Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1914-04-07
LIQUOR INTEREST DIGGING ITS
OWN GRAVE

Inc people OF moline, hOCk lSlduu
and East Moline, ILL.,, should not be
\ misled by certain special write ups OF
n the city Of Ottumwa which are appear.
N ing in the Moline Mail, newspaper
HI owned by Rock Island brewery
k which controls a large per cent of the
VI two hundred saloons in Rock Island
county A youthful reporter from the
staff Of the Moline Mail spent several
II days In this city hunting for material
n to be used by the vets in the local
II option hght now raging in the Illinois
" towns and quite naturally he colored
local conditions to make his stories
meet the demand Of his employers.
Needless to say the young reporter
secured his information from liquor ad-
Il svocates whose efforts to restore the
II Saloon to this city have failed.
DM The liquor interests have painted OF.
Itumwa in notified colors but at that
flthe story does not begin to approach
Ssithat which could be told Of any Of the
lthree Illinois cities in which it is
II seeking to influence the vote. Condi-
tions In Ottumwa are not all that they
might be-: it is true there are num-
Der Of blind pigs" and some vice, but
4 when Ottumwa Is placed alongside OF
\ Rock Island, Moline or East Moline,
this city's morals shine out in pure
k white by comparison.
The liquor interests have made a
ESmistake in holding Ottumwa up as the
"horrible example" of what abolishing
the open saloon results In. They have
I'D the open saloon In Rock Island. What
Al is the result. Rock Island has more
u crime every day than Ottumwa has IN
a week, yes, we can 80 further and
make 1t month. Rock Island coun-
i hy's circuit court has had murder or
Granddaughter trial and sometimes
\more than one at practically every
term OF court Ottumwa has had one
murder trial in the last five years and
one manslaughter case in the last
4 year. Rock Island county's criminal
A docket is piled higher at every session
A OF the grand jury and hundreds OF
4 cases are certified to the county court
N where prisoners are allowed to plead
7, guilty to minor offenses in order that
The circuit court criminal docket may
DE kept down to working limits. Two
}years ago this spring the crazed gamb-
Wing and liquor element started a
series Of riots which resulted in the
calling out Of the national guard and a
declaration Of martial law in the city
lat the request of the authorities who
found themselves unable to handle
the wild blood craving mob. Rock Is
land has dens of vice and houses OF
crime that give its liberal element
the opportunity to proclaim 1t the
'eNvest small town in the country" and
the spirit OF liveness there is not one
for other cities to banker after. The
community is q headquarters for
crooks, burglars, sneak thieves, white
slavers, and barterers in womanhood.
Assaults upon women are Of almost
y weekly occurrence There are hum
dreds of prostitutes. There are numer-
I Gus well known gambling dens. And
on top of it all and with the $4,000
I revenue that the saloons of Rock Is-
land pay each year for the privilege
J of doing business, the city administra-
ton right now and for years past Is
f'hard up" and constantly forced to the
lextreme OF borrowing money from the
banks of the city to meet current ex-
penses until taxes are paid over by the
collectors.
What is true of Rock Island is true
to great extent in Moline and in East
Moline. The latter two places add to
this partial list Of open saloon ad-
| vantages'' large number Of bootleg
4 ging joints for even the open and H.
censed saloon does not satisfy the en-
tire demand. Arrests for bootlegging
in both Moline and East Moline are
not uncommon.
This is the condition that the Moline
Mail wants continued in the Illinois
cities and Ottumwa is held up as a
warning Of what will come with a
change in policy and the abolishing Of
the saloon.
The specific charges against Ottum-
wa are that the city is impoverished
by the loss Of saloon revenue and
that blind pigs" enable boys to secure
liquor which 1t is alleged they could
not do in licensed saloon.% The last
charge needs no answer for everyone
knows 1t is untrue. Boys can and do
get liquor where there are open sa-
looms easier than they can otherwise.
Look up police records in Rock Island
4 if you would be convinced. The other
charge that the city is in financial
atraits, is not without truth, but the