The Springfield herald., 1914-11-06
Dry To,wAs.Ase Beat,
Big Business Demands Prohibition
Colorado Spends Eighteen. NIL
lion Dollars for Booze Each

Year.
G. e. Moore, OF Meeker, is president
of the Moore Light and Power Com.
pany and owns lighting and power
plants in several western slope cities.
Nine years ago wet" and dry
fight was on at Pagosa Springs and
Moore cast his lot with the liquor
crowd and went down to defeat with
them. "A few days before the elec'
tion, Moore called the "dry" leader
into his office and said, "If you push
this fight to success, will pull out OF
business and leave the town in dark
ness; cannot run the light plant
without the saloons" That was nine
years ago. Pagoea Springs went
dry as did a number Of other towns
where Mr.. Moore operated plants. The
light plants were not shut down.
Moore has changed front, and the
PasosA Sprinss Sun, = newspaper with
wet ieanings, says, &c. 3. Moore. Of
the Moore Light and Power Company,
whose business takes him toGalmost
every town in Colorado. Arizona and
New Mexico. is, of course, a thorough
ly competent Judge. Of what makes
better business. He states that the
dry towns Of Montrose, Grand
Junction, Delta, Pacnia, Hotchkiss
and others are better off morally,
mentally and financially than toyns in
wet territory, and is emphatically a
dry man now and forever"
Mr.. Moore. is not the only big bust
ness man in Colorado who sees the ad-
vantage Of prohibition.
win C. McCafty OF Denver, who is
western manager, of the Rice-Stiz Dry
Goods Company of st. Louis. gives his
views:
#Our people In st. Louis are recoe-
ni1ed as being the largest in our line
of business In the world, and our cred
1t department figures that man with
the same amount Of ability and capt.
tai IN dry town is entitled to from
twenty-five to thirty.three and one
third per cent more credit than II he
is doing business in "wet" territory.
Our most prosperous merchants and
best accounts are those in dry
towns. In fourteen years that / have
had charge Of the Colorado, Wyoming.
New Mexico and portions of Kansas
and Nebraska territory for the vari
ous large wholesale lines, I have seen
hundreds of towns go dry, and
without exception there never has
been one Of them where business has
not been better and merchants able
to meet their obligations more prompt
ly within thirty days after the town
has gone dry and we have 4 mer-
chant on our books at this time who
owns . number Of large retail stores,
mostly In "dry" towns, who says he
will open from four to elk stores In
Colorado this year n the state goes
.dry-and these In towns which now
have saloons"
Prohibition is having good effect
on business in West Virginia where
the "dryr amendment went into ef.
feet on July 1st Of this year. On that
day the Reymann Brewing Company.
Of Wheeling, closed its doors. as a
brewery, and opened as a packing
plant which employs 500 people. The
brewery employed only So people.
Legitimate business will come into
It's own In Colorado when the state
adopts the prohibition amendment.
The eighteen million dollars that 90
over the bars OF the saloons each year
will be converted into legitimate chan
nels OF trade and Colorado will wit.
ness commercial revival such as the
entire west has never seen.