The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1909-05-10
DRY WAVE SPREADS
OVER ENTIRE
COUNTRY
Anti-SalOOn Movement Growing
in All Directions.
NOT POLITICAL PROHIBITION.
Greater Progress Being Made by Lo-
cal Option Laws-opposition
Unsuccessful

New York, May 10.-The anti-sal
Don movement has reached enormous
proportions and the dry wave is slow
ly but surely sweeping over the entire
country. This dry wave is not the
result of the prohibition political
movement, but the case has been
made effective in nearly all OF the
states by what are called anti-saloon
leagues. The movement is social and
moral instead of political and the
cause has been advanced chiefly
through local option laws. In al
most every instance the movement
has begun in remote and sparsely set
tied counties.
arious devices have been estab-
lished to check the wave and in some
cases they have been successful for
the time being, only to give way be-
fore another onward rush of the move
ment.
The dry movement shows no check
in the South and West and gradually
the wave is sweeping toward the East
and North. The only middle state
thus far that had a knockdown and
dragout fight on the question is Dele
ware. Ii was standoff, more than
half of the state going geographically
dry.
There are only half dozen states
that have what is called statewide
prohibition. These are Maine, Geor-
gia, Alabama, Mississippi, Kansas,
Oklahoma and Tennessee. The law in
the latter state, however, does not
go into effect until July l next. In
the states of Maine and Oklahoma
prohibition is constitutional, In the
others it is statutory.
While not political in origin the
movement in several states has be-
come mixed VITA politics. In Texas
the Democrats have declared for state
wide prohibition, but the Legislature
has refused to give 1t. The Republ-
cans have declared against the move
ment and the Prohibitionists say they
will go before the people.
South Carolina will be dry for two
weeks next August in an interim be-
tween the expiration of the dispen-
sary law and a vote whether that sys-
tenn will be renewed. In Arkansas
the Democrats are willing to submit
statewide prohibition to the people,
but the Prohibitionists have changed
front and demand instant statutory
prohibition The legislature has re-
fused and the formal local option pre-
walls.
In Iowa the lower House has voted
to resubmit statewide prohibition. me
Senate is trying to smother the pro-
position in committee The liquor III
terests in Nebraska have thrown their
strength to the Democrats and elect
ed that ticket in the hope of stemming
the tide.
In Oklahoma the Sons of Washing
ton. anti-prohibition, plan to use the
initiative to secure state vote on re-
healing constitutional prohibition. In
Kentucky the national model license
advocates are trying to stem the tide
and are making some Roadway, but
the bigger sweep of the dry movement
is outplacing it,
1t will probably be surprise to
most readers to know that Ohio is al
ready ninety per cent dry and that
Illinois and Indiana are running Ohio
close. 1t is the general declaration
that in Kentucky, Missouri, Ohio, In
diana, Illinois, Nebraska and Colorado
the dry laws are well enforced. Pris-
on penalties for evasions of the law
do the trick in some of these states.
In the South you can get drink al
most anywhere. Where prohibition
is strongest, Georgia, the blind tigers
are thickest. OF course, prohibition
in Maine remains the farce it always
has been, but there is a little stricter
enforcement. Vermont, which went
back from prohibition to local option,
is nearly dry, and the number of sal
oOns is decreasing every year.
One of the peculiar things develop
ed is the great increase in moonshin-
ing in Kentucky. The trade was new
er more fiourishing than now. Down
in Georgia and NTexas they have
near beer" soloons. They are really
beer saloons Georgia has begun to
license them to get revenue. In In
diana the Quaker counties have voted
wet. Several mining counties and
some where Germans are predomi-
nant among those of foreign birth
have voted dry.
On April two counties in New
York, Suffolk and Nassau on the cas-
tern end of Long Island voted for lie
ensing saloons. 1t was the first re-
cent determined contest in New York
state on what might be called a mod
erately large scale between the vets
and the drys. For the moment there
seemed to be check on the dry
wave which has been sweeping over
the country. The day before nine
teen more counties in Michigan joined
the dry column.
More than half of the City of Chi
cago is dry and another surprising
thing in that town is that the liquor
law is enforced strictly in the wet
regions.