Governor Vardaman on Prohibition.
Ex-Governor Vardaman, who preceded Governor Noel, of Mississippi, as the chief executive of that state, and who recommended the passage of the state-wide prohibition law to the last Legislature, in a recent interview spoke very highly of the conditions in the no-license territory of Mississippi.15 The state prohibition law of Mississippi will not go into effect until Jan. 1, 1910. All but seven counties, however, of the state are now under no-license, through the operation of the county local option law. Governor Vardaman praised the no-license regime in the local option counties and spoke of prohibition as follows: “There is no doubt that it is better than the open saloon. Of course there are blind tigers, but it is not necessary to have them. Whenever the people decide to get rid of them it can be done, because the laws that the people get and the enforcement of the laws is no better than those they demand. “I think that the shipment of liquor into dry territory should be prohibited. My record on this has been consistent. Ever since I was old enough to vote I have voted against the open saloon, and in my message to the last Legislature, the one that put the saloon out of Mississippi, I recommended the prohibition law.”