Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1915-04-20

aenartment and for charity $l,565,o-e
--three-fifths as much as appropriated
III West Virginia for the purposes oe
fore stated. Take Baltimore, with
bonded Indebtedness of s7S,sou,uuo'
and a revenue from saloons OF ssoo'-
600. and a tax rate reaching Sls2 on
fhe hundred and expending annuaiiy
81 400. 900 to maintain her ponce de-
partment, with 5472 charges OF drunk
enness and 1851 charges OF disor'
DERBY conduct annually.
Comparisons.
Compare the figures OF the cities
given YOU with the average rate III
West virginia for all purposes, inciuo-
ing state, county and district ana
municipal. of .96S on each $l0o valua-
tion for taxable purposes-a state with
the lowest average of any in the
Union. And next to West Virginia Is
Kansas, a prohibition state for many
years.
Take again che states OF OHIO, Penn
sylyania. Maryland, Virginia and Ken
tucky-our neighbors- The average
pavment for every citizen for state
government is as follows: ONO,
1888: Pennsylvania, 1911; Maryland,
s5.27; Virginia, 1922; Kentucky, s5.S5.
Compare these average figures with
the average for West Virginia OF
s2.14. Our neighbors ara wet and we
are dry.
II is not right, however, to con-
slider the question from monetary
standpoint Men. not money, are tne
real assets of a state. The happiness
and the general welfare Of its citi-
gems are the first obligations OF the
state. The generation growing up IN
West Virginia, its future men ana
women, will grow into the full stature
or MANHOOD and womanhood without
knowing the open saloon, having
healthy bodies, clear minds and clean
morals, will be worth more to the
state than all the material wealth
Such a generation will be an asset
more to be desired than gold, yea,
even more than fine gold, Compare,
ii YOU can make such comparison, the
S650,00 of annual revenue from the
LIQUOR business with a generation OF
boys and girls, men and women, that
knows not the saloon. Compare the
S650,000 of revenue that the state
might receive from the liquor bust
ness with the sum of $15,000,000 that
formerly went out OF the state an
nually to purchase and bring liquor
-hn+ MI
What good did it do when brought
here? What can be said for it? Did it
really make for happiness-it might
have made somebody feel good one
day, but very bad the day after. 1t
brought crime, even to the extent of
murder. It. more than any other fac
tor, is responsible for 1899 men, most
of them young, being today in the
state penitentiary. 1t, more than any
ether factor, is responsible for 225S
being in the state asylums today. The
criminal court of Mcdowell county,
from it's creation until after July LIST
last. never had a term without MUIR
der case on it's docket. That court,
before the first of last July, sent, on
an average. 16 men to the penitentiary
every term. That average, since July
LIST last, has fallen so per cent. In the
county of Berkeley, since July l last,
the grand juries for two terms of
court returned no indictments-some-
thing that had not occurred in the
prior history of the county.
Women and children are wearing
SHOES this spring who never knew
shoes before; this winter women are
warmly clad who heretofore went in
thin and scanty garments.
repeat, the state is not going back
to the liquor business; or the other
hand, in the language Of the command
that came to the Hebrew children by
the Red sea, it will go forward"
1t is a pleasure to tell YOU, and a
matter in which you, the citizens of
the county of Harrison and the city of
Clarksburg can well take pride, that
your county and municipal officers
have earnestly endeavored to enforce
and efficiently have enforced the pro-
hibitory laws.
To my mind, the state Is much in
debted to the Anti-Saloon League OF
West Virginia for it's splendid efforts
to enforce the law The league has
achieved splendid results and con
tributed in many ways to successful
enforcement. Its state superintend,
ent, Mr. George W. Crabbe CT Charles
ton, has been untiring and unsparing
in his efforts TO enforce the law.