The Muskogee cimeter. [volume] (Muskogee, Indian Territory, Okla.) 1901-19??, 1917-01-13

rome "dry" last month IL the following
story had been printed in the Detroit
News, and other papers, before, instead
o. after. the election. The News has
just sent George L. Miller. a staff cor.
respondent, TO Maine, the original
dry" state. After thorough iDvesti.
ration. Miller reported that prohibition
ia Maine is failure. Writ'aG from
Portland, Me-, he says:
You can I'll the palm % your hand
with water and retain II there in plain
s cht as long as you choose to hold
your hand still. Bat II you strike that
RAIN with your other pain where Is
tcc water? You will not have destroy.
e. any OF It. 1t will remain in exist.
eace, lu' ere VIII 1t be?
"That, ID Sheriff William NJ
rnunoll, Of tlis county Of Cumberland.
a. the il'ast.ation used to use in the
{ - when : was actively in politics
and nrderily exposing the fallacy OF
prohibition. II is a graphic iliustra
{ on. Under proh.bi.ion yoI can close
the saloon. But you can't stop TIE
traffic in liquor. Ycu only scatter IL.
You multiply tho kitchen bars, you
start up the bootlegger, and | know
from my own experience and obserya.
ton you draw into the trade in whisky
ard beer numberless children aud
Prohibition Is Wrong.
81 think few men know more about
the evils of intemperance than /. |
have been sheriff eight years in ell
II prohibition would stop intemper.
9ncc ard cure the evils Of IL ! woulf
20 a prohibitionlst. Eut II does not.
and prohibition are not
anonymous terms. Although | am
Democrat. that is n point on which
10 not agree with Mr.. Bryan. He
speaks az IL the two words meant tho
same thing to him. Either he does
not know or he Is inslnaere. think
he does not know how the great mass
o! tho people live.
when | was elected sheriff last
tire ran against man who had been
earnest In trying tn suppress the trai
Ic IN liquor II WIS claimed he had
made Portland a dry town. | charge
during the campaign that at lsast 75
Italians were conducting kitchen bars
IN tho city. He said there were not
that many. Yet between January /.
when | went into Office, and the first
o, the following Msy | had 72 Italians
in court for running that kind of a
bar, and did not get all OF them at
that The principal of one OF our
schools, in a position to know some.
thing about the subject. said at that
I me there were not less than 1000
school children engaged In one phase
or another of tho rum business. They
were used as solicitors, spies. loohouts
and carriers. Blow was the word they
shouted to each other on the approach
o. a deputy sheriff, and they cou,d PASS
the word through n district Almost rs
fast a. by wireless telegraphy. They
made II extremely difficult to detect
the trade In liquor through the kitchen
bar.
"They talk about a state constab-
ulary. We have tried that once.
though il was so long ago that ! do
not know much about the way II wors
ed. But we did have the Sturgis com.
mission. which fatter myself was
provided largely for my Geneht.
then was sheriff here, as ! am now.
That commission was created by the
state legislature for the ostensib.e pur.
pose of enforcing the prohibition law
1t had funds and force OF deputies
and IL went into every county In the
state except this one. went before
that commission OF my own voiition
and told them l knew they were play
ing favorites in their prosecutions.
said | KNOW and | am here to tell
you The commission did not last
long, although II spent large sum OF
money and did not suppress the liquor
traffic.
They Like This Sheriff.
4, IL am a temperate man, but not q
teetotaler. I have held the Wow for q
long time that prohibition Is a failure
and have preached my convictions
wherever ! was. was first elected
sheriff in 1902 and ran for reelection
cn the platform that prohibition is a
failure and was reelected. That was
in 1904. In 1896 | ran for the third
time and on the same platform and
the same arguments and again
Wps elected this time nv tho larpast
majority OF all. the county at the same
time going Democratic for the first
time in so years.
when speak OF insincsrity I recall
the action of the ministers OF West
brook, city In this county. They held
q meeting one evening to discuss the
liquor traffic In their town. I heard
OF It and attended. ! was bitterly