The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1916-09-14
Great Importance Of One Vote
Is Shown BY Returns From
Territorial Polls.
WILL KEEP ORGANIZA-
TON FOR ANOTHER TEST
Straw Poll Of Soldiers Shows
Them To Be Favorable To
Abolition of Licensed Hotel
Bar; Mining Camps Strongly
Dry.

Dawson, Y. T.. Sept. Had four
Dawson ministers, clergymen OF the
Church of English, been at home on
election day this territory would have
been carried for prohibition. AS II
was, the vets have a majority of
three votes, according to the latest
figures.
The ministers were away from
home, looking after the Indians. The
one vote in a exceedingly close con-
test.
The drys have slight hopes OF some
alteration in their favor In the official
count which will be made by the five
returning officers of the five electoral
districts.
1t is possible the drys will contest
the election, in which event a recount
will be made by Judge Of the highest
territorial court bench.
Notwithstanding the closeness of
the count, the drys declare they are
greatly pleased with this. the first
prohibition contest ever held in the
North, and say that had the women
been allowed to vote and the Yukon
company of soldiers at Vancouver, the
drys undoubtedly would have won
with a substantial majority. and for
that reason the preponderance OF sem
timent of the territory today without
doubt is in favor of prohibition.
They are hopeful, their leaders say,
that British Columbia will go dry the
l4th of this month with big major
ity, which they declare. would mean
the making of the last of the Domin-
ion provinces dry. excepting Quebec,
which is now "a per cent dry under
local option and that in such an event
n EaIerai
doubt put through the Dominion
wide prohibition bill which last year
received large support. and that such
a bin would carry Yukon through on
the tide.
Yukon drys, however, say they will
retain their organization and are pre-
pairing to make the next Yukon leGis-
1ative contest along prohibition lines
making party issues second to prohi-
bition. Some political leaders already
have espoused the dry cause. Some
wet leaders are among the leading
politicians.
The wet strength in this issue was
strongly in the French Canadian vote,
which carried Granville and North
Dawson by large matorities, which
the drys could not white down. The
town of Dawson, which has twenty
one bars to 2.100 people. went wet by
siXty-eight majority which the drys
say was chiefly due to local sympathy
for those in the business.
Every bar is required to have
hotel attached, and the contest was
to abolish the licensed hotel, which
is the only form of saloon in the
territory. Creek roadhouses also were
centers of sympathy for the vets,
gaining them considerable strength.
Three out of five districts or coun-
ties of the territory went dry. The
dry counties are Southern Yukon or
Whitehorse District Klondike District
and Bononza District. The wet coun-
ties are North Dawson and South
Dawson. The wet ma jority of North
Dawson was forty-seven; South Daw-
son, twenty. The dry majority in
Bonanza District was fifty-two; White
horse District, three: klondike Dis
| trict, nine. Polls in the territory car
ried by vets, thirteen; by drys, nine
| teen.
The mining districts were notably
dry The last returns in were from
Mayo, which gave majority of ten
votes for the drys. Dawson drys
claim they would have won had the
straw vote of about two to one of
Yukon volunteers at Victoria been
counted.