The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1914-10-15
UNrORTuNArE,K KANSAS.

--sfH O<vx Ak1S4 d4S IA - 4AAN6A0S
From dear. dead Denver comes an
attenuated little messenger named
THE Record whose object here II
to make Kansas disconnected with
prohibition. For the text of the lead
ing article-the entire publication IL
editorial in character-its writer takes
William Allen Whites Saturday Even
ing Post article on Kansas Prohibi-
ton. Then he progresses to q discus
sion OF the relative wealth Of Kansas
and Colorado as shown by federal sta
tistics, pointing out comparisons to
Kansas disadvantage. A reading Of
the article leaves the Kansas man con-
WINGED that the editor of The Record
has made q conscientious effort to fill
the assignment dealt out to him by
his employer. but that is all.
Assuming the statistics offered to
be correct. we learn that Colorado.
with about half the. population of
Kansas (yes. Kansas seems to have
drawn the population. despite the ir-
resistible attractions Of it's sister stated,
pays $943.793.27 in revenue to the
federal government where Kansas
pays but $732,152.46. Let's see; it Is
correct. isn't 1t, that. some Of this rev.
enue comes from. government liquor
licenses? Whatever the item u.s. KAN
sas is saving it.
Kansas learns with regret that she
is behind Colorado in tho per capita
valuation of school property. in the
average salaries paid to school teach
ers and in the daily cost per child of
education. Kansans will blush in ac-
knowledging the bitter allegation that
kansas is one huge grain field" The
writer sweeps all the arguments put
forth by William Allen White and the
other prohibition boosters into the
trash heap with one sweep, as follows:
1T is waste of time to discuss the
misleading statements and statistics
employed In the article referred to. 1t
is more profitable to consider things
directly bearing on the result Of pro-
hibition laws. which need no corrob-
Grating evidence to establish"
Let that assertion go double. It
makes a first rate reply to The Rec
ord's leader.
If Kansas, after thirty years of pro-
hibition, wanted anything else, she
would have it. If Kansas. which. with
her one. huge grain field, can draw
and hold twice the population of Col
orado with its untold mineral re-
sources added to tremendous agri-
cultural possibility, needed the
licensed saloon to make life tolerable,
she would have 1t. Thirty years ago
Kansas. of her own free will. voted the
saloon outlaw; nor has she ever seen
sufficient reason to desire a change
Kansas must, if she persists in her
headstrong course. get along without
certain possessions. She will have no
saloon keepers; she will need fewer
federal license collectors; she will re-
Quire fewer poorhouses and fewer
undertakers; she must do without the
individual who can not exist without
a saloon that is licensed. and. thank
goodness, she can do without publica-
tions like The Record.
But Kansas has thought about these
things, and made her bed. In that
bed she has la1n these thirty Years.
worried considerably from time to
time by those elements of her popu-
lation which seek to evade the en-
forcement of the prohibitory law. but
never controlled by them. And as for
the individuals who do break the pro-
nlDltOIy law, II may De true DIS pill
osopher once pointed out: "A certain
amount Of fleas is good for a dog"
And while the brilliant editor Of
the Denver booze-boosting publication
views with alarm the lost opportunj-
ties of Kansas, lost by reason of the
fact that Kansas has no saloons. dis
gusted Kansans who have journeyed
to the mile-high city in search Of bust
ness and recreation return to the lone
vast grainfield," yclept Kansas. and
bring thence certain reports. towit:
That Denver is about the deadest in
corporated place they have seen in
their travels. This condition does not
seem reasonable, considering the ar
gument of the Record. Denver, hav-
ing licensed saloons, should be bios
soming like a rose. and full to over
flowing with money and business.