The national prohibitionist. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1907-1911, 1908-02-27
THE NATIONAL PRoHIB1T1oN1sT
THAT KNOXVILLE FAILURE"

lT1preSSeS
pie of That City-Newspapers on
the Situation
KNOXVILLE, Tenn, February 15-( Special cor
respondence).-The representations made by
writer for the Chattanooga Times in his series of
articles on the results of Prohibition in Knox
vile, receive another severe jolt in the statement
and figures supplied by Chief of Police w. P
Chandler of this city, in article published in
the Knoxville Sentinel this evening. Among
other things Mr. Chandler criticized the article
published in the Times in that it did not attempt
to give both sides of the question. The chief of
police says
"The writer of these articles had free access
to the records of the police department we'll as
those of the city recorder, the criminal court
clerk and justices of the peace He never asked
me for word or figure, but had he done so I
would gladly have given them to him correctly.
"In comparison for the three months just
passed he could have learned the following:
Total Drunk
Arrests November, December and
January wet .1,O45 649
Arrests November, December and
January dry ................... 594 296
"On the books of the city comptroller just
across the hall from that of the recorder ne could
have learned that Knoxville never in any one year
received over $22 900 as liquor license and this,
with the ad valorem, did not bring it up to $685.,
900. He used the figures several times as being
100000 loss of revenue. Any third grade boy in
the Knoxville city schools could tell you that 112
saloons paying 5000 a year did not produce
100000 revenue to the city
Again to illustrate the one sidedness of the
write up, he speaks of the great reduction in real
estate and the many empty houses. Signs
were not hung out For Rent 112 buildings
November 1, as stated. The fact is as many will
recall, there only about htty saloons that
ran through October and [ would like for any
man to point out as many as SIX business houses
in Knoxville now for rent.
During the past month didn't former saloon
man himself renew the lease on his building, a
double one, for five years, at $500 month
did not another former saloonist take ninety
nine year lease on a Gay street corner store,
part of which was used as saloon, but which
never vacant day
"The statement made by the Times that liquor
was being sold in Knoxville was true. He said,
however. that it is reported that so and SO can
be bought here and there. He never said that he
succeeded in getting any or that he any
else do so. Had he merely gone to the criminal
court clerks office he could have gotten 1nd1sput-
able facts and evidence that sales of liquor had
been made since November l. In this office he
could have had the records of thirteen convictions
and as many as fifteen other indictments. AS
many as six of the convictions came from the up
town soft drink stands. One place in particular,
mentioned in the Times, where the branch express
office is located, an employe stands convicted in
two cases, one year sentence and $500 hne and
has appealed to the supreme court. In another,
perhaps the largest, soft drink stand in Knoxville
the proprietor and every employe is indicted from
two to four times EACH
Today the Knoxville Journal also, in answer to