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About The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 1, 1916)
t " f n. '? The Commoner YOU 16, NO. 0 2G n Billy Sunday Renews Rum Fight An Omaha, Nobr., dispatch to tho Kansas City Star, dated Aug. 19, gays: Tho lightning express whizzing across tho continent from Oregon to New Jersoy, dropped Billy Sunday off In Nebraska long onough to make four shrioking attacks on "demon rum," and then caught him up again last night and whizzed on. After tho closo of tho big meetings in Kansas City in Juno Billy and "Ma" and Billy, jr., and Little Paul Wf5nt to a bungalow In tho Oregon mountains to rest. Mr. Sunday is to bijgln a ten days' rovival in Ocean Beach, N. J., tho latter part of this month, and begins a seven weeks' re vival in Detroit September 10. Ottered $1 )() to Mr. Sunday Ono day a committeo from Ne braska arrived with a plea that on tho way across America ho should stop off in this state and help in the prohibition campaign. "I can't do it," said Billy. "I'm tired yet from last winter's work and I've got to begin in Now Jersey right away." Tho committeo beggod him, offered $1,000, started to raise it to two thousand and told him how tho li quor interests woro spending one million dollars to defeat prohibition in Nebraska this fall. "What!" says Billy. "That wea-zol-eyod, hog-jowled, pot-bellied, blear-eyed bunch? I'll go. I'll give you two days and that's all I can sparo; but you keop your money. I don't want a cent. Nebraska has al ready given mo onough." T Whon that got Into tho papers on tho nntiflt t Htartod somotulnrc. A prohibition campaign Is on In British' Columbia and thoy had been trying to got Billy, so down como tho com mlttoes ngaln, and ho had to consont to make a couplo of speeches. Port land had been after him top, and he hid to promise thorn; and' then tho folkB in Hood River, whore ho lives, S(nt, a committeo. "Scorns to us you ought to give Inme folks a chance to near that biozo sermon," thoy said. BMy throw up his hands and sur- INSURANCE IN FORCE December 31, 190G ? 559,000 DJocomber 31, 1908 1,453,218 December 31, 1910 2,641,084 December 31, 1912 4,805,502 Docember 31, 1914 6,580,604 December 31, 1915 7,618,000 August 31, 1916 8,451,683 LOCAL AGENTS WANTED ii every locality in Nebraska and Kjansns. "THE MIDWEST LIFE is a live, Up to date company and. pays liberal initial and renewal commls- sions. Its growth has been steady and persistent. Previous oxperionco ill selling insurance is not necessary. Some of the best agents this com pany has never sold a policy before tiioy entered its service. The Midwest Life , . of I.tneolH, NcbrnHka i N, '.. SNIDLL, President Guaranteed Cost Life Insurance rendered. He packed tho trunks and sent them on to Now Jersey, gave his booze sermon to the home folks .in Hood River, was whisked off to Portland and gave it there, jumped to Vancouver, then to Vic toria, where ho spoke to audiences of ten thusand, then back to patch tho transcontinental express, arriv ing at North Platte, Nebraska, Thursday afternoon, where he spoke to five thousand in a big tent. While he spoke there a special train with steam up was -waiting. As soon as his speech was finished, a motor car rushed him to the special, which gave a wild toot and sped over Or clear track to Grand Island, Neb. Billy, wet with perspiration, took a sponge bath in his car, put on dry clothing and lay back to rest. Reach ing Grand Island just in time to rush to tho tent which was filled with sovon thousand persons, he tore through his booze sermon again, fin ished in time to catch a fast train to Omaha. Paul Sunday Operated Upon Here, Friday morning, little Paul was operated upon for enlarged ton sils and adenoids, and Mr. Sunday watched it safely over, then caught a train back to Lincoln, spoke that noon to three thousand, was hurried again to Omaha, spoke thero last night to five thousand and finished, as wet as if lie had been ducked in the river, with just ten minutes to spare in which to catch the east-bound lim ited, with little Paul and his doctor aboard, too, and Paul showing no bad effects. So, on they went into the night, after four booze sermons in threo days on the coast, and four booze sermons in Nebraska in two days. That is going some, even for Billy Sunday. And he didn't get a cent for it, anywhere. In addition he gave $200 to tho prohibition cause in Van couver and Victoria. He could have got one thousand dollars apiece for eight lectures any time, but he says ho is not speaking for money. In his revival work he takes only what the peoplo choose to give. AH Promiso to Vote "Dry" After each of his four speeches in this state he said to his audiences:- "How many hero will say, 'Bill, on election day I'll vote against the sa loon?' Stand up." And the four audiences leaped to their feet. Tho audiences in North Platte and Grand Island were mixed, but in Lincoln and Omaha they were men only. The state is to vote in November on a prohibition amendment to the constitution, initiated under the ini tiative law. It began with a mass convention, the largest ever held in tho state, last September, to which everyone interested in prohibition was invited. An executive committee of eight persons chosen to manage the campaign was composed of rep resentatives from each of the politic al parties, from organized labor, the Anti-Saloon league and the W. C. T. U. It was necessary to have 15 per cent of the voters in the state sign an initiative petition. Only 37,000 signers were required, but there were 60,000. The amendment, to carry, must get a majority of the vote cast on the proposition, provided tho vote for the amendment equals 35 per cent of all tho votes cast. "Drys" Are Gaining Steadily The campaign for prohibition is conducted by the Nebraska Dry fed eration, assisted by the, Anti-Saloon league and all other "dry" organiza tions. Its headquarters are in Lin- 111 . lii,' k : Jiiiiii Is i ? '-. . mmmmKM. mi IWilMMMaBfi!tI,.U- SOMETHING ABOUT TO HAPPEN Henderson in the Westerville American' Issue. coin, W. T. Thompson is at the. head. It has subcommittees and a branch in each county, and there are five or six auxiliaries in each county. , There are ninety-two counties in tho state. Thirty-two are "dry" -now,, under local option. The state has 378 "dry" towns and cities and 169 "wet." In the election last spring twenty-seven towns with a population aggregating 45,000 went "dry," and seventy-eight saloons in them were closed. This indicates the trend of sentiment in Nebraska, which itf growing in favor of prohibition. But the result this fall is so doubtful neither side is confident: It is ad mitted the liquor interests caused the recent defeat of William J. Bryan for delegate to the democratic national convention, and that they defeated woman suffrage in this state. These tests indicate the strength of-the li quor forces. On the other hand, in the primaries this spring thd "dry" candidates ran amazingly well. In Omaha the "wets" expected their candidates to get majorities of about 15,000, but they only broke' even with the "drys," and everyone was surprised. Kansas a Horrible Example Omaha business men are mostlv "wet," believing the saloon helps business. Lincoln is overwhelmingly "dry" in. sentiment, but has twenty five saloons because Lincoln is a ri val of Omaha in the jobbing business and it is afraid to be "dry" when Omaha is "wet." 'Lincoln would rather be "dry," having experienced two years of it, if Omaha would con sent to be "dry," too. The World-Herald of Omaha is "wet." The Bee is "wet," too. The News is "dry," and will not accept whisky advertisements, but does print the paid arguments or the li quor men against prohibition. In Lincoln the Journal and News are "dry" and the Star "wet." The ma jority of country newspapers are "dry." - Liquor men are waging their fight through "The Prosperity. League." This league is covering the state with literature arguing prohibition ruins business. It, cites principally Kansas .as an example , of how prohibition blights everything it touches. Ac .cordingjq the. "P,rosjerity League, v Kansas jails, insane asylums and poorhouses are overflowing with in mates, banks arq empty, illiteracy and crimo run wild, grass grows in the streets and there is no business at all in Kansas, just because there aro no saloons there. Billy Tells the tfacts It was fun. to hear Billy Sunday take the hide off the "Prosperity League" and its arguments, first he showed its officers owned saloons and breweries. "The arguments of the Prosperity league are all lies," he shouted, and then he gave the actual facts from Kansas, the statistics furnished by Governor Capper. "In Kansas there is not a news paper that will carry a beer or whisky advertisement," he said in his speech here last night. "And in Kansas City Is one of the greatest newspapers in. all the world, the Star, that you couldn't get a beer or whisky advertisement in if you went with a million dollars to buy it." Then he gave the real facts about Kansas, how it has thirty-eight counties without a pauper; sixty-five counties that did not have a man in jail all last year; ninety-six couuties without a drunkard; of its 220 mil lions of dollars in -savings bank de posits; of how, when New .York was on the financial rocks, Kansas sent 55 million dollars to keep her out of the poo'rhouse. "If there is a heaven for fools the fellow who thinks the saloon helps business will be on the front seat, he said. 'He told how prohibition had helpe'l$usiness in Oregon. "The 4an ho will vote for the saloon is, as0l,ow down as the saloon and the jh&wspaper that supports tlie saloon isJasjlaw down as the saloon. Last year twenty-four thousand sa loons w,ere voted out in this country. Prohibition Js, the one great issue .from the Atlantic to the Pacific, The whisky men know 'the roof is au0U? to 'fall in on their heads and' I have A A jmdz . ".wft' .i(.(i,i, ,!L.-.M&ittitLu slMJakU.. ..