Ashland tidings. [volume] (Ashland, Or.) 1876-1919, 1914-03-30
Hon. Geo. c. BroWnell, Republican Candidate
for Governor, issues statement to the peo-
pie of Oregon and says he will veto any
bill compensating saloons and breWeries
which might be passed by the legislature.

l desire also TO say that | stand
in favor of free press and
free speech, and that If | should be
in being nominated and
elected governor of this state, | will
see, so far as my power will permit,
that no man or woman, rich or poor,
black or white, shall be deprived of
the opportunity of fairly and decently
expressing themselves anywhere, in
public halls, or upon the streets of
cities, in this state, as long as they
conduct themselves in a lawful way.
The liquor question has got to be
fought out. Men will be compelled
to take a stand, for it or against it.
The saloon is either right or it is
wrong If it is right it should be
maintained and perpetuated; if it is
wrong it should be destroyed. | feel
that it is wrong; ! feel that it is
foolish for the moral societies of the
state OF Oregon to talk about fight
ing vice, preach sermons against vice,
pass resolutions against vice and hold
banquets and make speeches and con-
gratulate each other how they are
going to fight vice, and permit the
saloon to exist in this state, because
il is in the saloon, to a great extent,
that the seed is sown and eventually
ripens into crime, and vice of every
character, leading in the end to the
Jail and penitentiary, to the insane
asylum and to degeneracy, to say
nothing about want and poverty to
the thousands and millions of women
and children in this land.
/ know what kind OF a battle this
will be. | fully realize the power of
the liquor element and the Retail
Liquor Association of this state, who
are always on guard and ready to bat
tie for their position. | know how
hard it is to make merchants, bank
ers and business men take an active
interest in the movement, because
they frequently fear that it will in
! jure the market, the store and bank,
and, in other words, all trade. The
| facts are that if every saloon was
driven out of business in Portland,
inside of six months or year the
merchants and business men would
be the ones who would be congratu-
lating each other upon the advance
in every line Of business, and better
payments of the bills of their patrons
To illustrate this, herewith quote
an extract from letter written tC
me November II, 1913, by Hon
Silas Porter, who is one of the judge!
of the supreme court OF Kansas, ant
a man who has lived in Kansas dur
ing the life OF the amendment to it
constitution, and man of great abil
ity and high character. Mr., Porte
writes: Our town, Kansas City, Kan
sas, has over 100000 population. /
is a city of manufacturers. Six o
eight years ago, when they started +
enforce the law rigidly, there wer
something like $50 joints runnin
practically wide open. Many of tn
bars were fixed up in luxuriou
manner and enormous sums were pai
over the bars every day. Many con
servative business men, bankers an
members of the commercial club wer
at first opposed to a rigid enforce
ment of the law because it woul
leave vacant hundreds of building
and apparently would demoralize tn
business interests of the city. How
ever, the law was rigidly enforced
not by trial of cases before juries
but by injunction suits against tn
property owners and upon affidavit
before a judge who granted the in
junction showing n violation Afte
the court had adopted the plan c
enforcing its orders by putting pad
locks on the doors of the buildings
and prohibiting the opening of tn
building until the owner should civ
bond that 1t should never again b
used for the Illegal purpose, and sent
ing the proprietors of the joints I
the Jail for large sentences, not o
= convictions for the sale of liquor, III
derstand, but for violating the orde
D of the court, there could be no juT
trials and convictions were easily ol
! tanned. After these things had bee
u done, the owners of the building
gradually found other tenants and
/ the course OF a few months or pc
s haps a year, the same business me
l. who had protested against the rig
r enforcement of the law came to h
= assistant attorney general and apol
Il gized No disinterested business m,
IT in the city would now be willing
ID have the city return to the old pla
is | remember instances where grocer
| men and other merchants said tn
ID since the enforcement OF the law, al
Is this was said within year thereaft'
a 4. -. na