El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1911-07-07

1 refuse to measure dollars and cents
against the body and soul of man, the
Sanctity of his home and the happi-
ness of his wife and children If every
figure above was true 1 would still
say, stop making drunkards. 1 an
swer the figures because they are false.
They assume the gross revenue to be
all net revenue On the contrary,
opera ting expenses exceed-the revenue
1t is well established that the cost of
crime, criminal prosecutions and in
mates Of jails. penitentiaries and asy-
lums for which the liquor traffic is
responsible exceeds the. revenue from
that traffic The controllers office
in Chicago and other cities prove this.
Here is the proof for Texas:
The average tax rate in the 166 dry
counties in that state is II IA cents;
in the So partially wet counties it is
43 ga cents. and in the 81 totally wet
counties it is IS 3-5 cents
Brown county, with saloons. had
tax rate of 81 cents; with no saloons.
the rate dropped to % cents. Under
the same conditions the rate dropped
in now dry counties as follows: Chero-
kee. from 40 to IS; Polk. from SIS TO
421k Crockett from so to 20; Ellis
from 50 to so; Grayson. from AK
to 81.
crime and tax rates are decreasing.
wealth, public improvements and popu-
latiCn are increasing in these coun-
ties.
Ten million dollars of property
would not be destroyed. Much Of it
would be used for other purposes. This
property was created with the full
knowledge that it was involved with
and TO be used for licensed evil liable
- ~ r. he
exercise Of their constitutional rights
and in the protection of their ma
terial intellectual and spiritual well
fare
The saloons pay to the state s1.S11,-
900 annually. according to their own
estimate. The internal revenue reports
show that the average amount paid
over the saloon bars of the country
is s711s per saloon. There are 1000
saloons in Texas. If the men who pay
the tax in Texas would stop paying
across the bar and pay s1,311.000 into
the state treasury they would be ahead.
$27161 900 per year.
William Allen White. speaking Of
Ksnsas. says: I'VE have built the finest
system of schools in the world. The
tax rate is low because the average
working man owns his own home"
Referring to questions IS and SO and
posts in Kansas increased from S69,-
600. 900 to $3.50, 100000; property values
from $130S.576. 1000 to s3.140. 600. 600,
and per capita bank deposits from SIS
to s113 In the four years following
the final closing of her saloons, Wichi
ia built 1900 houses and increased her
population from $1,000 to 2.450.
Kansas stands second in per capita
property and first in home owning citi-
zens.
In Maine the number of savings
bank depositors exceed the voters 90
900. The per capita bank deposit is
s172 or $50 more than wealthy Kan
sas.
In the first seven months of 1909. I'M
der prohibition birmingham. Alabama.
increased her foreign investments over
the same period of 1907 with the sa-
loon. s2,225. 600. In 1907 there were
320S inmates in her county Jail. In
1903, with no saloons, the number
dropped to 211I. and in 1909 to 1881
In 1909 three new banks with a capital
of $500 900 opened and bank clearances
increased s6.OOO,o0O.
In Georgia Atlantas bank deposits
were $4,000. 900 in 1898, $4,000. 900 in
1901, and $22. 900. 900 in 1910 In two
years, from 1907 to 1909. her population
increased from 200 to 157,245; her
assessed property value from SyI.S4U,-
$50 to S107. S09.S13. and her bank clear
ances from 1884 965 s03 to s4O6, O49.5 500
In one year the latter increased 765
LEI cent Arrests for drunkenness de-
creased 43 percent.
Oklahoma, entered the union Novem-
Der Is. 1907, and within her borders
$50 saloons and 80 wholesale liquor
houses and breweries went out of bust
ness On that date bank deposits were
s55.126,655. In two years they in
creased to 91.3s2.663. In that time the
state built $500 schoolhouses. The
bank clearings of Oklahoma City in
creased III percent in one year, plac-
ing her at the head of all American
cities.
In one year this city, under prohibi-
ton paved 81 miles OF streets. built 81
miles of sewers, 50 miles of sidewalk,
ana issued building permits for IL
public buildings, 265 business houses
and 1873 residences.
In answer to the query. Are condi-
lions in your county better than be-
fore statehood" 2S out of 81 sheriffs.
representing every part of the state