New Britain herald., 1916-09-27

no-lcense movement were not con- cerned in the plan of bringing Chief Egans men here is generally be- ieved. The results of their activities showed the possibilities of the growth of "speak easies," should the town put the saloons out of business and strengthened the argument that pro- hibition as applied to the liquor C = = ton Is a misnomer and does anything but prohibit.
 The liquor dealers deny that ttey had anything to do with the coA- plaints but they claim that the re- suits shows the true state of condi- tions, making it apparent that the town should pay more attention to the enforcement of laws already on creation of new ones.
 With the Italians there is consid- erable bitterness because of the whole sale arrests of their countrynen. They declare that had the men ar rested had proper advice they would have retained council with the result that some of them would not be con- victed. Ignorance of the application of the law is advanced as the reason for their pleas of guilty. That some of the men in court made business of Sunday selling without @ license even for weekdays has been gener- ally known for a long time although the local police apparently made no move to arrest them. With the others, friends say, a question might be raised.
 Tn Mexican Prison.
 Information has reached here con- corning the imprisonmen in Mex ican prison of Howard L. Elton, who who number of years ago was a resident of Plainville. Mr. Elton, who has been working as a mining engi- neer for many years in Mexico, is son of the late William l.. Elton, who was a professor of music in his day. He has 8 number of friends in Plain vile.
 According to information secured by the state department, through the request of friends of the unfortunate engineer MT Elton was arrested and sentenced to death for aiding the re- actionaries." The sentence was com- muted, however, and he was given g. term of twenty years in prison. Mr. Elton is alleged to have purchased ore stolen from a mine confiscated by the Carranza forces, his. arrest re- sulting. His friends declare that he had no knowledge that Nle metal had been illegally taken from the mine.
 The state department has known of the case for months and Secretary Lansing advised relatives that care was taken to see that Mr. Elton had a fair trial Pressure has since been brought to bear, however, and the , case is to be further investigated.
 MT. Elton is a former resident of Waterbury, where he lived for a num- Der of years after leaving Plainville Relatives are attempting to get people acquainted with the family to com- municate with Secretary Lansing asking that everything be done to bring about the mans release, provid- ing he is still alive, so many changes having taken place in Mexico since he was sent to prison, that no posi- tive information as to his fate has as yet been obtained in this country.
 Argues Against License
 Another series of arguments against the licensing of saloons, pre- pared by leaders of the "drys," are incorporated in a statement presented to the Herald today for publication. It follows:
 What Does Plainville get out of the saloon business?
 She gets between $500 and s1,40O per year in revenue.
 In order that she may get this, the patrons of the saloon pay about s33,- 500 over the saloon bar. Who gets the profit?
 The town of Pla1nville gets shame ful list of court cases. One has out to be a casual reader of this list to see where the large portion of these cases come from.
 She gets a decreased property valua- tion and a lot of poor shacks m