The Detroit times. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1903-1920, 1916-06-23
Golfers N ails Cam
paign Lies About
Dry State
CITES CASE
OF WICHITA
Bank Clearings AL
most Quadrupled
4 Since 1907

The crop OF Booze lies about Kan
sas is In full bloom again, which
prompts Golfers, In It's current edi
ton. to take UP the cudgels on be-
half Of that much-maligned western
state. The Montana Commercial
and Labor League" under which
name the liquor organization dis
guises itself In Montana, where there
u to be a vote on state wide prohibi-
tion this fall, Is the particular OBJ
5ect Of Golfers attack.
Golfers, IL seems, sent man TO
Knnsas to write up the facts in 1911.
He found that prohibition mad been
3 paying investment, but not wish
ing TO rely too much on ancient his
tory, the magazine has doGe II all
over again, the information being
gathered in 1915. Instead of n COM
parison, IL found a contrast,
First, quoting its 1911 editorial, 1t
says:
wichita. a few years ago. was the
Gibraltar OF the saloon in Kansas.
Its saloons were running years atter
the Kansas law went into erect
Deals were made at state conven,
through promises OF open saloons Tor
wichita. The protest was long COM
ing, but IL arrived. and. IKE many
other reform movements of the day,
arrived with momentum. A dry
mayor was elected. Heavy penalties
for violation OF the law Were exact
ed. The saloons died hard but nnsi ma.
the saloons closed. the bank clear.
ings OF wichita were N,2oo.ooo
weekly, In three years they had nad IN IN
creased to someshins eyer over s ss;9Ug;o uSS.
as freely predicted, has steadily
barely. 10 per cent OF the population
8 wis ts. eeD ass nos to no ss very
would favor it. One newspaper
changed from pro-saioon to anti
haS Increased 5000 copies. Msr-
chants declared that their collections
increased. Workmen were paying
weekly for insurance. Before the
insured workmen were in arrears
Within a short time after the on
forcement Of the law these arrear-
ages had disappeared and many were
Even then. Kansas YVES a pretty
good argument for prohibition, but
see what Golfers has to say of the
year recently closed:
II we were writing our 1911 wich-
tfa editorial today we should have
last year OF wichita's saloons was
1907, when bank clearinRs were $685.
000, For 1915 they were sis6.l3t.-
600. w.chits.s rank Deposits in 1907
Gin the same month"; siS.S.s.oo
tWichita's property valuation In 1906
the year before the saloons closed
va. sHi:sss;aso, non In ,h hsls The the prop.
was s74.453.s4s; Now. these figures
DO not prove that the property In a
town Is bound TO be tripled land the
nninps arS years.; but 0 they DO prove
the stupidity of the argument that
booze brings prosperity and that a
dry community dries up. IL the
whisky people want 10 argue against
prohibition. they can hunt up some
plausible arguments for their case;
but they'd better leave Kansas out.
These facts are printed, Golfers
says. to call the. attention OF the vot-
ers to the lies emansting from liquor
campaign headquarters. This is
what II has to say of dishonest ad-
vertising In this connection:
Montana votes on the liquor ques-
Z ton next November, and its newspa-
Z pers have been printing quarter-pag,
advertisements OF doleful prophecy
financed by booze. One such in thu
Missouia Muscular" paid for b,
the Montana Commercial and Labor
. League" alleges. among other start
ling facts" that Kansas. n prohibi.
states cited by the world Almanac
a. having the largest mileage OF
improved. roads" II Montana should
70 dry" viii Montana roads &C
hcissr' anu