El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-04-30
Declares That They Are
Wide Open in Many Places
And No Effort Is Made to
Enforce the Law in Cities.

Evansville Ind, April 29.-The Rev
DR.. w. C. Helt. founder of the Anti
saloon leagues work in Indiana, re-
Gently resigned from district superin-
tendency in league work because he be-
lieves state wide prohibition is folly
at this time He then toured the south
to observe the condition prevailing un-
der state W ide prohibitory laws IN Ten
nessee and Alabama He comes back
TO his home more strongly convinced
than ever that the Anti--saloon league
is two generations or more ahead or
time in its state wide propaganda
DIR. Helt quit active service in the
league work when the state directors
declared two months ago that the
leagues next fight in Indiana would
be to get a state wide prohlltlon
clause in the constitution. DR.. Het
then declared, and now more emphatic-
ally than ever asserts, that this move
ment threatens 10 wreck the cause of
temperance in Indiana
For more than - years minister Of
the gospel, and still in high standing
with the church; supported by the
Christian men of Evansville: strong IN
his convictions and courageous in his
utterances, DIR. Helt's account OF his
trip south as given below, is of I'M
usual interest. He says:
Prohibition as Applied to Cities.
The southern states offer a more ia
vcrable field for the operation Of
prohibitory law, than any other sec
ton of our country There are but few
comparatively large cities in the pro-
hibition states. There is almost no for
eign population and the negroes are
practically disfranc hised If we find
that such a law is noneffective under
these favorable conditions, what must
be expected of the law in our northern
cities, Rhich are made up largely or
foreign born people and their children
Many of them are among our most
respected citizens. yet they have their
own ideas in reference to the drink
habit, and are opposed to prohibition
In order to get facts first hand, and
TO satisfy myself as to the opera ton OF
prohibition in the southern states, re-
ceLtly visited three representative
cities, viz: Montgomery and BiIming-
ham, Ala. and Nashville, Tenn l shall
eIsieavor 70 give an unbiased report Of
facts IN reference to conditions now
prevailing in these prohibition cities
In Montgomery.
Montgomery is one of the most beau
tiful and attractive cities In this cOun-
try. 1t is made I'D Of d high class Of
people, whom one would naturally sup
pose to be in favor of prohibition and
the enforcement of law.
There is not 4 more wide open city
in any wet state in this country than
IS Montgomery. Every room which
" as used for a saloon under license law,
is preserved intact with bar furnish
ings, etc. These places are being Oper-
ated now as formerly, with the excep-
ton that few soft drinks have been
added to the regular stock OF liquors.
The law prohibits screens. and none are
in use These places are now called
soft drink" emporiums. To test the
matter as to whether or not any other
than soft drinks are sold, 1 stopped in
one place and had little chat with
the bartender. who informed me that
they sold only soft drinks. Before leav-
ing | said to him: Gould you not &C
commoGate me with something more
than a soft drink Yes. 1 guess l
can he said. What would you like?
l was then up against it. good and
hard. / did not want to make the con-
fession that 1 never drink liquor, after
calling for it. and excused myself by
saying 1T is now my supper time, and
/ am not in the habit of drinking any
thing just before eating" If all kinds
of liquor can be procured in one place,
. they can be procured in the 100 and
more other places in the city running
wide open.
Plenty to Drink.
Upon arriving in the city, the first
business place ] saw was a gorgeous
saloon l had not gone one block be-
fore l met man y no required the en-
tire width of the sidewalk for him TO
get along. ] stopped in one of the pool
rooms to see the men play, and a fine
looking man asked me if l would not
keep count for him while he played. His
tongue was so thick he could scarcely
talk, and he was very unsteady On his
feet The poolroom was in connection
with saloon. where he had evidently
procured a soft drink Everybody
knows that these places are saloons,
pure and simple, where any person can
get any kind of liquor he may order.
And this is in a prohibition city.
Some people will endeavor 10 answer
this fact by saying that the fault is
not in the law, but in the officers
whose duty II is to enforce the law.
This is true. If We were living under
ideal political conditions, with every
officer a man who would do his duty,
prohibition would be made a success.
But unfortunately, We do not have such
Ideal conditions in our municipal gov
ernments We are forced to work I'M
der conditions as they are and not I'M
der what we might imagine ideal con-
ditions to be. Conditions prevailing in
our cities are such as to make the sue
cessful enforcement of prohibitory
law practically impossible. and II is
unwise to attempt to secure such a re-
suit at the present time.
Reaction Against the Law.
Reaction has already set in against
the law, and the general belief is that
ii will be repealed, and local option
law enacted in its stead. The claim IS