Show IS PROHIBITION A FAILURE To the Editor of The Herald My attention has been called to some statements recently made by Mr Warren War-ren Foster the editor of the Populist rer newspaper of this city at a meeting newIper rkngml to the effect that of the worMngraen < te efect nrohibition was a failure in Kansas rohibiton at the position taken I am surrise < poiton two reasons Frst for Foster reaons r thy I leaders of the the great ail leaer nearlY iarSf ef the working t party as well as te workng P nulft a societies and a great majority mans 50cletes rank and file favor prohibition fle of the rnk statements as to Fosters statement > vrr F a ecoflC1 Fotrs plottbitlon in Kansas of prohibition Kansa the resul prohibion t f t conflict with the comu direct are 1atvc il evince confC tle leading citizens of tat stare thait the people of Utah may In order themselves the incorrect for te see clerly conclusioas and FoSters concushms m ir 3 1I Fosters of the success of J I 4irther e1dence of te r i below one of the t j Mbitiofl I append upon beloW that subject t utterances 1 I f u t L4 t y f r from the January 1895 number of The Agora a quarterly magazine published pub-lished at Topeka Ran The article is from the pen of Hon Samuel T Howe who was for two terms state treasurer of Kansas and is now president of one of the largest banks in Topeka The article is quite lengthy and I quote only the most sal sa lent features Temperance a defined denotes moderation in the indulgence of all natural appetites and passions and ha always been counted one of the cardinal virtues While by modern usage it has not lost its general significance sig-nificance yet it has come to be considered con-sidered more particularly in relation partcularly relaton to the use of strong drink and has almost al-most become a synonym for antialco holism total abstinence and the like This gradual popular restriction of the term and its antonym Intemperance to the use of intoxicating liquors indicates in-dicates that in the public mind moderation modera-tion In the Indulgence of that appetite is of supreme importance No other question is of such deep concern t the family and to society It is admitted by the friends of prohibition that if the evils recited affected af-fected only intemperate persons the right of the state to interfere would be questionable but i is certain that every one of them ha more or less a direct bearing upon public interests and they are therefore properly subjects sub-jects of governmental concern and the public have a right to demand such legislation a will extirpate the cause if such a thing be possible Another argument made against prohibition pro-hibition is the loss to the state of the revenue which would be derived under a license system as i the public cons con-s were to be bartered for dollars and cents The argument is really too contemptible to deserve attention but let us think of i a moment The coffers cof-fers of the state to be enriched by the hardearned wages of the poor victim of the drink habit for upon him rests I the burden of the license ta And In that connection there inevitably I come to us thoughts of careworn wife anJ mother In scanty attire and the hungr and illclad but innocent chil dren Will the people of Kansas tolerate tol-erate such an argument The question may be safely answered in the negative nega-tive In considering the results of prohibition prohi-bition necessary brevity limits the discussion to Kansas The adoption of the prohibitory amendment in November Novem-ber ISSO was productive for years of a tentative experience and it was not until 18S5 that the laws were so perfected per-fected as to bring the desired results t From that year dates the successful working of the law By successful 1 working is not meant complete enforcement i I en-forcement for in the nature of things no such result can be expected anymore any-more than can complete enforcement of the law against crime When the violation of any law either human or divine entirely ceases the millennium will be almost here What Is meant by successful working is that the law from 1885 to the close of 1892 constantly operated to reduce the quantity of li liquors sold As to the effect of iitemreance or perhaps i would better be said of the liquor traffic which is maintained by intemperance upon the politics of the country it is not necessary to pay much for every thinking citizen has knowledge thereof The unscrupulousness unscrupulous-ness of liquor dealers everywhere and I their corrupting influence upon poll tic are proverbial The persistence I with which they wage their degrading warfare has been well illustrated in Kansas That the effect of intemperance upon morals is bad wouli btj testified to affirmatively by every observing citi zen who is honest In addition to being be-ing a vice itself It is a constant factor in the production of crime The percent per-cent of crime caused directly by the habit of strong drink or by causes to I which it is auxiliary is nBver paced I below sixty and often as high as seventyfive The influence of immorality immoral-ity resulting from intemperance and the liquor traffic is not confined to the circle of victimsvof strong drink but Is diffused throughout society and the body politic with contamination to everything it touches I The only complete remedy for these evils Is a removal of their cause and i is indisputable that this can only be accomplished by prohibiting the sale I of liquor as a beverage I is only in recent years that the principle of prohibition pro-hibition has received much consideration considera-tion from the public Previous to its formulation into law in certain states regulation or restriction and moral I suasion were depended upon to check I the rapid spread of intemperance but I were found to be inadequate and it I became necessary to seek more effective effec-tive measures and the idea 1 legally prohibiting conceived the sale of liquors was The Brewers Journal of New York I City in 1S91 published a table of statistics sta-tistics in which it was shown that in 1886 there were sod in Kansas 17S2 barrels of malt liquors In 1S92 by the same authority the sales has d = creased to 1648 barrels which was a reduction of 90 per cent In 1893 there were 2677 barrels sold an increase over 1892 of 1034 barrels or 93 per cent The voice of the people at the late election was heard none too soon During the same period in Nebraska rder a license system the sales of nt liquors increased from 84838 ba rels in 1886 to 156457 barrels in 1893 an increase of 84410 per cent Contrast the records A decrease in Kansa3 of 84 610 per cent and an increa e in Nebraska during thp same per od of 84 410 per cent And i should Toe remembered re-membered that this is the testimony of the metropolital organ of the liquor traffic Surely this alone is sufficient to show the effectiveness of rroh bitioa In lessening the evils complained of I Is claimed by opponents of prohibition that the deCrease in the sale of malt liquors has been at the expense of an increase in the sale of distilled spirits Let us see about it There are no exact ex-act statistics upon this point but straws show which way the wind blows According to the internal revenue reports Kansas in SSO contributed con-tributed to the total collections from the manufacture and sale of spirituous liquors in the United States 1 34100 I per cent In 1891 the contribution was only 4 74100 per cent In 1890 which Is I the last year for which figures are at i hand Kansas contributed to the co I lectlons above named only 3 cents per I I capita Nebraska Including North and South Dakota SL79 per capita I The logical conclu ion is that thA decrease in the sale of distilled spirits in Kansas has almost if not quite kept pace with that of other liquors GEO F GOOJ > WIN Salt Lake City March 14 1895 |