Mexico weekly ledger., 1913-12-18

At q special sleCtoa ue V1
day the little city Of Mexico. Mis-
soari. voted 70 dose IS salOcns
Under ordinary Circumstances We
not regard this as An event
worthy OF extraordinary notice or
comment. A large number Of little
cities in this land have. vithin the
last few years. taken similar &C
ton.
To be sxact. Mexico is the 5lSth
place q fewer tbaB 1000 inhabitants
in this country which has banished
saloons ulthin the last five years.
The circumstances IN It's case
we're not ordinary. however.
Il Is an old. county-seat town. Sd
IN the midst Of n rich Agricultural
section. which raises, in addition to.
corn and wheat. some Of the finest
saddle horses on ezrsh. Therefore. y
seems fitting that IT, most notable
citizen. for many years, should have
been Jim Robinson. long the
worlds champion bareback rider To
have seen his diamond studded belt
was 20 have looked upon the chief
treasure OF the town.
Like all other communities in the
northcentraI part Of Missouri. Mex
leo was settled largely by folk from
Kentucky. Nealy every family IN
the place traces back to the Blue
Grass. And to this day any man
sho there rises to the least local
emincnce automatically becomes a
colonel. +
The pioneers who came from The
south brought with them their hall
lowed traditions. Among these was
the acceptance OF bourbon whisky as
a necessity. So there vas a time
when saloons were more or less a su.
perfluity in Mexico. Still, saloons
were there
They served as GASES between the
w~eIl-stoeked sideboard in the home
and the private bottle in the Office.
Also. they supplied the large negro
population with a convenient means
for losing control OF the mind ard
the passions.
They sponsored robberies by night
and street shootihgs by day. They
kept poverty alive in a section which
nature undoubtedly had intended %
a burying place for the gaunt stalker
They fostered poker and pool games
and without discrimination for blood
or brain they lured youths Of proud
lineage to degradation and disgrace.
Once IN a while some woman 9
wife or mother-wouh act in the
high spirit OF the true southerner
and personally serve on the E-
loon keepers an order 10 sell ns
more liquor to her men folk. onc'
In a while a clergyman newly CONT
tc town would loose a blast agains
the evil; but for many years that wa
the sum total OF temperance effort
Then. when tho town began
To lag a bit; when a sort OF miasmi
seemed to have got in It's blood,
some Of its ciearer-headed and longer
vlsloned citizens began to see wher'
1.-THE germs Of disaster were bred. Bu'
even with the support Of a public
opfnica changing with the times th'
saloons could not be touched. The.
wrr7 Offended by able men. eminn
in The Community; and WITH these
men stood all OF the lower element
black and white.
n yrs a situation in every way sir
liar to that which has existed II
numerous ~towns-similar TO tina
which still exists throughout tn
length and breadth OF the land.
For nearly forty years the saloons
kept going, upsetting the economic
balance os the community by taking
money for something that is les
than nothing
Only once during that period did tn
traffic cease, Then. as the result O
an ominons uprising, the saloonkeep
ers got together and volunteered II
close their places. This promise pac
ified matters. but within a few
months they were running the sam
as usual.
Temperance lecturers talked them
selvs HORSE tn audiencec of faithful
worien end a handful of male es
cofta 10 whom the Niagara Of senti
mont au1 The tear eop1elliBg sweep
of ~eioeucnee dKl not appeal. These
escorts. for tho most part, we're think
ing about profits and payments. rents
ard rsmittances. bills overdue and
settlements pending matters of dol
lars and cents. which usually claim
first place in the thoughts OF aver
age men.
II cid nci occur TO them that the
saloons in their town and IN the
other towns where lived the persons
with whom they had business dealing
were most important factors in thes
very matters OF dollars and cents. 1t
was natural this should be so, for
al the lecturers and propogandisis
who had come along, none had dwelt
upon the economic phase OF the sd
loon question.
Within the last few years, how
ever, several Missouri towps the
size OF Mexico have gone dry. Con-
trary TO the predictions Of the emil
nently respectable upholders Of the
saloons, these towns did not go into
bankruptcy. Neither did they find II
necessary to raise their tax rates
to offset the loss of revenue former
ly drawn from the sale of intoxicants
On the contrary. they actually
grew bigger and more active CONNER
cially. Railroads and other Industrial
corporations seeking desirable Ioca-
lions for shops and factories natural
ly selected those in which the econom
ic balance would not be upset by
the temptation for their workers to
pay something for less than nothing.
Mexico looked at these towns and
then at itself. When II looked at It,
self It raw the saloons as It never be-,
fore had seen them. 1t saw them as
obstacles, balls and chains, hindran-
ceg. enemfea Of Drozreaa. Fortunately |