The American issue. [volume] (Westerville, Ohio) 1912-19??, 1922-10-06
LITERARY DIGEST POLL
INVESTIGATED" IN N. Y.
New York A. S. L. Brings Out
Some Remarkable Features
of Lop-sided Poll
CHURCH SHY ON BALLOTS
New York City Press Do Lick
spittal Stunt for Outlawed,
Vile Liquor Traffic

The Literary Digest says in its final
returns that ballots were sent to 33.7
per cent of the electorate in New
York State, including all telephone
subscribers. As everyone knows the
result Of the vote on the questions
as submitted by the Digest was
gratifying to those opposed to the
enforcement of the Prohibition law.
The Digest has insisted that the bal
lots were distributed without discrimi-
nation. The New York Anti-Saloon
League set about to discover to what
extent church-member telephone users
received these ballots. The result OF
the investigation by the Anti-Saloon
League shows conclusively that either
the ballots were not mailed to church
voters in the same proportion as to
others or else that they were lost or
distracted after they were mailed.
On September IS the New York
Anti-Saloon League mailed to the g.
647 state pastors on its working
list (of denominations committed to
Prohibition and enforcement) a re-
quest that on Sunday, September II,
each pastor at his most representative
service count the adults of voting age
present, the number of those having
telephones, and of those who received
the Literary Digest ballots. Re-
sponses came from 377 churches,
which number is as large a percent
age of returns from pastors the first
week as the Digest received on its
ballots in about ten weeks after un-
parelleled advertising both paid and
free. In 63 of these 377 churches no
ballots at all were received in 90 only
one or two ballots were received A
very few pastors responded for more
than one church and about the same
number could not be counted because
they gave merely percentage with
out figures, or reported mo ballots re-
ceived" without reporting the voters
present.
The original letters are on file i'll
the New York Office of the Anti
Saloon League and are. subject to
inspection by any person having a
legitimate interest. They show that
of 2o,364 voters counted and reported
as present by these pastors. only L.
o80receiyed Literary Digest ballots as
reported by the voters. themselves.
According to. the 1877 per cent claim
of the Digest 1865 Of these 2e,364
voters, should have received ballots.
There were 1902 telephones re-
ported, with 50 churches emitting this
item. Using the average for those
omitted, the total number of
telephones from the churches report
ing would be 1862; that is, ia per
cent of the Church Part of the claimed
387 per cent of New York state voters
received ballots; and 1856 per cent of
the claimed total OF telephone sub
scribers received them.
The results of this investigation
were compiled and sent by the New
York Anti-Saloon League to the news
papers of New York City. These
papers for the most part refused to
print anything concerning the ques-
tonnaire and the one or two mention
ing it at all so abridged it as to make
it appear a totally unsupported state
ment. Their refusal to give the re-
suit of this investigation any publicity
adds to the general conviction that it
is utterly impossible for Prohibition
to get square deal in the overwhelm-
ing majority of New York City news
papers. Here is case where the
papers generally said that the Digest
vote was the most comprehensive and
conclusive expression of sentiment on
the Prohibition issue that the country
had been offered and yet they refused
to print, not assertions but actual
figures, backed up by an offer to ex-
hibit the actual letters that prove the
unreliability of the poll because of the
fundamental fact that the dry forces
of New York did not receive one-fifth
\lbf their prcportionate quota of ballots.