The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1916-06-27
SHOWS HOW FIGURES
HAVE Been JUCCLED
FaIsity In Eastern Liquor Mems
JibeS at Seattle Under Dry Law
Shown Up by Editor,

CharacteriZing as tissue OF mis-
representation and deliberate false
hoods a letter printed i'm the st. Louis
Republic in which derogatory state
ments concerning the effects of the
Washington state prohibition law were
made, G.. b. Blethen. editor OF the
Seattle Times, has addressed a letter
to the editor of the Republic replying
to the allegations. The letter in the
st. Louis Republic appeared over the
signature Of the Missouri Wholesale
Liquor Dealers Association. IL sets
forth that under the dry law the
"bootlegger" has become an institu-
tion In Seattle, that the number OF
arrests Is steadily increasing, that
new drug stores are springing up on
every hand. that rentals have been
reduced, and business has received
severe setback
Mr.. Blethen takes up the charges
one by one in his reply, and offers sta
tistics In each case to expose and re-
flute the Misrepresentation. Mr.. Bile
then's letter deals especially with the
comparative numbers of arrests in
1915 and 1916 under the dry law. Mr..
Blethen's letter follows:
Seattle, May 20. 1915.
Editor the Republic. st. Louis, Mo;
Dear Sir: | have a clipping from
your paper headed Prohibition In
Seattle" and marked Printed May
Is, 1916"
While | hold no brief for prohibit
ton and in fact fought 1t hard
through the columns of my paper,
resent such a mess Of misrepresenta
tions and deliberate falsehoods as you
have published over the signature OF
the Missouri Wholesale Liquor Deal
ers' Association"
The first two paragraphs OF the
communication are arguments which
IL Is not necessary for me TO answer
The third paragraph is wonderful
juggling OF figures In an attempt tc
prove false conclusion.
In March, 1915, only such 'drunks'
as caused disturbances warrantinf
trial and punishment Every man
discovered by the police under the I'm
huence of liquor i'm March, 1916. was
arrested and recorded on the police
blotter for punishment, the old habi
OF letting more than one-half of th'
total number of "drunks" taken In
- x.{I no
day having been abandoned.
Arrests Compared.
The total arrests for crimes, grow
ing out OF the sale of liquor as record
ed on the police blotter, were fo
March, 1915. 1879; for March 1915
1,08S. From the 1916 arrests shoul'
be deducted, to secure the correc
point of view, 40 arrests of liquor pee
pie for violations of the dry law. Thi
leaves March only 1,039 arrests upol
which comparison can be based.
then we add only 800 arrests TO
drunkenness in March, 1915, whicl
did not get to the police blotter. the
the total for March, 1915. is raises
to 1879. March OF this year then wa
marked by almost one thousand fewe
arrests than March, 1915. under tn
wet law. In the first three months O
1915, 5,265 persons were taken To tn
city jail as a result OF misuse OF lie
uor. In the same perior In 1916 ur
der the dry law, and including tn
violations OF that law by the liquo
people themselves, only 1884 arrest
were made, but these figures do no
take into consideration at least on
thousand persons arrested In tn
three-month period of 1915 who's
names did not get to the police bio
ter
The figures relative to the numbe
of permits In the same paragraph ar
accurate, but are used by the liquo
dealers to draw false inference.
was natural that the number of pc
mits under a law permitting the In
portation OF liquor should increase a
private supplies holding over froi
the wet period ran out.
Concerning Drug Stores.
The fourth paragraph speaks of a
increase In the number Of drug store
II Is perfectly true that this did o
cur, but the liquor dealers failed
state that the most of these dru
stores were started up by ex-salool
keepers who hoped thereby to bei
the law. Nor does the Wholesale III
uor Dealers Association tell you thi
several score arrests have been mao
amongst these new drug stores. AZ
that latterly, many OF them have bee
completely wrecked by raiding pa
ties as summary punishment
Finally, in the last paragraph yC
have permitted the publication of
deliberate and willful falsehood ar
added to that false insinuation full
as contemplate and unwarranted.
In community of 100000 souls,
community that is weashv, happy. co
tented. prosperous and progressive
all these things in spite OF the wishe
desires and statements of the liqu
dealers-no possible injury could
worked by the departure even of thr'
~,.c1x xvoaI<hy man opd ctarltrc nJ