The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1909-03-18

The liquor interests are sending
out paid telegraph matter to the pa
pers OF this state at the present time
to show that prohibition in certain
towns in Maine is not being lived up
to and that beneath the shadow of
the court house and the chief of po-
Ices office that saloons are running
in violation of the law, and that
there is no attempt to suppress the
violators. This is presumed to have
a bearing IN the license question
which is to come up in a number of
towns in South Dakota at the coming
spring election. What might be true
in this Maine town, Ices not holl
good in Mitchell by any means. 1t
wa thought that when prohibition
went into effect in Mitchell that it
would be impossible to prevent
liquor being sold surreptitiously. and
that the alleys would be running
with booze. At the start certain
parties commenced to test the honest
fulfillment of the ordinances, and
they came to realize that the officers
of Mitchell were not to be played
with, nor would they wink at a vio-
lation of the law. 1t is possible chat
some Bookkeeping is being carried
on, although the parties are not
nearly so bold about it after several
offenders have been sent to Jail and
made to pay heavy fines. Bootlegging
has come to be a disreputable busi-
ness in Mitchell, and we have to
thank the city administration and
the police officers for the splendid
enforcement of the law. 1t is rather
q queer situation at times about the
enforcement of the liquor law. Men
will wink at its violation, will even
participate in 1t, and would not give
any evidence tending to criminate an
individual for selling some booze on
the sly. Yet these same men would
not stand by and see another steal
a horse, break into a business build
ing or pick another mans pocket
without giving an alarm and raising
q great fuss about it. We cannot see
any difference in the enforcement of
the prohibition law than any other
law on the statute books. 1t is en-
titled to the same respect and to the
same enforcement. Some criticism is
offered because men are employed
to watch for violations of the prohi-
bition law, and so much attention
should not BE paid to it and to the
exclusion of other laws. Doubtless
that might be true. 1t can be compar-
ed to a situation where for a suc-
cession of nights running through q
period of several months hat some
petty thieving is going on and peo-
pie are losing valuable articles. I'm
der these circumstances private de-
tectives would be used to discover
the guilty parties and put a stop to
the violation. The same thing eX-
lists at the present time. Certain
parties seem determined to sell liquor
in violation Of the law. and some
private work has got to be done in
order to show them hat the viola
ton of this law will not go in this
city. When that point is thoroughly
established there will be less viola
tion-and we think hat the point
has been pressed home sufficiently in
the past nine months to indicate that
1t will not do to sell liquor in viola
ton of the ordinances of this city
and the laws of the state. The ex-
cellent enforcement Of the prohibi-
ton law in the past nine months has
been the means of drawing consider
able additional support against H.
cense in Mitchell. The vast improve
ment in the city has been marked In
this time. There have been less un.
pleasant features on lower Main
street, and the atmosphere down that
way has been much improved, and
we believe the men doing business
down that way appreciate it to a
marked extent. Certain it is that
people a pass through that block
which has always been infested with
saloons without the feeling of being
subjected to things that were not OF
a pleasant nature. There are many
other reasons why 1t is to the best
interests of. Mitchell to keep the IL
censed saloon, out Of community
and which will be presented more
fully later.
There is a lot of work ahead for