Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 40, Number 22, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 22 November 1907 — PROHIBITION IS ISSUE IN THE SOUTH. [ARTICLE]

PROHIBITION IS ISSUE IN THE SOUTH.

Wav# of Reform Is Not Stayed as It Rushes Over Fair " O Dixie Land. - . CHANGE BENEFITS NEGKOES. William E. Curtis Writes of the Remarkable Impetus of Crusade Against Drink. Prohibition Is th,e only political Issue in the South, writes William E. Curtis in the Chicago Record-Herald. Tho entire population is now lined up on one side or the other. There is no disold parties have put planks in their platforms advocating the abolition of the liquor traffic and at local elections the members of both ere found voting for and against local option and prohibition.^ The strongest argument in favor of prohibition is the imperative necessity of keeping whisky out of the reach of "the reckless, lawless colored element. That argument carried Georgia and is proving equally strong in other States, because it is believed tfiht nearly all the crimes, the assaults that lead to lynchlngs, are due to whisky. Georgia has taken the lead In the movement.' Great impetus was given to it by the race riots that occurred at Atlanta last spring and were provoked by drunken negroes. Georgia has a general prohibition law, and the sale of liquor Is absolutely prohibited throughout that State. In Alabama a law has recently been passed authorizing each county to vote on the liquor question, and a large majority of the coanaies have already voted for prohibition. It Is predicted that the next Legislature will pass a general prohibition law. T In-Arkansas~a similar law prevails," andvsixty out of seventy-eight counties have adopted prohibition. In Florida thirty out of forty-five counties have suppressed all saloons, and the Democratic party has declared for prohibition. This means the adoption of a general prohibition law at the next session of the Legislature. In Kentucky—mirabile dictu—the sale of liquor is prohibited in ait but four of the 110 counties of the State, and even in those every saloon is closed on Sunday. In Louisiana seven-eighths of the counties are dry, and there is a law prohibiting what are called “jug trains.” Before this law was passed accommodation trains used to run from cities and towns where liquor was sold into the “dry counties” on Saturdays so that thirsty citizens could buy a supply for Sunday. Mississippi has had county local option for several years, and in sixtyeight out of seventy-five counties there are laws prohibiting not only the sale of liquor, but it must not be given away. A man may be sent tp jail for inviting a visitor to take a drink with him in his own house. This law is habitually evaded by placing the bottle and the glasses on the sideboard or the mantelpiece, where visitors can help themselves.

South Carolina has recently repealed the dispensary law and adopted county option Instead, and it Is expected that a general prohibition law will be passed at the next session of the Legislature. * In North Carolina Gov. Glenn, who is leader of the Democratic party, is also leader oOhe probMUPU movement and is stumping the State in support of it. In Tennessee liquor is sold lb but three counties. Its sale is absolutely prohibited everywhere else, and the members of the next Legislature from other parts of the State will probably wipe out those wet spots at the next session. In Texas two-thirds of the counties have adopted absolute prohibition and have made it unlawful to give away as well as to sell liquor, as in Mississippi. Prohibition is the principal issue of the campaign now In progress. West Virginia has abolished the liquor traffic In thirty out of fifty-five counties, and prohibition is likely to be an issue In the next oampaign. ’Saturday afternoon the streets of the cities of the South are always crowded with colored people from the country enjoying a holiday and spending their earnings for confectionery, ribbons, gilt jewelry and other useless objects which seem t i> fascinate * them. But, owing to the prohibition law, the men usually go home sober. They consume vast quantities of “soft drinks,” and occasionally get a little liquor from some city friend, but the police arc vigilant and It is very difficult for them to obtain firewater. ’ Prohibition has not made much headway in the State of Virginia so far, but the sentiment Is growing, and the epidemic Is likely to spread over the boundaries of the neighboring States without much delay. Oklahoma, like Georgia, aas passed a general prohibitory law. i •»!■»»'—— Statistics say that the four great corset manufacturers in this country turn out aOOuOOOyOOO of these garments a year.