Elmore County Republican. [volume] (Mountain Home, Idaho) 1910-1915, 1912-07-06
COMMUNICATION
Mountain Home. June 30, 1912

Dear sir:
viii you kindly allow me the use
of space in your paper to advance
some ideas that, If acted on, | be-
lieve, will be of advantage to the
town and county?
To get the proposition fairly be-
fore the people, | Will state that
about two years ago the New Time
was started here in the interest oil
the liquor traffic. 1t Vilified Gov.
Brady, and boosted for O'Neil
After the primaries, when ONeil
was out of the question, it boosted
for Hawley and still kept up its vii
ificaton of Gov. Brady. After
the election this paper kept up Its
TRADE against the Drys. lmbeciles
and fanatics We're some Of the
milder terms applied to those who
believed that the saloon was not an
advantage to the country, an are
| in favor of the people having an OPP
portunity to express themsef IS
| through the Local opa0n law. "hen
| comes the closing of the New
| Time by the Sheriff, and the print
| ing of it, as | unders N i in the Re-
publican office until such 1l'ne as
| they could get re-estNli9A"1 aud le-
constructed. 1t has I zen freely dis
cussed on the streets that the delay
was In part caused by some Of those
interested wanting It to b. e So
cialist paper and others wanting it
10 be whiskey paper. jlo"Fer
this may be, in its last Issue, jane
28th, the first column of the first
page Is devoted to an article taken
from the Wood River Times, under the
headlines in large type, SUNDAY
ALWAYS IN NAMPA."
"Nampa went dry two years ago,
etc. and then proceeded to tell OF
the misfortunes of Dry Nampa, the
Dewey hotel closed, the sugar refinery
closed four years ago. insects ate the
beets one year and drought killed
them the next year. The two news
papers have thrice changed hands
since the town went dry. The num-
Der of drunken hobos on the streets
evidences the fact that liquor can
be he'd easily by any one wanting 1t.
Although the city claims but 1000,
the buildings would suffice for 15,
600 or 10000, Whenever people
wanted an outing, and that means
from Saturday to Monday always,
and nearly every evening they go to
Boise, on returning they bring bottles
If whiskey and beer and make night
dideous, and have to be run in by
the police. etc The article is UNI
like those that originated In the New
Time under its past management ony
in so far as it does not indulge IN
slurring epithets hurled against the
drys. But the intent Of the article
and its whole intent is to convey the
warning to other towns that Nampa
Is In deplorable condition dipicted
by the article because it went dry
two years ago. In passing let me
call attention to only one Or two
of the most glaring Inconsistencies
in the article. "Liquor can be had
easily by any one wanting it," yet
another part of the article reads;
They go to Boise, on returning
bring bottles of whiskey and beer
and make night hideous and have to-
be run in by the police" One would
naturally ask why, If liquor could be
had easily by any one wanting it.
should they 60 to Boise for 1t? :.
Again, according to the article. Ma
pa has but 1000 people, several
miles of sidewalk and two miles of
paved streets, and buildings suffi-
cient for 10000 people The differ
ence between the population OF
Nampa, according to the article, and
the population the buildings are suf-
ficient for Is 10000 and the natural
inference of one not knowing the
facts would be that the 10000 left
Nampa because it went dry, or that
they could not stand night being
made hideous on account of the alb
sence of the saloons. And again,
Just think of the awful picture of
want, desolation, destruction, a town
gone to the bow vows entirely, and |
proved beyond doubt by the state
ment that two newspapers there had
changed hands three times since 1t
went dry, But it is not Of the abb
of the article / wish to
deal Were | answering that article
| would name town not far from
Nampa In another county that had I
three newspapers in It, 1t went |
wet" One nwspapeer tried and !
tried hard to sell out and could not,
and finally moved its plant to Dry