Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-11-28
FEDERAL LICENSES
DECLARED MENACE
William D. UpshaW Describes
the Results of Prohibition
in Georgia.

Dear helpless Washington wards of
the government, I submit to you that If
You could do half that we'll Congress
ought to grant the priceless boon to
you Of the District Of Columbia" de-
Of Georgia to a large audience in the
Fifth Baptist Church last night after
describing the results which prohibition
has obtained in the Cracker state.
Speaking Of federal liquor licenses he
said:
And 1 submit that if Georgia has
done SO gloriously with state prohibition
under the tantalizing handicap Of ma
tional interference through inside ship
ments and federal liquor licenses, then
in the name of good government and
all that is sacred in the meaning of
American citizenship I call on Congress
for protection.
II declare to you that it is at once q
tragedy and travesty on the actual
meaning Of government that our nation,
simply for the money that's in It, should
strange our efforts at law and order
and trample in crime the sovereign will
Of free American state.
president Taft's administration has
shown a growing disposition toward fair
ness on the question. but in the name of
Georgia and every other prohibitionist
call on our President to put 1t in his
message If not too late-or send q special
message to Congress calling for protec-
ton for the friends and laws of decency
in every dry state.
Some Results of Prohibition.
1--WE do not claim, OF course, that the
condition in Georgia are ideal-we never
claimed beforehand that they would be
but we do claim and prove that the bless
ings from statewide prohibition were i'm
mediate and that the accruing benefits
are gloriously progressive.
But in face Of this splendid and indis-
putable record, Georgia, and especially
her wonderful capital city, have been
misrepresented and slandered from one
end of the country to the other.
Here are the facts" he continued,
mot some garbled records prepared for
the use alone Of prohibition enthusiasts,
but copied from the impartial records of
the recorders court in Atlanta. In round
numbers there were $500 arrests for
DRINKS in 1907, the last year Of bar
rooms: in 1908 there were $500 arrests;
in 1909, the bad year Of 'near-beer' sa-
looms, 200 arrests-pretty bad, I grant,
but nearly 5000 less than under whisky
shops. But this year the people and Of
ficers became aroused, got on to the
blind tigers, and the first nine months Of
1910 show only 1.12O arrests. According
to this ratio there will be nearly 5000
less DRINKS in Atlanta this year than in
1907, the last year of barrooms.
Benefit to Business.
But look at the commercial side. Mer-
chants and manufacturers on every side
declare that trade is better and labor
more dependable, and as for building and
bank clearings Atlanta has the liquor
bossed cities beaten a whole mile. The
statistics published by Building News
show that Atlanta spent on building dur
ing 1863 more than any other city be-
tween the Potomac, Ohio and Mississippi
rivers. The record for improvements dur
ing 1907 was $4.504,1 I'll; for 1909 1t grew
to $5,551 ,95l, while for 1910 1t has leaped
to approximately $7,OOOOOO. And just
in Richmond was 81 per cent; in Houston,
20.3; in New Orleans. Is: st. Louis. 11.9;
Louisville, 1913; Galveston, a decrease OF
4s: while Jacksonville with all the car
loads of liquor shipped into Georgia, in
creased only 26 per cent and Atlanta,
with all her so-called loss Of liquor reve-
nues, increased her bank clearings 16.j
per cent.
This was the largest increase shown
during 1909 by any city in the United
States. except that new commercial Won
der Oklahoma City-and there Is state
wide prohibition In Oklahoma-she was
born SOBER Now l submit concluded
the speaker, that in the face Of these
facts any man who will still claim that
prohibition in Atlanta is q failure from
the standpoint of decreasing crime and
increasing commerce simply shows that
ne would rather believe a lie than the
incontestible truth of impartial records.