The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1918-10-24
|SAL0Ohl[ss SETH
ESTABLISHES RECON
Pacific Coast City Experiences COst1S
tions and Results which Arc u
Highly Gratifying.
WONDERFUL BUSINESS GRowrn
Population Has Increased and Ipdlusss
try Thriycs Where Liquor InfluenCo
Is EIiminatcd--Shipbu Succcse
F.xCela.

I lAf12N
years ago Of being the largest city hi
the United States to come under ~
| bone dry Law. The EYES of the world
were focused on this great WESTERN
| metropolis and many were the predie-s
tions that she had taken backward
step and would never gain world SUE
premacy,
| How false these, predictions have
| been may best be proven by glance
at the official reports of the United
states shipping board. which show
that Seattle under an era Of prohib&-S
| ton has gained the top rung OF the
ladder in this country in ship produce
ition, both steel and wood. Not only
has Seattle forged to the front In
] building ships, but has gone forward
! in every other line of industry she has
attempted
Her bank deposits have increased ~
hundred fold; her savings deposito
have more than trebied; crimes have
been reduced to a minimum; all her
former breweries. saloons and other
industries formerly relying directly or
indirectly upon the liquor traffic are
now engaged in essential productions:
/ not single former saloon building
lean be found vacant in the city: -
pointed out above, Seattle now leads
the United States In ship production h:
stands as the leading port on the PA-S
cific coast and has gained an addis@
ltional hundred thousand people since
! prohibition assumed charge there.
Cause OF Change.
/ What has caused this wonderful de-
Ivelopment of the wonderful metropo~s
lis of the Northwest? While severAla
things may be pointed TO as contrib
Iuting to this great upbuilding, Mayor
IDle Hanson, Seattle's energetic and
- III 49,
has been the great and leading factor
(which has guided Seattle's destiny To-
Iworld supremacy and frame.
1t used to be-" said Mayor Hans
son, that when pay day came a great
,many OF our good workers were
tempted by the open doors of our sa-s
.loons They came. they stayed and
lspent their money. What was the res
Esuit? Their poor. innocent families
,were made the sufferers. Their gro~s
Ger bills remained Unpaid. Their pay
tcherk was exhausted by the time III
was necessary to pay their rents. They
either had to move or go further In
debt by borrowing to keep up their
necessary current expenses.
Then came the great light Thes
state of Washington voted dry, while
Seattle voted 900 wet. Our saloons
here were forced to close their doors
dogs. We We're given permission un-s
der the state law TO purchase liquor
from outside the state. This WAS tried
for a year. and while we had rec
moved the greatest menace. the sa-s
loon, we had not wiped the slate
clean.
But with the going of the saloons5
Seattle had not taken her long pre-
dicted step backward Our people
hnr do han sal .r<1tx fr1
changed conditions. They found Other
lines of employment and began ~
realize after all that a great CitYa
could exist without the saloon etcmeHt5
and possibly without any liquor ~
all Our permit system was then voted
on and overwhelmingly carried
throughout the state and for the first
time Seattle became the largest city
in the world under total prohfbitipnss
Z. City Well Satisfied
Would Seattle go back 10 her FOR
mer days of saloons and consequAnt
drunkenness? Emphatically I say
No Were an election to be held
tomorrow. Seattle would vote 80 Per
cent dry, AS she Is today. And why q
because We have found that ~
cheaper and better to live in decency
without the consequent results e.
liquor drinking in our midst. H.
cause we now. have cash to pay orr
bills and do not fear our credftCr4
Because we have seen that liquor wAS
directly responsible for the large ma
jority of disturbances to domestf6
tranquility Because liquor has proves
to be an enemy OF physical manhoo4
as we'll as a commercial detrimentN
Mayor Ole Hanson Is not fAna4tG8
on prohibition. He Is only one Of the
thousands of sober-minded business
man Of saattIa who have coma TT
realise that total prohibition II th47
greatest forward step any municipals
Iity state or nation could possiblXI
take, ~
T. ssA#
The arrival in America 81 the af1