The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1918-08-16


campaign, and to be just as earnest
and active as they were in their bus
mess and they would certainly win
this war. II want 10 see America a
sober and saloonless America when
the boys come home" he said. Re-
marking that he was seventy five
years old he stated that there were
just two things he wants to see be-
fore he dies. The first is to see the
old kaiser buried, and the second is
to see old booze buried, both togeth-
er, face downward, $50 the harder
they scratch the. farther down they
will get"
Mayor Masney Introduced.
Mayor G. R. Magney' of Duluth
laughingly stated that this was the
first dinner in his own honor that he
had ever attended. He spoke of pre-
vious visits to Mankato, and said that
during the six years he had attend
ed school at ST. Peter he had frequent
ly visited here.
Il am not a professional dry or wet
speaker" said Mayor Magney, "but' 1
have had some experience with both
sides of the question, and I have been
asked to tell those experiences. When
the movement for prohibition was
started in Duluth about $4,000 900
every year was going over the bars
of the saloons and only $4,000 IL
cense money was coming back to the
city. The business men awoke to the
fact that this was not good business.
They got together and decided that
from an economic point of view the
licensing of saloons was big mis-
take" Arguments were raised that
Duluth was too big city to go dry,
and many other arguments were Civ
en- by the vets, but at the first cleo
tion there were $50 votes to the good
in favor of prohibition, and the dry
ordinance carried. Within year all
saloon licenses were to expire The
vets got busy and the fight was soon
on for a second time, resulting in a
big victory for the drys, as they were
1850 votes to the good, and since July
l, 1917, Duluth has been a dry city,
and the people there now know what
it means to have the curse of liquor
removed. Then came a petition to
make st. Louis county dry, and it was
carried by $500 majority, proving eff
fectually that no city or spIace is too
large to go dry. The hundreds of
workmen from the iron range and the
lake regions now come into Duluth
sober and leave sober. They get good
value for money spent. Instead of for
booze the three million dollars are
either Saved or spent for useful things.
You can't spend a dollar twice."
said the speaker. eff it is spent for
whiskey it cannot be spent for
shoes. If it is spent for booze it
cannot be spent for groceries. They
told us the grass would grow in our
streets, and that it would be like
living in a cemetery if we put the
saloons out. Every argument they
put up has been absolutely refuted
during the months we have been dry
City Jail Almost Deserted.
Our city Jail is almost deserted.
There have been nights when the
telephone at the police station has
iioI uuS OIlCS. u0Tc Is llLllG nc0Q
for the police patrol wagon. The
manager of the workhouse is almost
out of a job. When we had booze
there were ITO prisoners at the work
house, today there are but twenty
five men there. Superior voted dry.
and the iron range is now practical
ly dry.
Duluth has a population of about
10000 people. In our last wet year
we had 6,719 arrests for drunkenness
and disorderly conduct. In our dry
years we have had but 1,722 arrests,
over five thousand less. The money
that is not spent for booze is no
doubt going to worthy causes, the Red
Cross, Liberty Bonds, or aiding the
country in other ways. Duluth isn't
sorry"
c. A. Chapman of Albert Lea, spoke
on the question as banker, and cor
roborated the points made by the pre-
vious speakers. He stated that bank
ers were on the side of prohibition,
md would be glad to have it come.
Mr.. Greinor told briefly of the fight
m MapletoI, and prophesied that
Blue Earth county will be dry after
the coming election.