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Show P JOHN P, ST. JOHN DIES INJUNS AS - Famous Prohibition Leader f ' Who Caused Kansas to Be- come a Dry State. Olathe, Kas., Sept. 1. John P. St. i John, a candidate for the presidency J on the prohibition ticket in 18S4, - twice governor of Kansas, and one of the most widely known temperance advocates In the United States, died hero tonight He was 83 years old and had been in failing health since a heat prostration two months ago, while on a speaking tour. John Pierce St. John was one of the most widely known temperance advocates in the United States. He was a candidate for nrpsld prohibition ticket in 1SS4, and served two terms as governor of Kansas h 1S79-1SS3 during which Kansas be-to' be-to' came a prohibition state. " Describing the fight for prohibition In Kansas, Governor St. John once said: "The brewers had only themselves to blame for prohibition in Kansas. The first step toward a state-wide movement was at their suggestion. Mr. Fiery, a minister, introduced in the house a high license and regulation regula-tion bill. It stood a good chance of passage. To defeat it the brewery agents suggested the people be given an opportunity to vote on state-wide prohibition. Of course, it was not the purpose of the brewers to submit prohibition at all. But the coup to kill the high license bill killed the saloon in Kansas. "The prohibitory amendment was submitted to the senate and passed. The house was to kill it The brewers brew-ers had it all figured out. Enough members favored high license, but not prohibition, they believed, to defeat any attempt to submit the proposition proposi-tion to the people. The brewora guessed wrong about public sentiment. senti-ment. ! "Every influence was brought to ' bear on house members by the brew-i. brew-i. ers. I was governor, but I couldn't keep out of the fight. Violating all r precedent, I left the governor's of- fice to help fight the battle on the house floor. ffo "The day for the vote came. Tho ijlj' galleries were packed. The politicians j tried hard to avoid a vote byhiding. I The sergeant-at-arms was busy rounding them up and bringing them into the chamber. Finally tho vot-I vot-I ing was begun. The silence was intense. in-tense. We needed one vote to get the necessary two-thirds to carry the proposition through. We did not know how to get it. All at once Mrs. ; Greaver (the wife of one of the mem. ; bcrs), started down the aisle to her j husband's dqsk. She stopped before him, and seizing his hand in hers, I pl?aded u ith him. I " 'For 1 iy sake, for the sake of I your children,' she cried, 'change ' your vote. Do it for my sake, for my '. sake, no matter what you believe.' "Greaver changed his vote, whilo v the building shook with cheers." f Born at Brookvllle, Ind., February i 25, 1833, St John served as a captain i and lieutenant-colonel in the Civil war, and settled in Kansas, where ho j became a member of the state senate. sen-ate. He became a political factor when he won a fight to displace United States Senator Samuel E. I Pomeroy. Pomeroy and St. John had i been personal friends, but the latter I became displeased with tho way Pomeroy conducted himself as a sen- ator, and thereupon championed : John J. Ingalls, Pomeroy's opponent, who won. This made St John a leader and resulted in his election fa as governor. Wji,, He was called a "traitor" when he deserted the Republican party and I became a candidate for president on the prohibition ticket in 1884. During his campaign he was burned or hung in effigy more than 500 times. He was twice shot at, but unhurt. Many Republicans attributed the defeat of James G. Blaine for president to St John's entrance into the 'race. In 1912, notwithstanding his advanced ad-vanced age, he stumped Kansas for woman suffrage, declaring that when women had the vote they would have prohibition. In 1914 he campaigned in the east for prohibition, estimating that up to that time he had, alto-getber, alto-getber, traveled 350,000 miles and delivered 4,600 speeches in behalf of the prohibitioncause . When he was in the Kansas capitol he inaugurated the first "water banquet," ban-quet," with the result that liquor has been under taboo in the Kansas state house ever since. |