Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1909-12-28
Practical Testimony on Prohibition

An occasional correspondent OF the
Democrat In Nebraska, easily recognized
by many by the initials; III. E. n. A., -"
which appear under her contributions,
sends the Democrat copy OF the Ne
braska State Journal, published in Lin
coin, Nebraska, which contains two ad-
dresses of much interest on the question
of prohibition against license. One OF
the addresses was given by Mayor Love
of the city of Lincoln at Sunday after
noon meeting. The other was made by
Judge Tibbets at meeting OF the Bap-
fist brotherhood.
Both addresses are too long for repro
duction in these columns, but there Is
substantial agreement in the testimony
they give. Up to last spring Lincoln
had been under high license, the license
fee being $1,000. and there being about
twenty-five saloons. Last spring the
city "went dry" and the two addresses
cited are an analysis of the results Of six
months of prohibition. Both speakers
have made investigation of the subject
besides such general knowledge az comes
to them in the Course of their tfficial
duties.
There was no evidence that prohibition
hurt business" The buildings former
ly rented for saloons have all been taken
for other business, and are in general in
better condition than before.
The number of arrests for drunken
ness has decreased only slightly. 1t is
however the testimony of the police, as
| we'll as fact generally known, that a
large part of the arrests are made at the
cars coming from a Deighboring town
which has license, and the police are
much more strict in their definition of
"drunk" than they were under license,
arresting many now who would be let
alone under license.
One of the most important points
made by the mayor was in relation to
the difficulty of enforcing the law, and
his testimony is not pleasing to those
who insist that prohibitory law is i'm
possible of enforcement. The mayor
says, and he says it emphatically, and
backs it up with evidence, "The pro-
hibitory law has been enforced better
here in the past six months than the
license law was ever enforced"
Our correspondent says Of the matter:
1.-THE licensed saloon does not by any
means do away with places where liquor
is sold without license. That the saloon
itself is always and every where a law
breaker, not even its supporters will
deny. Aud for this reason, at least in
Nebraska, wherever the sentiment in
favor of license is strong enough to
secure the establishment OF saloon,
there is usually so much indifference
among the people as to whether 1t is run
according to law or not, that the saloon
keeper has long rope and can easily
evade every provision OF the law that
would lessen his profits If he observed
them. This is especially true OF the
smaller towns where there is no police
force. 1t has been the long continued
and shameful violations of our license
law that have at last aroused every one
that could be aroused, to oppose the
saloon, and have brought recruits from
all parties to our Anti-Saloon League,
till it has now become powerful work
ing force in our state.
"If some honest Maine resubmission-
list, seeing how the prohibitory law is
violated in the cities and larger villages,
has really believed system of strict
regulation of liquor sales would be more
effective than prohibition, he should
have lived few years in Nebraska and
seen how beautifully regulation has
regulated our saloons.
NOW, when such tide of prohibition
sentiment is sweeping over the South
and large portions of the West, and one
state after another is adopting state
wide prohibition, it would seem passing
strange if any movement for resubmis-
sion could ever again be made in the
good old Pine Tree State"