The Columbus journal., 1910-01-05
WHY IOWA BUSINESS MEN
REv0lTED.

REv0l1ED.
In 1894 Iowa abandoned the policy
Of statutory prohibition and passed q
law permitting the larger cities to IT,
cense the. sale of liquor. Shortly be-
fore this was done the Canadian com
mission visited Iowa and took test.
mony. much Of which related to the
injury prohibition had indicted upon
business interests. Extracts from
such testimony. taken from the omcial
records Of the royal commission. are
given below. They ought to be read
by every business man in Nebraska:
PROTEST OF BUSINESS MEN.
E. A. Hughes. mayor Of Clinton.
testified: Are there any benefits
that you have noticed to come to your
community from the prohibitory law?
should certainly say not. Last
spring there was q convention called
at Des Moines. or rather q call was
made on the mayor Of each city in
the state Of Iowa to send q delega-
ton. consisting Of the mayor and
three representatives OF the business
interests to meet In convention at Des
Moines for the purpose Of soliciting
the legislature to give US some relief
In relation to the pFohibitory law. Il
went to; that convention with three OF
our citizens. but there was present at
It q very strong representation from
all over; the state. and II the voice OF
that convention can be credited with
having any weight. or with giving Us
IN INDICATION Of the condition Of At
fairs throughout the state of Iowa gen
orally. 1t certainly showed strongly
that the. effect of the Jaw was detri-
mental to the state Of Iowa In a gen.
eral way. and In each individual local.
ity represented In the convention.
There were number of strong
speeches made by men who said that
at the time the prohibition law was
submitted to the people they were in
favor Of 1t. 1t was first represented
to the people Of the state by the pro-
hibitionists that all they asked was
q fair trial of the law and a fair and
earnest. effort to enforce it, and II. in
the ytSw Of the people Of Iowa, it
proved 20 be failure and not q good
thing fer the state. they would agree
that the law should be repealed. n
heard several very good speeches
made there by business men who
claimeH that they had been In favor
OF the measure at that time. but who
now thought we had seen a sufficient
trial Of 1t. and concluded that 1t had
proved failure. They said their cit.
les were suffering to such an extent |
that they could not stand it any long
or without relief. and they asked the
legislature to give them relief. The
feeling of that convention generally |
was that the law had been a curse to |
the state of Iowa, especially in the |
larger cities. At Des Moines the Sec
rotary of state, Mr.. Mcfarland, indi. |
Gated to US that he favored q system
which, while retaining the pr0hibitOry |
law for the state. would allow any
that wished to withdraw
and establish license system with
regulation. II such a plan as that
we're carried out. would it be better
than the present? I think so. That
would be practically local option"
KILLED A GREAT INDUSTRY.
William p. Daniels of Cedar Rapids
testified: "A great proportion of the
Germans are settled along the line
Of the river. and great many Of them
in the grape industry and
wine making. A few miles south Of
here we have q colony Of Germans.
which might In one sense be called
. socialistic colony. They hold their
property largely in common. They
q great deal OF wine
some time ago. They are . very law.
abiding people. and the prohibitory
law has stopped their business entire
II In that respect. They have COM
piled with the law without any COM
pulsion. Ny observation with refer
snce 70 the whole state IL that large
Of Germans pass M by On &C
eount Of the prohibitory law. and that
hat law has not Influenced any large
class oe people to come here. The
period during which We lost immigra-
don and the period q our greatest de-
preston Was during the time Of the
grestost attempt TO enforce this law.
md when there Was but little prospect
" agitation for the repeal Of the law. ,
But whether It II simply coincidence
u not, It II . fact that business and
both have improved late /
b, commencing almost Immediately
With the prospect q the repeat q tie
aW."