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The Commoner
Vto. 17, NO. 10'
12
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License or Prohibition?
MtAT I.fWi Failed in the State of Ohio
?,
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i- ByrJi H Socrost, formerly assist
ant secretary of state and member of
AM'fa Liquor License Board of Ohio.
v JByconstitutlonal amendment and
statutory enactmont, Ohio has con
structed, system, of licensing the
traffic in Intoxicating liquors. Briony,
the system provides there shall not bo
more than one saloon to each Ave
hundred population; that the traffic
shall not bo licensed in any locality
While any prohibitory law is oporative
thoroin; liconso shall not bo granted
to .any porson who is not a citizen of
tho United States and of good moral
character; provisions were incorpor
ated to oliminato brewery domination
of the traffic; licenses are renewable
tach year and aro rovocablo upon
second conviction for violation of laws
br regulations; licenses aro granted
by, and local administration is had
through, county liquor license boards,
tho members of which aro appointed
by a state commission who may re
view their acts, and tho members of
tho state commission are appointed
by tho governor. -t
These aro the prlnclpahteatures of
Ohio's license system, referred to by
many as a "model licensIS' law," and
recommended, in lieu of prohibition,
as tho solution of tho liquor problem.
It is upon this system thatUho editor
of The Commoner asks"ne to write
and ho propounds the question, "Has
the liconso system of Ohio proved a
success?" I was a member of the
first state Liquor License Board ap
pointed under this system. This
hoard being the high court and
charged with administering the sys
tem, it was my privilege to observe
the operation of the system from a
point of vantage accessible to but
few.
It has had a trial under both polit
ical parties. First, the democratic
'party was charged with inaugurating
it and then administering it. After
two years, the affairs of the state
were turned over to the republican
party, their tenure lasting two years
also. The first governor was neither
an avowed wot or dry. The second
governor was an avowed dry. Under
these circumstances who will deny
that the system has had a fair trial?
It has been in force approximately,
five years who will deny that it has
had, a thorough trial? i .
Has it proved a success ? Lot me
.set forth its purposes. The advocates
of license, in urging its adoption,
gave assurance that:
1. it would stop agitation by
solving tho liquor question.
2. Jt would destroy brewery dom
ination of tho traffic.
3. it would destroy bootlegging,
tho speakeasy rfnd blind tiger.
4,iIt would afford control of the
traffic which could regulate the sa
loon and saloonkeeper, thus destroy
the baneful influences of tho saloon,
and, through the inhibition against
the immoral character, it would put
the traffic in respectable hands.
5. It would remove the saloon
from politics.
These aro the" arguments which
influenced its adoption at a special
election held September 3rd 1912.
In the measure it has accomplished
these ends, has the system succeeded
or failed. Let mo address myself to
each item in the order I have num
bered them.
It has not stopped agitation be
cause it has not solved the liquor
question. Since the adoption of the
system we have had two state-wide
prohibitior campaigns, and are now
in tho throes of a third. Of course
it will be urged that this agitation
is due entirely to a few agitators. If
the question were solved, agitation
would fall of its own weight. But
the fact is, the prohibitionists ex
perienced no difficulty in securing
signatures of ten per cent of the
voters in order to get their amend
ment upon the ballot in 1914. In
1915, a year later, it was still easier
for them to obtain more than this
percentage, and. this year, it was an
easy matter for them to increase the
numbor of signatures again. More
over, in 1914 the majority against
the prohibition amendment was 84,
000, but in 1915 this majority was
cut down to 55,000. If the license
system solved the liquor question, it
would certainly become harder, in
stead of easier, to secure signatures
for prohibition amendments. If li
cense proved a solution, is it not
reasonable to assume that the ma
majority againBt prohibition would
increase instead of decrease? Since
the adoption of the system, Beal law
elections, (so called after the author
of a law which permits municipali
ties and subdivisions to vote dry)
have been resorted to all over the
state in order to got rid of the li-
ECZEMA
Also Called Tetter, Salt Rheum,
Pruritus, Milk6 Crust, Water
Poison, Weeping Skin, etc.
For fifteen years I have been treating one disease
alone, ECZEMA. I have handled over ono million
caes, I do not pretend to know it all, but I nm con
vinccd tho disease is due to an excess of acidjn the
blood, and closely related to rheumatism and cancer.
Eczema is called by some people Itch, Tetter, Salt
Itheura, Pruritus, Milk Crust, Wecpinr Skin, etc. I
am fully convinced Eczema iff a curable disease, and
when I say it can be cured, I mean just what I say
C-U-R-E-D, and not merely patched up for a while to
return worse than before. It makes no difference
what other doctors have told you. or what all you have tried, all T nsk t in.t
chance to prove .to you that this vast experience lias taught me a great deal that
would be of help to you. If you will write me today I will send you a free trial
rPv tT llKm
DR. CANNADAY
Ecxama SpocJallat
far IS Years.
dropping mo a postal today is likely toive you more real comfort in a week than
you over expected to enjoy again. Do it right now, your very life may bo at stake.
J. E CANNADAY, M. D., 1413 Court Bk., Sedaiia, Mo.
Ittfr$e: Third National Dank, Stdalia, or ak your banker to find out about mt
SmmI tkk Mtica to tome poor sufferer from eczema. It will be a kind act by yew.
censed saloon. Ashtabula, a city of
20,000 population, recently held
such an election aqd 'the licensed
saloons were voted.. out. In 1915
the brewers presented, an amend
ment to the constitution which, if
adopted, would, have prevented re
peated submission oi prohibition
amendments. They..took the posi
tion that license had solved the
question and, therefore, agitation
should cease. The amendment was
defeated by sixty-four thousand ma
jority. In view of these facts, who
would be so audacious as to sincerely
contend that it has solved the liquor
question? The only estoppel to any
agitation is . solution, and license
has not been accepted by the people
of Ohio as a solution of the liquor
question.
The brewers still dominate the
traffic. In the state auditor's office
is an abstract of the liquor license
duplicate of Plamilton county, one of
the largest counties in the state.
This abstract shows that, In this one
county alone, the breweries own 144
pieces of real estate in which licensed
saloons are conducted. Similar con
ditions prevail in other counties. In
addition to this, it was my experience
while a member of the State Liquor
License Board, and i is a known
fact also, that the County License
Boards in the counting in which are
located our largest cRfies, And their
greatest difficulty in maintaining a
harmonious balance qf irade between
the breweries in their Respective dis
tricts. Though the," Saloonkeepers
were inveigled into .suWorting the li
cense amendment d$ 'the agents of
the brewers with promises ' of free
dom from the brewers domination,
they now find they can not exercise
any independence whatever.
Bootleggers, speakeasies and blind
tigers still flourish. During the two
years I was on the state commisssion
we prosecuted 373 unlicensed persons
or bootleggers, most of them were in
wet counties. Reference to the re
ports of the state commission show
that they had 502 such prosecutions
for the year 1915 and 902 for 1916,
the most of these cases being in wet
counties. The record shows that un
der license, the number of bootleg
gers has increased instead of de-.
creased. Men of this character,
though they may not be able to ob
tain a license from the state, experi
ence no difficulty In obtaining sup
plies of wet goods, which enables
them to engage in tha traffic illegal
ly. When it is considered that it was
the liquor interests -who financed the
campaign for license, claiming they
wanted regulation, whb still urge it
as a regulatory measure, the hypoc
risy of the propaganda Is manifest.
It is undeniable so long as a source
of supply exists, speakeasies and
blind tigers will flourish.
Nor has the system destroyed the
baneful influence of the saloon, or at
tracted men of good character to the
traffic. Upon the inception of the
system, we were able, by refusing li
censes to the proprietors, to wipe out
of existence 1,493 disreputable
places. Ainongthem were 309 sa
loons with wine rooms frequented by
girls and women, 75 saloons in, or in
connection with,, houses of prostitu
tion and Lsslgnation, 1T5 Saloons in
the red light distric
garded this as a gr
rection of law. order, decencv and
temperance. But what advancement
has been made since then? A survey
of the daily papers with their daily
reports of arrests and raids will con
vince any one that when one objec
tionable place is wiped out, another
takes its place. Last April the County
License board of Franklin county or
dered certain hotels to close rooms
frequented by girls and In which li-
prietors carried the case to the courts
and the court hold that the license
board could not successf ully maintain
such a prosecution of the proprietor
This shows that they not only exist
but have succeeded in obtaining the
sanction of courts.
The number of prosecutions of li.
censed places for Sunday violations
sales to minora and hahituals, and vi
olations of state and federal laws is
constantly increasing. For the year
1915 the state commission reported
81 such- prosecutions by them, and
for the next year they reported 125.
Which shows that in one year the
number of licensed persons to be ap
prehended by the state board for vi
olations increased one-half. These
figures do not include the many ar
rests made by city and county police
for, the same offences. The truth is,
men are licensed to engage in the ne
farious business who, under the li
cense system, as in the past, ruth
lessly break and defy the law.
In January of this year the city of
Columbus waL startled with one of
the most revolting murders in its
history. The woman's body was found
in a room strewn with empty bottles.
Withiri the last few weeks, in Day
ton, another murderer, when appre
hended for his crime, cried, "I did it!
I did it! I was drunk!" In Lima a
mob crazed with drink, attempted,
and almost suqeeeded in lynching the
sheriff. Wherever booze is sold in
the state, similar revolting instances
may. be found but why multiply
them! Who doubts, unless it be those
who profit by the traffic, . that the
baneful influence of booze can be
eliminated so long as the traffic is
permitted, whether licensed or un
licensed? ;
But of all the contentions made
for license, the one that it has re
moved the saloon .from politics Is the
most preposterous. Since the incep
tion of the system in this state,
there have been held two elections
to elect governors and state officers.
In the campaign of 1914 it was fre
quently charged by the republican
candidates, the democratic party be
ing then in power, that the system
had been used to build a political
machine for the advancement of the
democratic party. The republican
party was successful, and no sooner
had the elected republican governor
b'een inducted into office, than h3
addressed a communication to the
two members of the State License
Board in which he demanded their
resignations, giving as his reason for
bts. and kare
Mf nton 1t tho rH-Ttl
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