The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-12-28

Kentucky the home of sBourbon" whiskey. and the second largest distiIi.
 ins state in the country. has been foro-
 ca into the "neAr prohibition" column
 oecsuse of the activity of local option ieaoers Kentucky, with its 11e cpun-
 ties, has only four in which the sale Of
 wniskey ts not prohibited by law.
 Ninety-thres counties are totally 'dry" so Tar as the sale of liquor within their borders fs concerned. and twenty-one
 are partially dry. A recent local option election placed another whiskey strong hold on the dry" list.
 The work of the temperance people In Kentucky is by no means an inno- vation. Six years ago sixty-ive coun- tes were without saloons. The four counties now totally wet" are Nelson,
 Campbell, Kenton and Jefferson. and ln these districts the saloon forces
 have successfully combatted any att
 tempt to change the local laws. and are
 now formidable. Almost invariably
 those counties now partially dry" have as their county seats the larger cities of the State.
 A thorn in the side of the prohibi-
 tionist element is the fact that the residents of a dry county may order
 liquor in any quantity for private con- sumption from a wet" county. The anti-saioonists assert that c. O.. D. shipments approximate almost as much
 as retail trade. Suggestions of State. wide prohibition are not considered se-
 riousiy and the anti-saioonists have
 viiie and many of the other larger cities in the tidry'' column.
 virginia.s prohibition record presents
 string of victories for the anti-sa-
 loon element. Prohibition, nominal at
 least, exists In eighty of the hundred counties in the State. Upder local op- ton elections. Lynchburg. Staunton,
 Bristol charicttespiIe and other cities
 are bereft of liquor in a legal sense. and Richmond and Norfolk are re- | garded as the last remaining strong holds of whiskey's adherents.
 The anti-saloon people are now de-
 bAting whether campaign in the
 cities, or fight for Statewide prcht- bitlon. is the better method of attack. Legislation now entrusts to the cir- ! cult judges tho granting of liquor u- | cenees Stringent statutes have prac. ticaily eliminated fake clubs ana | other places where tntoxicants were II. 1 legally sold. Except fin a few counties | along the coast the country tavern has been abolished. It is regarded as cers | tain that the Issue of prohibition Will
 be injected into the next state cam | paign.
 | ties have accepted prohibition. In the Democratic primaries last July the pronoeition to submit to the vote of | the people A constitutional amendment l for prohibition, was adopted by small | majority. The Legislature which l meets next month is Democratic and an l compliancs with the will of the eonvsns tion, will present the matter 70 tnS l eninR the antis with statutory prohi- bition. The saloon interests have hs~ l aaeted that the constitutional amend. l oaant will be defeated. If the, will Of inc majority directs an election It l probably will be held next August. finder the local option law anont 1 two-thirds of Arkansas or seventy L Leye rountias are dry" and in the I iast election the prohibitIonists gained l another county. The last Democratic | State Convention carried in It's plat. \ form a proposition to submit to the l peoDie at a regular election, the aues- I tion ot Statewide prohibition. The real Tgft will be In the Lesisiatures which meets next week. Judge Asnef. l of pulaski County. recently dismissed a patltiou filed by tho Anti-Saioon l Iearue, asking the court to revoke H. l eausea Of saloons within three mlles or l q school or church. The a1iti-saloon 1 leaders contend that their petition was | In accordance with the law, while the ! saloon people regard the dectslon 1S 2 1 victory. The case will be appealed 70 a higher court.
 | The prohibition wave also has been 1 keenly felt in Florida. q majority of | ths counties of the State having voted l out the saloons. The principal cities l of the stata--Jacksonville Tampa and l Key West--sre fortified aGainst any att l tack from the temperance folk. Most I of the counties where the sale Of iri- l toxicants is prohibited. went on the | dry list about ten years ago when sen- l tinent against the saloon crystaiiEed 1 into a political issue. and seekers for l ofFice were elected or rejected at the ] polls upon the cause they espouaed. 1 Prohibition is not now so much of e political issue. One of the significant | results observed In some of the prohi- l hItion counties is the existence of "blind tigers and Illicit shops and the 1 c, O. D. shipments of liquor to pri- 1 vate consumers. Jacksonville rivals l Chattanooga as distributor of liquor | throughou the South.
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