The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1918-03-28
THURSDAY, MARCH %, 1918.
Booze and the Towns.


got along a year without single MUIR
der. With their saloons working un-
der cover rather than under license
they have gone through a year of al
legged prohibition and some people Of
the towns have found that it is worth
while to at least force saloons to work
illegally Some Others ard they are
mostly men who have fattened out of
the saloon and it's product want these
towns to legalize the saloon again. The
people of the towns are going to vote
on it at the election to be held on next
Tuesday.
At the outset it is admitted that Pro
mbition has not prohibited in these
towns. Evidence is not lacking that Ii
quor has been sold and sold i'll large
quantities in the towns but even with
this admission there are lot of peo-
pie living in Somers and Pleasant
Prairie who have seen an improvement.
They have been free Of the nuisance of
drunken farm hands, they have seen
without being wholly under the in
fuence Of the road side saloon, they
have seen little peace on Saturday
nights, they have not seen the trail
Of blood which formerly was very pro-
minent in Pleasant Prairie. They know
that the regulation of saloons has done
something to improve conditions. They
know that this regulation has been
Intellectual at many times. They know
that men have sold liquor, that men
have taken government licenses and
placed them in out of the way places
in the cellars of places and that Of
fcials elected by their votes have wink
ed at violations Of the law
Men in these towns who believe in
the regulation of the saloon know that
they have been double crossed by the
men who were supposed to enforce their
laws but at that the majority of the
people of these towns are not yet ready
to go back to the open saloon.
They are going to insist that men
who want to sell liquor in these towns
must do it with the understanding that
they are "blind-piggers' that tbey are
violators of the law and that they are
liable at any time to arrest and pro-
secution. Tt may be that juries can be
secured to acquit these men when they
are arrested and tried but still the
voters know that something has been
gained by making the saloon an outlaw.
A lot of men who were formerly
favorable to the saloon, who believed
that it was unfair to interfere with
personal liberties Of people have
changed their view. They have found
put that the saloon man cares nothing
for the will Of tho people, that he is
willing to violate the law just as long
as he can get away with it, that he
is willing to sell liquor to drunken
sots every time he gets a chance and
these men are now demanding that
these towns remain technically dry no
matter if they are practically wet
Men in these towns who believe in
the enforcement of law believe that
some time town officers and county Of
Geers will be elected who will respect
the law even if they do not agree with
it and that when this time comes that
Dry Pleasant Prairie and a Dry
Somers will become a reality,
With the nation turning from the
flesh pots Of the drunkard and the
man who trafics in the drunkard s woe
It is hardly possible that an enlighten-
ed people such as is to be found in
these towns is going to turn back the
wheels Of progress and again legalize
the sale of liquor.
If Pleasant Prairie and Somers must
have saloons let them continue to be
outlaws. The United States Govern
ment has opened great training school
for fighting men on the very limits
of Pleasant Prairie and the opening of
saloons in that town would be an in
vitation for unpatriotic men to de-
hauch these boys. Pleasant Prairie peo-
pie do not want to be a part of such
debauchery. True enough the people
have been double crossed. The peo-
pie have not beer given what they de-
manded but the way to cure this is
not to vote in the saloon but to vote
out the officials who have failed ut
terly to keep their oaths of offices and
uphold the laws,