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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 1, 1916)
THE BEE; OMAHA, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 1916. 13 POLITICAL APTBBTT8EMEST. rOI.mCAI, APTEKTHKMENT. fOIlTlfAL ADVEKTIKHMIINT. POLITICAL AIlTiraTISEMBNT. POLITICAL ADVKBTlgKMENT. POLITICAL AUTERTtEKMFXT, POLmCAL AHVTOTIBEM1WT. A dam Is Mo Stager Its Weakest IM n Tine Proposed Prohibitory Amendment Is No Stronger Than Its Weakest Phrase This map is worth studying. It shows what would happen IF the citizens of Omaha listen to the dry agitator and vote to suppress the traf fic in alcoholic; beverages in this state. We offer it as an illustration of how liquor can be shipped into Omaha and Nebraska. Bear in mind that if Omaha is placed in the prohibition column no person could be legally prevented from ordering FROM THE OUTSIDE ALL THE LIQUOR HE WANTED FOR PERSONAL USE. Any advo cate of prohibition will tell you. that the above statement is true; in fact, the dry speakers have uttered this same statement from the platform. ' A, .;. : . - v Now," to establish their futile policy, the prohibitionists propose that the property. of all local license holders be destroyed; that more than $353,000 of revenue from the licenses be sacrificed; that over 2,000 skilled Have you stopped to think how many policemen it would require to hold such a situation in check? ' ' v Can you, Mr. Taxpayer, doubt for a moment that under conditions described as above that bribery and corruption would thrive and flourish in our city? ''. . You only have to bear in mind that 23,912 lot shipments of liquor were sent into Colorado in one month. You only have to bear in mind that in the first six months in 1916, in Denver, arrests for intoxication in- creased over 400 over the first six months of the previous year. There would have been many more shipments into Colorado but for the stock on hand when prohibition took legal effect. What do you expect the ship ments into Omaha, with its 200,000 population, would be should we adopt ! prohibition? . .-' ,i " : ' J r,n. S.Uak:. SIOUX MDWIEAPOIIS ZjA'CROaSB NEBRASKA. CXBAjiG. KAS. w : 2SAN3A3 CITY workmen be thrown out of employment and wages; that approximately 400 store rooms be rendered vacant; that hundreds of various business en terpnses, hotels, restaurants, cafes, be crippled in order to achieve what? Why? In . order to enable OUTSIDE distillers and brewers to supply Omaha's demand for alcoholic beverages, in order to furnish a "Great Cen tral Market" for the producing centers shown in the accompanying map, in order to substitute such wholesale importations for the Local Sales by legalized,' licensed and tax-paying Omaha producers and dispensers. And what sort of conditions, would follow the adoption of the impos sible experiment of prohibition? Can you imagine for a moment, Mr. Citizen Taxpayer, that temperance would be promoted? Do you suppose that drunkenness would be lessened when people buy their liquor from mail-order houses by the' wholesale? Can you have any diffcujty in see ing, with your mind's eye, itinlpads of whiskey coming into this city from St. Joseph, Kansas City, Chicago and other wet centers? Is it in the least difficult f6r you to realize the entering of the "blind pig," the "boot legger" the fake drug store, and the kitchen bar, also the basement dive? Would not Omaha prove to be a great and profitable market for 'the mail-order houses of St. Joseph, Kansas City, Chicago, Milwaukee and St'. Paul? This is a condition, not a theory, that confronts you. Need one be a prophet to foresee or foretell the results? These questions are, worthy of your consideration, Mr. Citizen Taxpayer. People who have nothing invested, and therefore nothing to lose, and who have no care for the pros perity of our city, pretend to be indifferent to the economic, financial and moral consequences of their proposed policy, but men of affairs and of property, taxpayers and investors, and people who have the best interests of our city at heart, cannot afford to overlook the considerations to this question. The taxpayers would have to pay the bills and make up the heavy losses, direct and indirect, of prohibition. .; We respectfully ask the taxpayers and voters to follow our articles which will appear in the daily press. We believe that our arguments should receive the consideration of the people who have the interest of our city at heart. We profoundly believe that the case against prohibition : rests on a solid foundation of reason, fact and common sense. In our ar guments we shall deal with facts, not fancies. We ask that you consider them. Taxpayers' y. j . u mmmm