Graham guardian., 1914-07-10
IS THE SALOON AN ECO
NOMIC BENEFIT?

temperance REFORM uepenuS uponOu
getting at the facts. This temper
ance campaign is not to victimize
persons, but to see the facts and
apply a principle.
The saloon is at the bar of judg-
ment, and when the people know
the facts concerning this institution,
we doubt not the decision that man.
kind will render.
The arrangements for the Danish
ment of the saloon are legion, but
we will briefly present but one:
THE ECONOMICS.
Concrete illustration concerning
the economic argument for the
elimination of the saloon is vastly
superior to theory. The writer
communicated with Judge Pollock,
of Fargo, North Dakota, asking him
concerning the effect of statewide
prohibition upon the taxes. His
reply was: The tax rate shows a
marked decrease from what it was
when we had open saloons under
the license system"
Mayor Edwards, editor of the
Fargo Forum for many years, the
leading newspaper of the state, says:
The buildings made empty by the
abolishment of the saloon have been
turned into emporiums Of trade, a
credit to the city and to the people
Fargo, whatever may be her short
comings in other directions. is
homelike city to live in, and at
tribute it largely to the fact that
prohibition law is enforced as nearly
perfectly as is possible for human
ity to walk in a straight line. / am
convinced that the prohibition law
is stronger in this state today than
ever before, and that it will grow
in the hearts of our people as time
rolls on"
When the saloons were banished
from Kansas City, Kansas, people
wondered where the money would
come from to run the city. ] heard
Attorney-General Trickett say that
$25, 900 were saved the first year in
the criminal prosecutions, and that
another $4,000 were saved in the
reduced police force.
H. j. Allen, who is candidate
for governor in Kansas on the Pro-
gressive ticket says:
. Prohibition does hurt business.
1t busted up many of our most
prominent gamblers. paralyzed the
beer gardens and absolutely killed
the bartenders' union. In fact,
prohibition has killed about every
industry in Kansas except the raising
of wheat and corn and alfalfa and
fruit and livestock. potatoes and
peas, cabbages and garden sass,
and chickens and ducks and geese
and horses and mules. Where once
the thriving business of the saloon
sent the clamorous oder of its pros
perity out upon the sidewalk and
clear across the street, we find moth
ing but shoe stores, clothing stores,
dry goods stores, meat markets,
grocery stores and other sordid ac-
tivities of an unhappy people. That
is the way prohibition ruins bus-
ness"
Mrs. Stevens, many years national
president OF the w. G. 7. u, and
whose home was in Portland, Maine,
not long ago gave some illuminating
facts concerning Maine. Before the |
of the Maine Laws"
Maine was one of the poorest states
in the Union. 1t is now one of the
1t is the only state in the
Union that has more savings bank
than voters. One third |
Of the ertlre population of Maine,
including women and children, have
a savings bank deposit. and not long
ago it amounted to $l46.14 per
capita. Here again we see how
prohibition tends to bankruptcy. |
Mrs. Stevens tells how in license
Boston there are 426 arrests for
every 10000 people. In prohibition
Portland there are "a arrests to
every 10000 of population. In
license Boston it costs $3 per capita
to police the city. In prohibition
Portland it costs 20 cents to police
the city. In license Boston it costs
20 cents per capita to support those
in Jail. In prohibition Portland it
costs 2 cents per capita to do the
same. That is the way prohibition
tands to poyarty