Graham guardian., 1914-07-03
made it favorite fireside com

panion. n-rsv ii a-a-
There is no place in Kansas where
liquor is openly sold; and if there is
an occasional secret joint, the owner
is doing business in fear and tremb,
ling. and he will go to the peniten,
tiary sooner or later.
The laws governing drug stores
are as drastic as they could be made,
and the learned pharmacist has the
fear of God in his heart. He no
longer sells Peruna or Hostetter' s
| Bitters as a beverage, and he has no
tonic of his own compounding that
causes the consumer to go forth and
try to whip a policeman.
| Now and then a bootegger en-
barks in business in sequeStered
alley, but before he has succeeded
in building up a good family trade
the officers get him. 1t takes so
much time and trouble to get a
spirituous drink in Kansas that even
the most enthusiastic booze fan will
drink from a garden hose rather
than make the effort.
Emporia is a town of 10000 peo-
pie, including William Allen White.
There hasn't been an open saloon in
the place in more than twenty years.
1t is q town of schools and churches,
and the sentiment against Barley
corn always has been so strong that
even in the free-and-easy days be
fore the advent of Stubbs it never
occurred to anybody to open a grog
parlor. No booze is sold in Emporia,
and even the corkscrew has become
obsolete. If q man appears on the
main street with bad breath, it is
safe to assume that he is a stranger
and that he will be run in before he
is an hour older. Bootleggers row
and then attempt-to establish an in
fant industry, but they're always
rounded up before they have sold
enough to pay the freight on their
shipment from Kansas City. No
town in the world wears tighter
lid than Emporia. And Emporia
should be a bankrupt community if
there were truth in the old argu-
ment that saloons are necessary to
business. 1t is favorite claim of
the saloon men that they support
the schools, their license money
usually going to the school fund.
The answer to this is that EN-
poria has just built high school
costing $l35,000-which is going
some for a town of 10000 people,
including Old Bill White.
And all the grade schools are
housed in handsome buildings, and
the bestteachers available are hired,
and none of them ever has to sue
for his wages.
Disproving the Tax Bugaboo
Old John Barleycorn says that
taxes would be increased immensely
if the saloons were abolished, but
the taxes in Emporia are not 50
bigh as, for example, in some Ne
braska towns of equal size which
are blessed with. saloons.
Emporia has more than twenty
miles of beautifully paved streets,
and every year she paves few
more miles; and when she has paw
ing bonds for sale they are snapped
up by home citizens.
Several Nebraska towns could be
named which, gifted with saloons,
have not one-fourth as much paving.
There are no abjectly poor people
IN Emporia, because none of the
money of wage earners goes for
booze.
The savings banks and building
and loan associations do big busi-
ness for the same reason.
Comfortable homes are being
built all the year round by men who
work Tor small wages.
Their money goes for lumber and
furniture instead of long, cold bot
ties. The churches are well attend
ed because men wake up on Sunday
without that dark green
taste which makes the idea of de-
votions abhorrent.
Emporia celebrates the Fourth of
July and Grounding Day and other
national holidays and the police have
nothing to do. There is no drunk
enness, because there is nothing to
drink sitter than pink lemonade.
You will see a unicorn as soon as
you will see drunken man in the
streets of the town.
A Clean Young Generation
And Emporia has reared genera