THE BEE: OMAHA, FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 1916
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WYmmm
Prohibition-
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To See The Workings. Of
Look Out Your Back
Council Bluffs
Why, Go To Denver, Portland, Seattle and Those Far-Away Cities When We
Have a Good Example Just Across the River
DO YOU see the people of Omaha rushing to Council Bluffs to do their shopping because it has adopted prohibition? No ; but you can come to the
down-town streets of Omaha and you will notice that five out of every ten automobiles that are parked bear an Iowa license tag.' ,
On the other hand, do you see the Nebraska cars parked in Council Bluffs, like the Iowa cars are parked in Omaha? Think it over. j .j
The owners of these machines come here to shop. You will not see their faces again if Omaha adopts prohibition. Think it over.
If prohibition works such wonders that the prohibitionists claim for it, why is it that the merchants of Council Bluffs and the nearby cities in Iowa
are so anxious that Omaha and Nebraska adopt state-wide prohibition? Can it be that they see their trade slipping from them? , . ' :
The merchants of Omaha are now enjoying the trade that the Iowa merchants formerly had-bef ore adopting prohibition. Can this be the reason for
the business men of Council Bluff s contributing to the dry campaign fund of Omaha? Think it over. . ' f
' What Council Bluffs is to Omaha today, Omaha will be to St. Joseph, Kansas City, St. Louis, Chicago, LaCrosse and other wet centers of the Middle.
West, should we listen to the paid agitators of the Anti-Saloon League and adopt prohibition. Think it over. . i
Has Prohibition Helped Council Bluffs?
Turn to the public records. Dry but indisputable facts show that conditions in Council Bluffs have not bettered since adopting prohibition. , The pof
lice reports of Council Bluffs show the following as compared with Omaha in regard to plain drunks, taking as a basis Omaha with a population six times
greater than Council Bluffs: ' ' , -
How the Arrests For Drunkenness Compare
Council Bluffs Prohibition
January . One arrest for every 789 population
February . . . : . . One arrest for eyery 811 population
... March .......... One arrest f or jevery 588 population
April . ; ,, , ': . :;, One arrest for tevery 484 population
May ........... One arrest for every 461 population
June ........... One arrest for every 833 population v
. July One arrest for every 732 population -
August ..One arrest for every 652 population
' You will readily note that Prohibition Council Bluffs has had more
tion, since the first of the year 1916. We def the prohibitionists to prove
Bluffs? . - "
Omaha License
January : . One arrest for every
February . . . One arrest for every
March . , . . .... One arrest for every
April . . . : .One arrest for every
May . . . . .. . V. . One arrest for every
June . . . . . . . . . . One arrest for every
July . . One arrest for every
701 population
943 population
668 population
684 population
613 population
701 population
711 population
August . . . .... .One arrest for every 1,980 population
arrests for drunkenness than Licensed Omaha has had, according to popula
the contrary. Has the Anti-Saloon League made good its promise in Council
Concerning the Taxation Phase
Under license and regulation, Council Bluffs received $58,000.00 annually from the license-holders of the city. Under prohibition, this revenue has
been wiped out and in consequence the taxes have been raised. The $58,000.00 deficit must be made up by the taxpayers of that city, just the same as the
$353,000.00 would have to be made up in Omaha should we adopt prohibition. We submit to ydu the tax levy of Council Bluffs for 1915.and 1916:
1915.
$47.25 PER $1,000.00
Tax Levy
1916.
$53.25 PER $1,000.00
The above shows an increase of $6.00 per $1,000.00 on all taxable property in Council Bluffs. Did the tax rate decrease in Council Bluffs after they
adopted prohibition? The prohibitionists claimed it would. ' ' ' ,
Property in Council Bluffs is supposed to be taxed on one-fourth its valuation, and when the writer of this article was in the" city hall the other day a
lady Came in to pay her taxes. She inquired as to the valuation placed upon her property, and when informed that the assessors had assessed the property
at'a $5,000.00 valuation, at once remarked that she had offered to sell this property at $2,500.00 on several different occasions and no buyer could be
found. So you can readily see that they not only raise the tax rate, but also raise the valuation when prohibition goes into" effect. This is what we may ex
pect should Omaha adopt prohibition. The above is the reason why we appeal to you on the taxation phase. ' ' v
Real Estate Values
In the very heart of Council Bluffs' business district, you will find a score of vacant store buildings which the prohibitionists have failed to fill wjth
different lines of mercantile business. ' . , " , .
The dry speaker, in the debate the other evening, said that if we would vote Omaha dry we could fill the breweries with tanneries, harness factor
ies, etc. ' . V , ;
v Before they talk of filling breweries and distilleries withi tanneries and harness factories, the prohibitionists should fill the score of vacant store
rooms in the business part of Council Bluffs.
v And what will they do with the 353 store rooms in Omaha? Will we have 353 tanneries? or 353 factories, manufacturing leather belts for Henry
Ford's flivers? or will we have 353 harness factories? or will we have 353 store rooms filled with hot air? " .
We ask the citizens, business men and taxpayers of Omaha to read and reflect, to look before they leap. ,
Can any city in this land boast of a more prosperous coridition than Omaha? Can Prohibition Council Bluffs make the same boast? ' If not, why
adopt prohibition? ' - " -. " . ;
I Douglas County Taxpayers' League -