Fulton County tribune. (Wauseon, Ohio) 1883-1925, 1917-02-16
OFFICIAL REPORT
FULL OF INTEREST
SmdSheS Claims Of Ohio Liquor
Men. /.
LAWLESSkESS ON INCREASE

Report of Inspection Department o.
the State Liquor Licensing Board
Shows That In the Ten Counties
Having Majority of Saloons of the
State Were Two-thirds of All liz
quor Cases Prosecuted and TWO
thirds of All Fines Assessed For IL
quor Law Violations.
Columbus, OFF Ohio's license law
tends to discourage speakeasies and
bootleggers, If saloonkeepers are men
of good moral character as the law
says they must be, and if lawlessness
on the part of licensed and unlicensed
dealers Is decreasing, there is nothing
in the annual report of the inspection
department of the state liquor licens
ing board to show it.
On the contrary, that report shows
that during the past year 125 saloon.
keepers were prosecuted, and an even
100 were convicted. The year previ
Gus there were SO saioonkeepers pros.
ecuted and 81 convicted.
During the past year, covered by
the report of the board the state in
spectors prosecuted 902 cases against
illicit dealers and secured 726 convic.
tions, as compared with 696 cases
prosecuted and 435 convictions the
year previous. The fines assessed
during the year covered by the report
aggregate $143,327 as against SS6,91a
for the previous year.
The cases prosecuted included
Epeakeasy keepers as we'll as licensed
dealers and totaled 1.027, or nearly 8
for every day in the year. The total
convictions were S26 or more than
2 for every day in the year. The
cases covered by the report are those
only prosecuted by state inspectors.
and do not include the cases prosecut.
ed by local officers.
! The seven largest counties in Ohio
in point of population are Cuyahoga,
Hamilton, Franklin, Lucas. Montgom-
cry, Summit and Stark These coun-
ties have big cities and these cities
are full Of licensed saloons. Three
other unusually wet counties are the
! river counties of Belmont. Jefferson
and Columbiana These ten counties
constitute the paradise of the wet in
terests of Ohio.
AS these ten counties have more
than a majority of all the saloons Ill
the state, and as the liquor men argue
that saloons decrease illegal selling,
one would expect to find few prosecu-
tions and convictions in these wet
counties.
However, according to the report OF
the inspection department. in these
ten super wet counties there wern
e79 cases prosecuted out of 1,O27 in
the entire 88 counties. In these same
! 10 counties there were 553 convictions
out of 826 in the entire SO counties,
In these 10 wettest counties the fines
, aggregated S9S,OS3 out of the $143,327
assessed in the entire estate. In other
words, two-thirds of all the total fines
assessed are in these 10 counties,
wnere more than majority of the
: model saloons of the state are located.
During this same period covered BIZ
the report of the inspection depart,
ment there was not a conviction in
q Harrison county, considered the dry.
! est county in the state Neither was
| there a conviction in Morgan county
= said to be about as dry as Harrison.
!. If Prohibition increases bootlaggers
: and speakeasies and saloons decrease
these pests, why are prosecutions and
convictions more numerous where sa
y !, looms are thickest, and why do they
dwindle to practically nothing where
. there are no saloons?
v The report Of the inspection depart
e ment proves the contention of the
drys that license increases bootleg
ging, that speakeasies are most pro
D. life where saloons are most numer
ID Gus, and that license and lawless
y y ness go hand in hand.