Arizona republican., 1915-05-02
ACHIEVEMENTS
 OF SINGLE YEAR
Address of R. L. Morgan, President of the Temperance Federation of Arizona at the Second Annual
 State Convention, Phoenix,
 Arizona, April 27, 1915.


 by being chosen it's president The organization was made up by tenn perance people of all denominations and the idea was to get together and make Arizona dry. and today l beg leave to report to this, the second annual state convention, that Arizona is dry
 At our first state convention, a year ago proposed amendment to the constitution of the state was drafted and agreed upon. and every delegate to that convention returned to his or her home pledged to get behind the amendment and movement and assist in the eradication of the saloons from our state and forever brand the liquor traffic as an unlawful business.
 Prior to the birth of our federation. the temperance forces over the state had been scatteringly attacking the traffic. but with little avail. You were successful only in patches, and experience taught you that if you were to have effective prohibition it must he state wide prohibition and you realized that in order to win in a state wide movement there must be a union of forces-a combining of strength. With this prevailing opinion and conviction among the temperance people over the state our organization was created and we now recall it's his Oric achievements
 By the loyal and faithful co-opera- tion from every part of the state the amendment was initiated and placed upon the ballot. and then came the memorial campaign. The issue of wet or dry oVershadoWed every other issue laay, ,lD .1..y. forces and their allies came into the battle with unlimited funds and the mails were sWamped with their litera- lure in an attempt to stem the tide against our cause. We met their mis- representations and attempts to scare and frighten the citizens by facts and figures presented by our organi- zation through the press and on the stump and result the voters stood true to their honest convictions. and by q majority of more than three thousand the state voted dry. As soon as the result was known the amendment was attacked and assaiIed from every viewpoint and legal tech nical angle, both in the state and fed eraf courts. By four separate bills in equity the enforcement of the amend ment was sought to be enjoined, and in each of these cases an injunction was denied and the several bills dis missed.
 As a result of the courts decision. on New Years night over six hundred licensed saloons and two large brewer ies in the state closed their doors in obedience to the law, and what has been the effect?
 Have the campaign prophecies and li.f g,F true. or have we as a state been benefited by the result They told us that if the state voted dry busi- ness would be demoralized and ruined: hat the people would move away: that newcomers would turn back. and that the tourists and health seekers would pass on to California. What are the facts?
 While there is general depression all over the country. it must be ad- mitted that business conditions in Arizona are as good as in any wet state in the Union. We are all here who were here when the state went dry. and we see new faces every day. Nothing has gone except the "chain gangs The superintendents of these gangs, who received from one hundred to one hundred and fifty dollars per month, have been dropped from the public payrolls. No drunks and there fore no more chain gangs
 The police force here in Phoenix has been reduced from tWenty-four to fourteen members. saving of not less than One Thousand Dollars per month, or twelve thousand dollars a year What else happened?
 We are informed that the expenses for hO1 rdino jail have been reduced from three to four hundred dollars month, say ing of forty eight hundred dollars per annum, and in the words of the city magistrate in his official report to the city commission. the business of the city court has been materially lessened since the taking effect of the prohibition amendment as far as drunkenness is concerned Reports come to us from all parts of the state that similar conditions may be found in all of the other cities and towns over the state.
 The bar docket for the october term of the federal court shows that there were siXty-three persons un- der indictment for selling liquor to Indians. and the local press informs us that since the amendment went into force there has been only one or two cases of like character in this court. With these. record facts glar- ing us in the face. can it be said that prohibition doesn't prohibit?
 It is a notorious fact that on Sat urday night. following the closing of the saloons on New Years night, the bakeries and meat shops here in Phoenix, for the first time in many years. ran short of meat and bread Grocery and other stores report larger cash receipts
 The ten million of dollars which has heretofore been annually spent over the saloon bars of the state is now seeking the channels of legitimate business and being spent for the ne cessaries of life. Thousands of poor families over the state. from which a large percentage of these millions have been taken have heretofore been neglected by the fathers and husbands who spent their earnings over the bar. Today these families are better fed and better clothed. and whore tbara was nncp gloom in the