The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1916-04-15
A BUSINESS GETTER
HOW PROHIBITION BROUGHT
PROSPERITY TO ABERDEEN.

BY Charles A. Howard, president
Of the Aberdeen Gas Co., and presi-
dent of the Aberdeen Street Railway
Co.: "A year ago many of Il business
men were rather skeptical and a few
alarmed to some extent when they
thought of the possibility of trying
to exist without the eighteen open
saloons that we then had hourly
pouring onto the streets of our city
men in all stages of responsibility.
However, the feeling that we had had
enough of legalized booze selling was
strong enough among our business
interests to make Aberdeen dry by a
tie vote and after an extremely active
campaign on both sides.
Instead of |iniuring business con
ditions they were improved. instead
Of reducing values of property, they
have increased. instead of driving de
sirable people from Aberdeen. while
we have lost a number of the scum
and tinhorns that formerly infested
the town, their places have been
filled many times over by clean, de-
cent. industrious fellows, who are not
afraid to bring their families to ABB
erdeen to live i'm the absence of the
licensed barroom.
Previous to that time every winter
our charitable organizations were
overtaxed to take care of the demand
for fuel. food and clothing of a large
number of our people whose bread
winners spent all their earnings over
the bar. During the past winter such
charitable organizations as the Sal
walton Army, the Sunshine society
and the Elks Do-Good committee,
have had comparatively nothing to
do and the expenditures by them
have amounted to nothing compared
with former years.
We had some business men a year
ago who voted wet because they be
lieved that the absence of saloons
would for the time being at least ma
terially injure Aberdeen's business
conditions. ] do not today, know of
a business man along the street but
who admits that the dry forces were
right, and who Is not now in favor of
a continuance of the present condi-
tions. The few exceptions to this
rule are some of the former saloon
operators who have rot lost hope
that the city might go wet again and
thus give them a chance to reestab-
lish their business.
The small percentage of the re-
ceipts from the sale of liquor that
was formerly paid TO the city for Ii
cense has been more than offset
financially by the saving in the funds
necessary to take care of paupers,
criminals and insane brought TO those
conditions by the use of intoxicants,
and of course in computing hat saw
ing, we take into consideration not
only the funds distributed through
charitable organizations. but the saw
ing in the expenses of city and county
government.
Some of our most active wet work
ers of a year ago will be among our
most active dry workers this spring.
All this Notwithstanding that the
town of James, ten miles east of Alb
erdeen went wet a year ago and it has
made 1t quite convenient for people
who wanted to buy it, and quite
profitable for bootleggers who wish
ed to handle it, and we have also had
some saloon drug stores that started
in to ignore the law.
We have been falling the bootleg.
gers and prosecuting such druggists
resulting in the revocation of one
druggists permit and at the present
term of court have three other drug
stores on the anxious seat, and an
inclined to think that hereafter they
will be able to get along without the
saloon annex to their place of bust
ness.