High License Increases Saloons
How beautifully high license works: According to the sworn statement of W. D. Christy, City Clerk of the City of Des Moines, Iowa, the license fee in that city in 1871 was $150 per year, and that year there were twelve saloons. The next year the fee was increased to $200, and that year they had twenty-five saloons. The fee remained at $200 until 1880, when it was made $250, and the number of saloons rose to forty-nine, a gain of ten over 1879, the last year of the $200 fee. The fee was $250 until 1882, by which time there were fifty licensed saloons, and several that paid no license. In 1882 they clapped on a $1,000 fee, and the first quarter sixty saloons took out license. Now the question is, if Des Moines keeps on raising the license fee, how long before she will have prohibition?—The Lever.