Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1908-04-06
Prohibition in Its Fullest
Sense.

lbi IffE PRESS COMMITTEE OF THE
INTERPOLATION LEAGUEl
On the even of the election in which
II Is now assured Rock Island will
defeat the proposition to make it pro
hibition territory, and in which that
defeat will be overwhelming if every
voter goes to the polls, it is interest
ing to quote from the Saturday Even
ing Post of recent date, an article
showing that prohibition whether
called by its right name or by some
other. such as local option. is always
failure. Following is the article to
which reference is made:
prohibition is failure, beat. coun-
~, municipal, state or national-all a
failure. 1t was tried by the colonies
from Maine to Georgia and abandoned.
between 1850 and 1860 it was revived
by Maine, 1851; Vermont, 1852;
Rhode Island and Michigan, 1858;
Connecticut and New York, 1854;
New Hampshire, Massachusetts,. Mary
iand. Delaware. Ohio, Indiana, Nebras-
ka and Illinois, 1855; Kansas, 1882;
Iowa, 1884: North and South Dakota.
1889. Eighteen states adopted prohi-
bltlon and Is repudiated it after a
more or less thorough trial.
The experience of communities
which have tried local prohibition or
local option differs in no way from
that of the state which have tried pro-
nloltion. 1t has uniformly failed to
prohibit, and has brought in it's wake
Ia long train of attendant evils and
disasters. From 1890 to 1903 1858
communities have voted on the sub
JeN of local option. In $40 of these
communities local option was defeat.
ed by approximately two-thirds vote.
In the remaining 1,343 communities
local option carried by fair majorities
in the first instance. In a few of
these communities elections have been
held frequently, with results alternat-
ing between license and local optiOa
III 592 communities local option is
Inominally in force, but in few, if any,
is there any real enforcement, while
the towns have suffered severely in
many ways from the measure.
TN Isl communities, in which at
the first election local option carried,
| 1t has since been defeated, the COM
munities being satisfied by experience
that it was failure The aggregate
maioTities in favor of local option in
tall such communities at the first cleo
tion on the subject was 1O8,942 The
aggregate majorities for license in the
same communities when local option
was repudiated was 1861. Notable
among the communities adopting local
option was the city of Atlanta. In
less than two years this city saw LOO
of its houses vacant, its debt enlarged
its taxes increased, and drunkenness
more riotous than had ever before
been known. With the promptness
that the case demanded the city re-
pudiated the law in November, 1887,
by majority which left little hope oil
ever again imposing it upon her PEG
pie. Prohibition has been no more
successful in Canada than in the
United States. A few years ago a
law was passed similar to those In
force in the states of the union. and
was given a sincere and earnest trial
In April. 1889, 1t was repealed. EEery
town and. city in Canada which voted
on that day rejected prohibition. =
The Old Blue Laws Of Connecticut
Prohibition is but one step in fur
Their curtailing your liberties. BEAD
and ponder. How would you like t.
have the following proposed bill be
lcome law: Washington. April A.
There are five bills now before con
|gress relating to the proper ohaery
lance of Sunday. A sixth one Is abou
to be introduced in the house and al
lii has been fathered by the Interda
nominational association of the Dis
Itrict of Columbia, there is stslnl
possibility OF its enactment into Z ~
,tduring this session. Among othe
things 1t provides that 1t shall be IN
lawful for any person or corporatlel
10 engage in any manner upon q!
| irst day of the week. cenD6Ql