of liquor, and if thousand years from now. any indfvid. ual opens a saloon in any one of those buildings he can be punished. Fifteen hundred citizens of our town are under permanent Injunction never again 10 sell liquor in that county; more than l0O former saloon keepers are. under [ bonds to the same, effect; more than lO0 others are out on bail, with their sentences of Imprisonment suspended during good behavior, and a hundred more or banished from Kansas as undesirable citizens. Some of those exiies are saloon keeeprs who tried to evade punishment by having their wives and children tend bar. We have judge who believes that any woman who sells intoxicating liquors is an uIi- desirable citizen. When the wife of saloon keepers is convicted he promptly sentences her to six months in the county jail and fine of $500. but, stays execution provided she will leave the State, and that8 the way we have prevented women from tending bar in our saloons. We have law in Kansas which makes the man wno rents building for a saloon as guilty as the tenant who sells the liquor, and we have large number of exiles and other nonresident property owners on account of that law who are afraid 10 set foot on Kansas soiI."
 What has been the effect on busi- ness?" I asked.
 Have you heard of Kansas City. Kansas, being wiped off the map?" replied Mir. Trickett. Have you heard that Wyandotte County has become . desert? Have youlheard of any of our banks failing or any of our merchants closing their stores? Have you heard of anybody going bankrupt? On the contrary. the committee of two bank CTS and three merchants who, as I told you. icame to protest against the en- forcement of the law about two years ago, will now tell you or anybody that they were mistaken ana thar tHe abolition of liquor selling has becn of decided benefit instead of injury to the business interests of the city. They will tell you that the deposits of our banks have increased more than two million dollars since the saloons were closed and that the merchants have had to employ additional clerks to attend to, their business.
 can show you a letter from the president Of the largest bank in our city, who was a member of the com mittee that came to protest, in which he says that within one year after the whiskey Joints and gambling dens were closed his deposits increased S1,- 100000. He says in his letter: We think we nave the accounts Of more than fifty per cent of the business men of this city and have talked with large number of them about the ef- fects of the closing of the saloons on their business. With q few exceptions they have stated that they are pleased with the results. I believe this feel ing is shared by a large majority of the professional men and other intelli- gent citizens.'
 '-I can show you a letter from the of the Home City Bank say ing that it's business has increased forty-six per cent as result of the