The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1911-02-23
CITIES WITHOUT SALOONS
SEND CHEERING MESSAGES
Benefits of Dry Regimes Told in Ringing Speeches and
lettefs-Strength OF Local Option-HoW
Epfc |
to Enforce Law


property tax levy ard sec whether
or not the people Of that county
gained anything 10y local option y me
land. y. J., q dry city had Tor q single
year police bill ut fifteen dollars
ana poor fund Of four dollars, Nh'ie
another town In the State OF the same
size had a police bill and pauper bin
OF seventy thousand dollars. When
Marbiehead. Mass. had two hundred
and stNty-one paupers. Beverly IN the
same State had none. The support
Of those psupcrS fell upon the tax
payers OF Marblehead. while the tax
payers OF Beverly saved their dollars
by prohibition brought ABOUT IN this
instance by local option
IT is not generally known that the
mortality Of children among drinking
PED pie is greatly in excess NJ that
among temperance people. This ia
caused by tho Inheritance of diseased
and enfeebled constitutions, the want
of attention and the lack Of those
little luxuries of the sick room which
cannot be bought wnen the last dime
has gone to the Saioonkeeper. Out
of every one hundred children under
one year Of age III arblehead, a
wet city, twenty-six died. out of
every one hundred in Beverly. a dry"
city, twelve died a decrease OF more
than $50 per cent. out OF every one
hundred under Ave Years Of age dur
ing the same period. Gfty-one died in
Aarhiehead. while only nineteen died
in Beverly. a decrease of t25 per
cent In Michigan, a license State,
there are three hundred and nine
paupers 10 every one hundred thou
sand population. while In Maine. a
no-licerse state. there are only one
hundred and sixty-three paupers. Of
fetal stattstics show that the cost Of
the support or paupers in wet cities
In the State Is 279 per cent greater
than in dry cities, But let ME come
TO our own State, for our interest in
temperance for the time being cen
tcrs large in Virginia 1 love my own
state and want to see local option in
every county and prohibition from
border to border. To use the Ian
guage Of he late Senator Carmack.
from Tennessee, a great temperance
man. | love my own, my native State
1t is true her soil has been broker
by the pillow share OF warfare and
watered by the tears Of her daugh-
ters and enriched by the blood Of her
sons, But still she has her songs her
folklore her sacred memories. her
tradition, her heroes and her hero
ines. To her every drop of my blood
ana every puisation OF my heart is
consecratcd forever. ! was born OF
. her. was nursed upon her bosom
and | pray God that when my last
hour shall come l shall he permitted
/ to fall asleep upon her bosom and
be EMBODIED in the tender embrace oi
her encirchng arms,
Before the agitation Of local option
especially before the Anti Saloon
League began to man the forces. there
were three thousand liquor establish.
ments, two thousand saloons. countr,
cross-road saloons. the center of vice
! and crime and poverty. house
distilleries. fake clubs. liquor was solo
( In nearly all the cities. saloons wer.
I open at all hours; there were no AIDE
/ quate laws against blind tigers; pub
/ lie sentiment Was not CAystalliZed
! Now there are only eight hundre,
and seventy liquor establish ments
seven hundred and fifty saloons. n,
cross roads ibarrooms no fake clubs
DO whiskey sold in one hundred an,
forty-one towns. no liquor sold from
- to . O'Clock at night. we'll articu
lated against blind tigers; public sen
timent Is SO Crystalli5ed that the sa
loon ia regarded as "A danger to tn
This sentiment is so strong that, dram
sellers and am-drinkers are unwill
Ing to give the people the opportunit
to vote ON Statewide prohibition
local option, which is manned largel
by the Anti~Saloon League, and whic'
has accomplished these great thing
is failure, why not let US haV
Statew wide prohibition, which on tn
same principle would be q create
failure? 1t is not because local op
! lion has been Il failure hut hecaus
ii has been IA success. that the com
bined liquor interests and forces ar
opposed to voting on State pro
hihition. They know all too well tina
the state would go dry.
During 1909, when Lynchburg wa
a wet4 theEe 4*ssrs> fo4r Thousand on
hundred and forty-three arrests, whel
during 1909, when the city was dry
there were only two thousand eigh
hundred and ninety nine, a decreas
of one thousand. two hundred an,
ninety-four, In the month of Septem
Der. 1907, when Charlottesville wa
wet, there ere fifty-seven arrests 70
-, druukaraless. while In 1908. wheri tn
city was dry, there were only twenty
four arrests, a decrease of more thai
100 per cent. During 1so6-'0s. whe,
to the city amounted to 100000
when during 190S-10. when city wa
dry the public receipts were s740;00O
an increase of SOS, 600. During tn,
( same wet period there We're 5000 ar
rests. while during the same dry pc
Rod there ere only $500 arrests
decrease of 2,50Q arrests. Mayor Har
ry Wooding. Rev, w. X. Laird pasto
OF the First Presbyterian church
Chief OF Police r. .. Morris testif,
TO the industrial and moral success o
local option in Danville. Norfoll
county, with population of $4,000
( has a yearly criminal court till of S2l.
600, and sends thirty-eight convict!
I to the pelitentiary while sixteen dr.
counties. with population of 1910. 600
! have criminal court till of $4,000
and sends thirty to the penltentiary
Thus you see that that one county
! with 130.0 population. has $4,000