The American issue. [volume] (Westerville, Ohio) 1912-19??, 1917-03-30


cut out the grating and easy jobs
which were part of the administration
of Freeport during former wet admin
Freeport voted dry in 1914, but the
wet Mayor who was interested hnan-
cially in the liquor business, held over
until the following year when Mayor
Stahl was elected to succeed him on
a strictly dry ticket. In reviewing
the affairs of the city since that time,
Mayor Stahl says:
Never in the history of the city
were the finances in such deplorable
condition as on April l9, 1915, when
the present administration took Office.
There was a shortage in the corporate
fund of S47,322, and shortage in the
sinking fund of So 1874"
Deficit of Wet City Grew Steadily
According to Mayor Stahl, this
deficit had been steadily growing un-
der wet rule for several years, as the
following figures show:
April /, 1912. -. Shortage. S 1888
April 1, 1918. -. Shortage. o.82o.1o
April /. 1914. +. Shortage. le,2s7.57
April 1, 1915. Shortage. 47,32z.oo
Everyone in Freeport knows that
this increasing deficit was due to
padded psyro!ls and other sor,ns ct
extravaganza, including not little
out-and-out grating.
Stahl Puts Finances on Sound Basis
Mayor Stahl set himself at once to
the task of reforming Frceport's
finances. Although the city had a
large deficit of over $47 900 and had
given up over $4,000 saloon license
money, Mayor Stahl closed his first
fiscal year with no deficit and actually
paid $3,735.9l on the old debt. What
else this dry administration did may
be summarized as follows:
Paid off $60,5oo in bonds.
Reduced bonded indebtedness from
SITS, 900 to $z4S,50o.
Reduced deficit in sinking fund,
$z,4s5.33.
Reduced general deficit in corporate
fund, and saved 2l,650.1e on the ap-
preparation.
Effected a saving of $z6,63s.s5 over
the previous year.
Spent, 1915, $4,000 in street i'm
provements.
Spent, 1916, $5o,ooo in street i'm
provements.
Left surplus at the end of the first
year $7,741.25.
These figures, taken from the Off
cial records, show that Freeport, is
immensely better off financially with
out saloon money.
Clears City of Blind Pigs and Dis
orderly Houses
Mayor Stahl lost no time after
taking Office in giving the city a
thorough moral house cleaning. 1t
was a matter of common knowledge
that the previous administration had
made deal with disorderly houses
and received regularly a stipulated
amount in return for granting them
protection.
Speakeasies, during these years un-
der wet rule. ran wide open. There
were a number of lighthouses along
the Pecatonica river, and other SIM
liar places, which were supplied with
fixtures and liquors by the breweries.
These places paid no license fee to
the city, but they gave certain city Of
hciais a rake-off for allowing them to
run. Frecport was known throughout
Illinois as a widc-open town where
drunkenness and immortality Haunted
themselves openly without rebuke.
In less than year after Mayor
Stahl took Office, every keeper of a
house Of ill-fame had been driven
from the city. Carrie Chapman, a
notorious character against whom a
suit was pending by prominent busi-
ness man to prevent her building a
new disorderly house, fed to Chicago
and later sold her property. She was
too wise to wait long enough to dis
pose of it before leaving.
Mayor Stahl had the usual ugly
time with the blind-piggers. In Free
port, as in other towns that vote out