Idaho County free press. [volume] (Grangeville, Idaho Territory) 1886-current, 1909-07-29

and passed through this city on tbei,
way to register.
Mr.. Chadwick Takes Excep-
tiOnS
Grangeville, July %, 1909
Mr.. l.. a. Wisener,
Editor Free Press
Dear SIR
Presuming that yon wish to give
your readers, many of whom are as
ardent supporters Of Local Option Cam
paign as others are opposed to it, a
fair statement Of both sides of the case.
| desire to ask you to explain some
points in your editorial of July 22, en-
titled "Wet or Dry" as follows:
1. DO you mean to insinuate that
our present three reliable drug stores
will put in "a back bar" when the
county goes dry? If you do | regard
it as an insult to Messrs. Pulse, Tur-
ner Bros. and Sheaffer, all of them
men above reproach. You say there
are many who predict "that if local
option carries Idaho county Grange
vile will have five drug stores. y
Who are the many who predict thus?
Certainly they are not friends of pro-
hibition; and if you have inside infor-
nation as to the intentions of the other
class to put in drug stores for the ex-
press purpose of violating the law, you
owe it to the public as law abiding
citizen to let us know who they are.
| know of one saloon man who has
openly boasted that if the county goes
dry he will open a drug store; and |
am Of the opinion that public senti-
ment in Grangeville is strong enough
to see that he complies with the law
strictly if he does.
2. You say if the county goes dry,
"You will also find number Of soft
drink establishments We have
several 'soft drink establishments
now. Do you mean to insinuate that
they are selling "dope' or that they
will do so if the county goes dry?
They are all reputable men; and if any
other class goes into the soft drink busi-
ness they will be watched closely.
3. You say: "Ordinary law abiding
citizens who occasionally want drink
are made law-breakers. = You printed
the Local Option Law in in your last
issue; will you please point out the sec
ton that makes it unlawful for man
to take drink if he can get it?
4. You say: practical men who
lived in so called temperance districts
will tell you of all bad liquor laws the
local option law is the worst Mr..
w. A. Rolfe, cashier of the National
Bank of Oaksdale, Wash. writes me as
follows: 'One year of saloon following
period Of no saloon, was sufficient to
convince me that the saloon was not
what we wanted to make the town pros
porous and happy. We went back to
what is termed the Dry rule with
vengeance, and it was largely the
united support of the business men of
the town that helped to do it. Com
pairing the harvest of 1907 without the
saloon with that of 1908 with the sa-
loon, we have this startling comparison:
1907 without the saloon: laboring men
orderly, industrious, no difficulty in
keeping them at work, and three
months and twelve days without sim
gle arrest for drunkenness or disordly
1908 with the saloon: The
town filled with rioting, drunken indi-
viduals continually, difficulty in keep
ing the men at work in the different
crews, one suicide in the town jail, and
so many arrests that the town was un-
able to take care Of them. In the lam
guage of the town marshall Il have
done nothing for three months but herd
drunks.' There is no argument for
the saloon from a financial point Of
view."
Mr.. H. Q. Thompson of the Wheel
er-Thompson Company of Cottage
Grove, Ore, writes: 81 am not a pro-
| do occasionally take
glass of beer, but even admitting this,
say to you that the liquor traffic has
40 argument to its side of the question.
They claim the local option law does
not prohibit and that men will drink
rs long as it is made. | believe and
know that it does prohibit. Last 4th
IF Jnly we had three days celebration
md | can truthfully say did not see a
single drunk in our town during that
lime, something | have never witnessed
n a town where saloons are run.
These are samples of letters in my
from more than forty men
low living and doing business in about
20 dry towns in this northwest country.
Yours very truly,
~.