The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1917-01-05
Wet Legislators Are Expected
to Obey Peoples Initiative
and Adopt Law.
IOWA'S MEASURE ISN'T
STRONG ENOUGH
Solons Are Seeking to Put
Things Up In Such Way
That Liquor Will Be Ban
ished From Nebraska.

Lincoln. Neb., Jan. 4-The Ne
braska Legislature is hunting for 9
Statewide prohibition law that will
prohibit When one Is found 1t will
be incorporated into the Nebraska
laws by the wet State Legisla ture
which has already been instructed by
an initiative vote to make the ne les.
sary changes in the State constitution
But no halfway prohibition Law
will suffice the Nebraska prohibition
lists. 1t must be guaranteed and
warranted to keep John Barleycorn
beyond the confines of the State and
to be SO free from legal loopholes that
the bootleggers cannot crowl through
and flood the State with booze. Dry
members OF the State Legislature are
investigating the prohibition laws OF
other States for statutes that will &C
tualIy prohibit, and If this is found
the new Nebraska law. which will be
convenes in January, will be patterned
after 1t.
Wet Solons Elected
Nebraska was one of the four West
ern States which went dry at the No
vember election. But while the dry
amendment was passed by a good ma
jority. a wet Legislature and a wet
Governor were elected But the Legis-
lature, under the law. must obey the
initiative vote and enact a stringent
prohibition law-must make 1t a part
of the constitution, In fact. And Gov
ernor-elect Neville, although a wet
has let 1t be known that he will en-
force the very driest law that can be
placed on the books. Neville was
elected by the vets, with the as
sistance of a great many drys, In the
hope that he would wink at violations
of tho prohibition law. BHt-new the
vets, as well as those drys who be-
lieve in prohibition for the other
fellow but who desire to have their
own booze shipped in by express. find
themselves up a stump" Neville
and his attorney general are to en-
force rigidly the new law.
The Iowa brand Of prohibition will
not suit the Nebraska drys. Omaha
and other Nebraska cities along the
Missouri River have seen how easy II
is for the Iowans to. get around their
strict laws and get the booze ordered
by telephone and telegraph delivered
by special messenger or by express
the same day 1t Is ordered. They have
seen too much liquor sent into the
dry city of Des Moines every day.
They Say that in Sioux City a case
can be ordered by telephone and de-
livered In half an hour from some
where, they know not from where.
Nor will the Colorado prohibition
laws be made a pattern for the Ne
braska law. The drys who keep their
eyes open have seen the big business
In liquors carried on by Nebraska
with -paapar-and-nther Colorado
cities. and they know that the Colo
RADIO laws, while stringent, do not 40
tually keep the booze out OF the State.
Not Dry Enough.
North Dakota's prohibition laws,
also. are not looked upon with favor
by the Nebraska prohibitionists. A
very short investigation in that direc-
ton developed the fact that North
Dakota uses st. Paul. Minneapolis
Milwaukee and Chicago as outflttina
points and that booze flows into that
state from those four cities.
Nor will even the prohibition laws
Of Kansas be satisfactory to Nebraska
prohibitionists They havs seen the
ease with which Atchison ana Leav-
enworth get their booze; they have
heard of the bootlegging that goes on