The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1909-05-16
Special to The Tribune.


INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. May 15.-
Six months experience with n county
local option law III Indiana has demon
stratcd two things 10 lhc cuiiro salts.
faction Of impartial Observers:
Firsf--Coun,y local option is 3 pow
cr!ul weapon IN the hands of tho pco-
Iic who want - drive out licensed sa-
loans.
Sccuad-Couuiy local option docs
not rrchibii the salo OF liquor, except
In licensed saloons.
Radical temperance agitators are not
expected 70 agree with the second con
clusiun. bat il is n fact that the rahc
IN ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS IN WHISKY
and wine. which is less bul]ky than
beer and therefore easier haadlcd--has
been diverted into new channels from
which tho Siatc, county aud city do not
derive a penny Of revenue.
Saloons arc being wiped out by the
hundreds. Within six months fifty OF
the ninety-lwo counties have voted
under a blanket rcmoustrance law. The
craze for driving out tho saloons has
he state in q tenacious grasp, vet 1t rs
declared by men engaged IN tho salo
of liquor that their business is pros
porous,
Even the brewers are finding solace
for their losses, One prominent Indian
apolis brewer points TO dry conn,
" within an hour : ride of the capital
where moro beer is being sold than
when 1t had twelve licensed saloons.
Mail Order Liquor Houses.
The mail order liquor houses have
found gold mine III Indiana since the
saloons were driven out, aud II is SAID
hat they are sending in their paid
agents TO. help the AntiiSaloon league
win its victories. blind tigers and
bootleggcrs'' are doing flourishing
business right under the noses of the
local authorities, who either can Z stop
them or don I care TO. There are
stringent laws for the punishment ot
those who sell liquor Illegally, but It
seems that in many cases local authorl..
ties arc subject to local conditions: III
there is sentiment in favor OF Lifting
The lid, it is lifted, regardless of the
efforts Of the local option crusaders.
While the Anti-Saloon league ofh
cials assert that practically all of the
state can be made dry by Local
option elections, the experiment under
The law has not proved entirely satls~
factory The situation in Indiana Is
much the same as it is in Kentucky,
Ohio and Illinois where II is being
tried
The anti.saloon crusade in these four
important Ohio valley states has been
under n full head of steam for the last
10 he an impregnable stronghold; has
over ninety 'sdry'' counties, and the
prohihitionists arc now insisting thaC
Gov Wilson shall call special session
OF the legislature to enact statewide !
prohibition law,
In Kentucky, statewide prohibition
would kill the states greatest indus,
try and destroy property valued at
nearly $100.000.000. Yet the antl-sa'
loon crusaders are asserting that the |
legislature must act Immediately.
Dry Counties in Ohio
In Ohio many counties have been |
voted "dry,'' but he Antl-Saloon /
league has followed. the same policy
there as in Indiana of voting In the
agricultural localities first. Only lew
of thc larger cities in Ohio have been !
tackled. and the .'wets'' have lost but
onc-Sprincheld by II votes: Spring,
field voted 10y q majority of about 2O0o
,o retain the licensed saloons, but the |
fsrmcrs in the outlying townships |
rolled up cuough votes 10 overcome
the lead. Chillicothe, the last largo
Ohio city 10 vote gave we, ma
iority Of nearly 5000;
In Illinois a regular sce-saw game
has been PLAYED uuder ward ana
township local option. Many local.
tics that voted "dry" year or so
ogo arc now voting ''wet. while some !
of the ..wctH towns arc beng won by |
the "drys.'
In all of the Ohio valley states here
local option has bcen tried, II has been |
demonstrated that il is most popular
in ihc smaller counties, and especially /
in the agricultural communities. In
Indiana and Ohio. advocacy, OF the
county as a local option unit has DIS
rupted the Republican party. ONO
Republicans have lost the state twice
in the last three years because II stood
for the county unit. After holding In
diana for twelve years. the Repubil-
cans lost part Of their state ticket,
including the governor. besides losing |
a United States senator and control OF
the legislature, because they declared
for the county unit and enacted a 10,
cal option law at a special session ol
the legislature
County as Unit.
The county as unit has appealed
10 thousands of voters in ONO, lndl-
ana and Kentucky rs entirely unfair
hut the radical temperance agitators
take a different view. They can see
no impropriety in the farmers deter
Il, bnuv inp