The American issue. [volume] (Westerville, Ohio) 1912-19??, 1917-10-26
Proposed Constitutional Meas
ure Fails by S87 Votes
STATE STAYS DRY
Saloons Will Not Be Reopened as
Result Of Election
BOOTLECCERS GIVEN CREDIT

The voters of Iowa at the election
on October Is failed to adopt the pro-
posed dry amendment to the state con-
stitution. Early reports indicated
that the amendment had been carried
by large majority, but the complete
figures later gave the opponents of
the amendemnt a majority of about
800. Voters in the rural sections fa-
vored the amendment but the large
river cities piled up big majorities
against its adoption.
cause of the narrow margin by which
the amendment has apparently been
defeated.
Iowa has been dry for almost two
years under statutory enactment. A
large proportion of the state had
been dry for long time previously
under law providing for the estab-
lishment OF saloons only with the con-
sent of 65 per cent of the voters.
Iowa Not Voted Wet
The result of the election on the
proposed Prohibition amendment does
not change the present Iowa situation
so far as the sale of liquor is con-
cerned. The state did not vote wet
but merely failed to make the dry
law permanent by constitutional
amendment. The saloons will remain
nailed shut At the recent election,
the voters merely failed to clinch the
nails: -.
Before saloons can be re-established
it will be necessary for the Legisla-
ture to repeal the present dry statute.
1t is not likely that the vets will be
able to elect Legislature in favor of
re-opening Iowa saloons. The vote
on the amendment was too close to be
accepted by politicians as popular
reputation of the Prohibition policy.
The vets of the nation are hailing
the Iowa result as an indication that
the dry wave is receding. The Cham
pion of Fair Play, the leading Chi
cago liquor journal, in reporting the
vote in Iowa, says:
"E-E-E-Yow! Yes, brother, it is
true. Iowa, dry old Iowa, is coming
back-coming back to sanity"
In explanation of the result, the
Eo:. D1o,,
Wet Victory (7) Explained
"What caused the changer we
hear you inquire. Prohibition! The
putting of the peoples natural liber
ties in the penitentiary of Prohibition.
That's what did it. Conditions under
bone dry in Iowa were highly in
tolerable. 1t became a crime against
the laws of the state and nation to
buy a bottle of beer. Those who
wanted drink were compelled to buy
it from a bootlegger, horse doctor
or boundary packer. The stuff that
was being sold in Iowa under most
extortionate prices would burn hole
in cement walk"
A year ago the vets announced that
Iowa must be recaptured for their
cause. They referred to the fat
pocketbooks of Iowa farmers and
avowed that the state must again be
declared open to the liquor traffic. A
heavy wet vote in the large cities came
as result of the desperate efforts be-
ing made by the wet forces to recap
ture Iowa. If the recount shows that
the dry amendment has really been
lost it will give the liquor forces con-
siderable comfort but very little aid.
The verdict on the saloon question in
other places will not be influenced by
the indecisive vote in Iowa. And as
for the saloons coming back to Iowa
they have about as much chance to
return as the timber wolves of the
states pioneer days.