Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1916-11-02
co
over WET OR DRY
DRAWS MANY OUT
Auditorium Crowded to Hear
the Champions Debate the
Question of Prohibition
for Nebraska. 4
SPEAKERS IN BEST FORM
Pummel Each Other with
Phrases to Intense Delight
of Assembled Partisans.
DETAILS OF THE MEETING

Pertinent personalities, rhetorical
broadsides and fluent frivolities flew
thick and fast in super-hot debate on
prohibition between Rev. DR.. Titus
Lowe and Congressman Jacob E.
Meeker OF St. Louis before a mon
strous crowd at the Auditorium Mon
day evening. The huge crowd
packed the big building, hundreds
standing and sitting on the floor when
they could not get seats to hear an
argumental tilt into which the speak,
ers, in their debate on prohibition,
drew upon everything from business
correspondence to the Bible to put
across" their respective points.
The question under debate was:
Resolved, That Nebraska should
maintain its present regulatory license
and local option law, rather than ac-
cept the proposed prohibitory amend
ment."
John Lee Webster presided as
chairman and at the request Of the
debaters read to the audience the pro-
posed amendment. Mr.. Webster
warned the crowd that order would
be maintained when it became appar-
ent that the differences Of opinion Of
the members OF the crowd might lead
to rather warm evening"
Talks About Himself.
DR.. Lowe opened with forty-five
minute talk for the~ncgative. He ex-
planned that he wished to devote few
minutes to answer certain references
he said had been made about him
asI one Of the silk stocking preach
| ers -
He then told of his early life; OF
how he left school and went TO work
when he was IL years old, eventually
becoming handler of pig iron in the
steel mills at Pittsburgh. DR.. Lowe
related his determination,to study for
the ministry, saying that he worked
his way through school by driving
laundry wagons, laboring and in other
4 ways. He said that he went hungry
at times when he was in the theolog-
lical school because he had no money
| to buy food. He closed his prefaced
remarks with the Interrogation Of
whether he was silk stocking
preacher" in the eyes OF those who
knew how he had lived his life.
Present Law Threadbare.
"The present Nebraska law In, re-
gard to the saloon is threadbare, shot
full of holes and should be relegated
to the scrapheap and the proposed
amendment substituted" he declared.
The physical we'll being OF the
drinking man from the speakers view
point was touched upon. "There is
not man who drinks liquor equal
physically to the man who doesn't.
Mentally it is the same. In the United
Estates 65 per cent of the inmates OF
the insane asyl,ims were brought to
their present state because of liquor.
Also a man who drinks never can see
God.
"The saying that booze helps busi-
ness is a gigantic hoax. Booze is the
| UlkkGSt utdWDdSh lCkltiluatC UuoiANos
has to deal with. No business but the
saloon business will suffer If the boss
brewer is ousted"
| DR.. lowe scoffed at the statements
made by the vets on placards posted
in windows about the city as to how
the adoption of the proposed amend.
ment would hurt business.
He introduced a letter from Claire
H. Stannard, manager of the Denver
Electric Light company, in which the
latter was quoted as saying that he
(Stannard) had voted wet, but that he
now saw how prohibition had helped
the city in every way.
According to the statistics in the
letter, tourists spent $20,000,000 more
in Denver this year than ever before
bank deposits jumped million dol
lars month; savings accounts
showed a great increase; collections
were easier than when the city had
licensed saloons.
The late Colonel Blethen, who was
owner of the Seattle Times at- the
| CONTINUED on Page Six. Column One.)