Prohibition In Kansas

To the Editor of the Free Press : Notng in the columns of your daily edition ie present aspect of the liquor questton 11 uur state, of wliich I for a long time as ;i resident, I wish, fr your readers' lenelit, to give m anbtased view of prol)iti()ti as it ikiw exists in this, the state f my latter adoption, wliioli was once as bleeding" bnt now "proliibition" Kan is. Aftcr a long siege of "b leed in;' nd graMhoppan, m datoeod to prohibion iis expounded by St. John. Let us rst look at the monetary side of this uestion a9 it affects Kansas. We have nd andel its "enforcement" nearly live 'ears. In that tim our state tax bas not )een reilueed a dollar. In municipal afairs it is still worse, as no city in the :ate ha9been able to dispense with even ne (xiliceinan, and the revenue fonuerly erived trova granting licenses to liquor iloons for municipal improvemènts, ofcers' salaries and other expenses, must ome by direct taxatinu. This would bc ell enough it It lessened the amount ot Iqaor OOMOtMd ; but it does not. F-r nstanee, in this town re have no saloon; )ut no one who wants liquor goes dry. nd nine miles trom here is a town where thirteen saloons run wide open apported oaly by public oplnloa and its latrouage. Al; over MM state drug-stnro ave sprang up, as it vare, in a ingle niht ; and a teinperauce troupe is ow playing "Ten Nïghts In a Drug tore" turough thn country. To b l short, ie ;-tate consumes imtneusp qu intitles of quor trnm trhteh we do not aid (annot oqalra one cent of revenue. I.ookinr at it in its social phise is anyling but a pleasant picture. In its bearnijs on that part of humanity knovvii as niinc8, it engenders au BBWholeiOflM esire to evade the law, mnkes liars and ven perjuran of otlierwise striightforward men. who teel UiemsHves restrained y a tyranicd law, and bcinjr in a state ot pen rebellón are more apt to drink for p t . Othe rs are hyprditic.il in their lutnods - preach prohiMUen, and carry pint llisk of whisky in ench boot Vc have innumerable clubs, compnsed enerallv of young men whose parents -liink them safe because ''there are no aioons," you know ; a'id wlieu a conignmt'iit of ''merebaodlae" reaches tbaat liils the excesses are jrcnerally revoltTliere are residenrs of this town for wlioin problbitinn w.-is to he a frodsend. l'liey yt look like the bind leg of bad uck a id count as their earthly poaMMiona a yellirw dog and abUck oow. Perhapi v'nliDiit it they iniglit have had two dogs and no oow. Our t malies pnmiised if that law went nto force to turn our i"iiitentiary into a actory and our "coolers" into school lOuses. Welll the "fietory" is a certaiu y, bat the medíanles stillwear stripes, and the last state leirislature has passed in appropriation for .'JOO more cells for he ailditional (OÜ meoliaolo who walk n lock step As to the '"eoolers," we llave them vet, and be assured they are not ir. mi lj to dec iy tlirougli disuse. Tlns, Mr. Editor, is ¦ plsln nnvariiislieil Ule. I sliall not attempt lo inoiuliztï upon it. I k-ave that for your readers. Let ttiein draw their conalusions. Holleaberg, Kan , Keb 26, 1887.