Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-03-18
Would Favor Liquor Interests.

themselves of this aid that the liquor
interests are FOR II.
Would Favor Liquor Interests.
a referendum in the District of CO.
lumbia is especially favorable to the
liquor interests. There is a large class
which is most susceptible to the in
fiuence and methods of the traffic and
those who look after it's interests. The
great mass of people here has had but
little, If any, experience in voting
There is no machinery in the District
of Columbia for such an election. There
are no safeguards against fraud. in
tmidation and corruption. and there
are forty or fifty thousand of the pest
citizens of the District who, il they
voted at such a referendum election,
will run the risk of DISTINGUISHING
themselves at their legal residence IN
the states from which they came. 1t
is no wonder that the interest. which
Is fighting with its back to the wall.
should welcome any method that may
bring delay and possibly salvation
Senator Jones pointed out that the
election laws in the states have been
evolved from many years OF experience
and yet in even the states where Sc
we're penalties are provided for viola
tion of the election laws the liquor
interests have corrupted the voters.
Money Used in Texas, he States.
In the Texas election on the question
of prohibition. he said. vast sums of
money had been used. He added: I'm
the Texas election, involving this ques-
ton. vast sums of money were used.
More than year after the election,
when the Attorney General seized the
books and files of one brewery. it dis
closed the fact that fabulous sums of
TN he nla In
the letter files were found letters
signed by Adolphus Busch of ST. Louis.
showing still further the vast sums of
money used in these contests. Here
are two Illuminating excerpts from
them:
1T may cost us millions and even
more, but what of 1t if thereby we ele-
vate our position
II will not mind to give one hun
dred thousand extra If necessary
Criticises Referendum Amendment.
the referendum amendment to the Shep-
pard District prohibition bill offered by
Senator Underwood of Alabama He de-
clared that II gave many loopholes for
easy violation of the law, loopholes
which the liquor interests would not be
slow ITO follow up. He suggested that
Senator Underwood made a mistake in
limiting the proposed franchise to male
taxpayers in the District. and said that
II taxpaying was to be a qualification
the woman taxpayers ought to be al
lowed to vote, too.
He continued:
"All the liquor interests not only of
the District of Columbia, but Of the
United States, are opposed to prohibit
ton in the District Of Columbia, be-
cause they know that prohibition in the
National Capital will accelerate the
movement for prohibition all over the
country. They are all for this referen-
dunn. They are for 1t not because they
believe in 1t, but for the same reason
that they have opposed the referendum
any time heretofore. They have always
opposed a referendum on the liquor
question when the temperance people
were fighting for IT. Never before have
they anywhere asked for referendum
on the liquor question. The only time
they have ever favored 1t has been for
the next smaller unit of government
when the temperance people have been
asking for a referendum in the next
larger unit OF government.
Record in the States.
He said that this had been the history
of the fight by the liquor interests in
Ohio, Maryland, Indiana, Virginia and
other states.
They are for the referendum now,
said Senator Jones, because they fear
the Senate and Congress on a square
vote on the issue will be against them
and because Of the conditions In the
District and through the avenues for
fraud and corruption they hope to win
in a referendum election They also
hope to win in the courts II they fail
in the election. There is substantial
ba sis for that hope. too. If they lose.
IL the vote is against them. they will
go to the courts and contend that the
referendum law is unconstitutional as
a delegation of legislative power by
Congress.
some will ask why the temperance
people are asking for referendum to
the states on the question of national
prohibition and are opposing referen-
trict prohibition. The reason IL plain
to any one who will think it over even