Polk County observer. (Monmouth, Polk County, Or.) 1888-1927, 1910-10-14


degree, but the newspaper cannot
Governeur Morris makes one of hi
characters say there is a time to b.
: silent, time for evasion, and tim
to speak up" A newspaper may sci
dom be silent; 1t should never evade
it must often speak up. The editor wh'
will remain silent when he feels tina
duty bids him speak up" is unworth.
of his calling.
There is before the people of Poll
County question of great import
ance. 1t is one affecting the social
moral and financial life of the com
munity. This question must be an
swered on the 8th day of next month
and it is all-important that the an
swer represent the intelligent though
and sound judgment of the voters II
; the solution of the problem, there
should be no place for prejudice or il
feeling; no Misrepresentation of facts
nor wild appeals to passion. The cold
hard facts are what are needed in thi!
; campaign; not theoretical or imag-
; mary conditions, existing only In the
; brain of some man so prejudiced either
; for or against the saloon that he act
, ually believes such conditions exist
; because he would like for them to ex.
, ist What we should seek is the truth
) Having once ascertained the truth, il
; will then be easy for any man to make
; up his mind as to how he should vote
; And, by all means, let us positively re.
; fuse to permit ourselves to be influenc-
; ed by reports and figures from some
; other states where actual conditions
; are unknown to us and where we can
; have no possible way of finding out
; about them between now and election
) day.
; Reports are often colored to suit
) the particular views or purposes of the
person bringing them to u.s. and as for
statistics, there are places where they
are manufactured by the yard-regu-
lar statistics factories-where you can
get figures to prove that black Is white
\ and that the Fourth of July comes in
the middle of January; figures of any
kind, right or wrong, turned out on
short notice and strictly according to
orders; satisfaction guaranteed, OF
your money refunded.
Pay no attention whatever to the
figures of whose correctness you know
nothing and will have no means OF
finding out before election day. 1t will
not be necessary, anyway, to go away
from home for information sufficient
20 10 anN afa1I IiornY ~
and conscientious vote on the local
option question Two years ago, condi-
tions were different. Prior to that cleo
tlon, Polk had always been wet coun-
ty, and the only information as to
conditions in dry counties had to come
from outside reports and observations.
Today, Polk County itself is under
"dry" rule, and has been for the last
81 months. We can now Took at
home;" not away off yonder in Maine,
or Kansas, or Alabama, or some other
state where few of us have ever been,
and where still fewer of us ever eX-
pect To go. Neither should we believe
all we hear about those states. The
rabld saloon advocate might possibly
make out conditions worse than they
are. and the rabid prohibitlonlst might.
either through lack of personal knowl-
edge or upon hearsay evidence, paint
them much better than they are. We
live In Polk County. oregon. and Polk
County is also prohibition territory.
What are the conditions here?
Is business better in Polk County
under dry rule than Il was under wet
rule, or is II worse? Are Polk County
towns growing faster according to
population than Salem, Portland. and
other wet towns are growing? Are
taxes lower in Polk County than they
were two years ago. or are they high
er? Is there more money In the treas
urles OF the Incorporated towns OF Polk
than there was two years ago. or is
there less? Not In the treasures of
Salem. or Albany, or Medford, but of
Dallas and independence and Falls
City-of towns here in Polk County.
Is the expense of the salaries OF the
officers OF these towns greater than Il
was two years ago. or Is II less? Is the
Indebtedness OF these towns greater
than II was In 1908. or is IL less? Has
the loss Of $4,000 saloon license a year
here in Dallas been compensated for by
the saving In police court expenses. as
has been argued by some. OF has Il
not? Has the prosecution and punish
ment OF bootleggers and blind-piggers
cost the farmers OF Polk County more
money than they paid out the preced-
ing years for the detection and punish
ment OF crimes committed because OF
the existence OF the licensed saloon?
II 20, how much more In other words. |
has the farmers tax been raised by the |
abolishment OF the saloon. or has u |
been lowered7 Is the county paying |
out more money for the support OF /
paupers than Il did two years ago. or
Is u paying out less? Are the mer-
chants OF the Incorporated towns Of
Polk County holding an Of the trade
territory they formerly held. or has
portion of this trade gotten away from
them n q has how much OF uG
And viii the new trade fully compen-
zate for the loss Of the old. II such loss
has oocuredg Are people coming
from the wet towns 10 trade IN Dallas
because Dallas is a dry town. And
lastly. but most important Of all. have
the morals of the people Of Polk Coun-
ty improved In the last two years or
have they grown worse than they were
he day the saloons we're ciosedf Has
irunkenness Increased. or has q de-
Is there more drunkenness
.monE younE men and boys Of tender
rears than there vas a. months aro.
1r Il there lessf /,
A TONG list q questions iznf az But !