Iditarod pioneer., 1916-08-12
Advertising Rates on Application
TIE PROHIBITION DISCUSSION


 stead of discussing the alleged abndgement of personal liberty m >,yed in tie prohibition of the liquor traffic and the loss ' Alaska aes of from licenses with which to man schools and pay municipal expenses the disclosure of coh alleged prohibition territory seems to occupy the attention of the uopag&n almost exclusively These are com cndabe or dannabe according which side they vicwss from It ereShng therefore, from these and read discussion effects cf prohibition where 1t has beer tried for months by who, whether his statements b' biased net eIucnty nes to present the facts as they are " C. B Brhcn editor of the Seattle Times who bitter opponent the prohibition law when it before the voters o state Washington has remarkable Slgnet article the his paper of July 7 m which he makes some startling and backs them with ocl hgueS h> article led forth by signed by the Missouri Wholesale pcagrs Association regarding conditions m Seattle winch Nuh.d St. Louis newspaper MT behen quotes the letter as follows:
 ry immediately fl owing the advent of prohibition in Wash ngton aa4 before that no,trm had opportunity to lay its clutch upon the community, antioloonSs busy lnlct- ing upon the American public lengthy l$udoons of the alleged 'woudcr workings of prohibition.
 the months roll by however, hear less and less of Seattle yoiotlon The is found in the reports of city and county officials in the Puget sound metropolis.
 Nhl January only 94 for drunkenness re ported seattle prohibtion could not proclaim too loudly that the millennium of virtue had been reached This in the nsc, those weeks before the bootegger and the other cl of prohibiton had opportunity introduce the public. Today however they almost an inu1 From 9+ arrests in January the number increased IT. q February, and more than doubled in March, the
 eing 29 The latter record only 66 arrests behind that of Iatc 1915. This slight difference, however, IS more than ot e by the number of "home drunh that always aouno dry communities In the face of official records there can be no question that home drinking the In January only PLY permits for the importation of liquors iad This number increased to +209 m tebuary and G250 n March.
 One of the most noticeable results of 'prohbiton the great increase in the number of drug stores in King county where Seattle situated Within three months they have been increased by 65.
 Fi, ncalv Seattle has suffered greatly Many have left the y and settled elsewhere including three of her wealth. jest bu-ines ". k. Boeing D. E. Skinner and J C. Eden Many have been vacated and in those 4ls been reduced 10 p per according Henry BroderlcE one Of the largest dealers in rentals in seattle
 Mr Blethn reply to the above which was also published the St. Louis newspaper, was as follows:
 Editor The Republic St. Louis Mo
 Dear Sir: l have clipping from your paper headed Prohibition in Seattle, and marked Printed May l5 l9l6 While hold brief for prohibton and in fact fought It hard through the columns of resent such mess mrepreentaons and deliberate faEehoods you have published the signature of the Missouri Wholesale Liquor Dealers Association.
 which it is necessary for to answer The third sragra is wonderful juggling of figures in attempt to prove false conclusion. In March, 1915, only such drunks recorded the police blotte caused disturbances warr9ntng trial and punishment Every discovered by the police under the influence of liquor in March 9lG was recorded the police botter for punishment the cid habit of letting than onehaf of the total Der of runk taken of jail obeng the next day having been abandoned
 Arrests ComparedThe total arrests for crimes growing o he sale of Hquo recorded on the police blotter for March. 1915 169; for March, 1916, JOSS. From
  point of 49 of liquor people for violations ot the dry law This leaves March only l039 arrests which paIison be based If then add only 300 for drunkenness in March, 1915, which did not get to the police botter then the total for March 1915 is raised to 1879 March of this then marked by almost one thousand fewer than March, 1915 under the wet law" In the first three months of 1915 5265 taken to the city a the result of misuse of liquor In the period in 19l6 under the dry law and including viola tion that law by the liquor people themselves only 2554 made but these figures do not take into consd eraon least thousand persons arrested in the three months period of 1915 whose did not get to the police bloer
 The figures relative the number of permits the paragraph accurate but used by the liquor dealers to draw false inference It was natural that the number o permits under law permitting the importation of liquor should increase private supplies holding from the wet period out.
 Concerning Drug Stoes-The fourth paragraph speaks of in the number of drug is perfectly that this did but the liquor dealers failed that of these drug started up by exsaoon keepers who hoped thereby beat the law Nor does the Wholesale Liquor Dealers Association tell you that several have been made these drug that attey many of them have been completely wrecked by raiong parties summary punishment
 In9Iy the last paragraph you have permitted the pub catun of deliberate and Wlful tasehood and added to that false nsinuation fully contemptlble and ranted In community of 330000 souls, community wealhy happy conented prosperous and progresve-al things spite of the wishes desires and statements of the Equor daersno possible injury could be worked by the departure of three such wealthy and sterling citizens Messrs Boeing Skinner and Eden. But these have not left Seattle They never intended to leave announced their intention of going, and though ndg nant the treatment they accidentally received at the hands of jealous officials still Seattle and expect to main here indefinitely.
 Business Has ncreasedNow, instead of suffering greatly financially Seattle in bank cleangs, bank deposits and vol ume of business of every kind excepting the handling of liquor has vastly increased since the coming of the dry regime January first of this year not attempting to that the dry law caused these things. merely stat ing has happened No whatever have been vacated result of the dry law Somewhat than 300 saloons closed and all but very few of the locations occupied by these have since been occupied by entirely business houses Naturally the which shoe store candy store speciality shop pay old saloon location is less than could be afforded by the displaced bar No other rentals