The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1914-09-10

l DdCk Oh Jttu itltey aA5V
remember there was SO much broken
glass there that 1t was dangerous to
| go barfooted in the alley, and that
| there were other dangers--notably OF
/ running plump Into some drunken
man, either lying In q stupor by the
| side of the house or staggering aim
| lessly about the alley seeking trou-
BILE We BOYS also knew there was
gambling room over the saloon. ana
that across the alley there was
house, with drawn shutters, which,
when we were out at night. we could
stone with inpunity II we could run
fast enough to escape being caught
but that was thrty-five years ago.
From the time / was twelve until
today / have never lived in q Kansas
town where there was an open saloon.
In Emporia there are grandparents
who have no recollection of the sa-
| loon except when they have seen Ii
casually, as they have seen sirafie or
an elephant. The saloon has been no
eart Of the life OF that town. even
| sporadically. for thirty-fve years
| Young people in their middle twentles
know nothing of the whiskey drug
store except what they are told. as
they nnow of the civil war and the
grasshopper year of 1873 ana tie
great drought OF 1860.
! If my boy, aged fourteen. has ever
seen a drunken man 1t was OUTSIDE OF
Kansas. He IL as familiar with epilep-
! sy or peilagra or elephantiaSlS as ne
/ is with the actual effects Of the saloon
/ on the social system; yet. because the
I i'll effects Of alcohol on the human
body are taught In tho schools, he can
| rattle off a rigmaroie about what
/ whiskev would do for man thaF
would turn to stone through terror the
old Horrible Example or the seven
ties This boy is afraid OF Wnfskey-
SO are all .he children of Kansas
! If the state government should pass
into a despotism that T~?uld introduce
/ the omen saloon by irc-erial decree
the Kansas people OF me generation
now on earth would not patroniZe IL.
/ Not only have they been educated our
/ of liking the taste of whiskey ana 'he
I habit of drinking It, but they nav
I been taught to fear II. This does no.
I mean that every man. woman amt
child in Kansas Is a teetotaler: thou-
/ sands of people drink and there are
drnnkards in the state though pre-
cio1s few OF them. Liquor Is shlpped
into the State by those who desire TO
use IL. and some old-fashioned WoH'ei,
put brandy In their mince pies an"
sherry in their sauces
who is not A third-party prohloi.ich-
fst and who received the vote OF tnt
liberal element IN the five moist couH7
ties of the State, sent an ofhc1al query
To the county clerks OF Kansas, "ht
under the federal law are required
To keep a record OF the shipments o.
( iiouor into Kansas. The query oe-
rnanded IN know how much liquor was
being shipped into Kansas for all pnI :
noses The answers received lndieato
that Kansas consumes per capla,
anpum. one dollar and twenty-I.s9
cents worth of liquor for all purposes.
AS against the average American coi,-
sumption OF liquor OF .wen ny on.,r t
lars a head And among the counties
included In the governors auestion n
nairn were the five humid countries
nert,oned above. If they had been
excluded. probably the Kansas ave-
rage would have gone under ono uoi-
lar. This Is reducing the cohsui.lp-
tion of liquor to a negligible MINI.
mum Kansas has quit anu has a0'N
good and hard.
1t will nay us. therefore, 70 iook a.
the nhys,cal effects Of this abstinence
And naturally one must go at II pacn-
ward to get the perspective Oh -.
The effects of alcohol on person pro-
duce loosening OF the rest a. .a.,,
which hold him to conventions a lew
drinks make a man talk more, suns
more. dance more. swagger more
laugh more swear more, spend moFe'
f9trt more and generally deporf MN
self on a moral plane rather love-
than the average. He Is niue craNs :
n little lazy, a little weaK-Whieu:.. :,
little vicious, a little prodigai, niue
lthrIftless. a little devilish under the
linf,uence of liquor And II he Is ade-
Iouatelv stswed as to his nerve ceiis
land brain areas most OF the ti,Iie'
there are wide areas OF his nina ina ne
act abnormally more or less OF ,I ,r
time So he loses his Judgment. nus
money, his good name. mis- taieh's'
his general poise and balance.
And here also a State Is ltke man.
Given the excessive use OF liquor IN "a
tState. and the. State insane asyiatr,s
Gil mn That state Is losing somethihb
lof ;ts fundamental sanity; the poor
houses fill up. indicating -iaek "a
thrift. the jails become CROWDED inoi
NJ the State. who are as cells OF
oat,ng n moral decay: and the citizens
human body. die rather Garner anu
oftener than they should. A brfef SUIT
yey. Of +he Kansas situation, since she
has won her long. hard fight for state
Isobrtety. seems to show that the ehec.s
of swearing of for State are exactis
those that are seen in a sopered INA
There is not q great difference IN
,onnIation between Cook county MI
ncis and the State of Kansas; yer
ttbero are more Chicago insane in the
Cook county asylum than the insane
the criminals. the boys and girls a.
the reformatory. the feeble-ninded
and the prisoners In Kansas jails and
Ipenitentiaries.
Here Is another curious and illumi-
mating fact: Kansas has fewer muir
lders, fewer homicides and fewer ac-
lcidentaf deaths than any other state,
and this is one of the lowest rates IN
THE world-4.5 for each hundred thou
sand annually. 49,
The effect of the saloon, with its
! commercialization Of drinking, on
murders. suicides and accidents Is too
Iobyious to need elaboration: but It Is
interesting to note that when the sa-
loon goes these causes OF death are
reduced. The vital statistics OF the
various States show that Kansas has
fewer deaths from kidney diseases
than any other State, and the, refa-
ton of whiskey to kidney trouble Is
so well known that this fact alone
proves a low per capita consumption
Of lsu,for. Remember there are one
hundred and five counties in Kansas.
Forty-eight Of these counties did not
send a prisoner to the penitentiarv
last year and eighty-seven counties duo
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