During the hearing some statements were also made by the opponents of this measure, concerning the ill effects of the Sunday closing law in Missouri. In refutation of these statements I present the following statistics from Missouri, showing the diminution of crime and other good results of the Sunday closing law:

Sunday closing decreases Sabbath crime 40 per cent-Police figures from five cities show saving in criminal costs of $27,000 in one year-Arrests for all misdemeanors and felonies less in 1905 than in preceding years-St. Louis's financial gain by putting lid on saloons amounted to $18,000-Authorities report moral tone of cities greatly benefited by law enforcement—Reports from whole State show results are general.

[Republic special.]

JEFFERSON CITY, March 24.-Enforcement of the Sunday law during 1905 in cities formerly run "wide open" has, according to information gathered by Statisticians J. H. Nolan and A. T. Edmonstone, of the State bureau of statistics, saved to those five cities in a year's time $27,955 in criminal costs, and reduced all crime about 20 per cent.

Sunday crime, when considered alone, has been reduced 40 per cent. The saving in criminal costs would alone be favorable argument for this good government had there been no moral benefits derived and did not wives and children gain thereby through receiving money for clothes and food and other necessities which formerly on Sundays passed over saloon bars.

In St. Louis alone the saving in criminal costs in one year represents more than enough to construct a hospital adequate to house 100 consumptives and provide them with food, fuel, and medicine for 100 days. Careful estimates based on returns made by the St. Louis police department show that the saving there for one year in criminal costs was $18,220.

If the citizens would set aside this sum for a tuberculosis sanitarium it would only require $12,000 to erect the eleemosynary institution, and $6,200 to run it for the 100 days, and there would still be left $22 to be used for emergencies.

The police of five cities, St. Louis, Kansas City, St. Joseph, Sedalia, and Chillicothe, furnished the figures which are used in the following summaries:

RESULTS IN ST. LOUIS.

The returns from the police of St. Louis are given first. In 1904 a total of 4,226 arrests were made on Sundays for misdemeanors, which, at an average of $10 each, cost the citizens $42,260. In 1905 the arrests on Sundays for misdemeanors sank to 3,514, which, at $10 each, cost $35,140, a decrease of 712 arrests and of $7,120 in costs. The police records reveal that 1903 was the banner year in St. Louis for arrests for felonies committed on Sundays, and that there were 552 of such violations. Two years later, 1905, found a decrease to 441, and this was a year which had fifty-three Sundays, one more than is generally the case. The decrease is 111.

The average cost of a felony case is $100, which means that the decrease in criminal cost in felony cases was $11,100. With the saving in misdemeanors the total decrease to St. Louis was $18,220.

KANSAS CITY FIGURES.

Figures furnished by John Hayes, chief of police of Kansas City, show that the enforcement there of the Sunday law has not only saved this metropolis several thousand dollars in criminal costs, but has brought about much moral good. In 1903 the total arrests on Sunday for misdemeanors reached the high figures of 1,925. The next year saw a slight improvement, but in 1905 there was a still better state of affairs, as only 1,383 arrests were made, and this with 53 Sundays in the year.

The figures of Chief Hayes show other improvements. In 1903 on Sundays in Kansas City there were 7 serious assaults, as compared to only 1 recorded for the Sundays of 1905. Six murders were committed on the Sundays of 1903 and 6 on the Sundays of 1904, with none for the Sundays of 1905. On the Sundays of 1903 there were 1,130 arrests for common disturbances; in 1904, 1,050, and in 1905 just 678. For discharging firearms in 1903 there were 6 arrests; 1904, 10 arrests, and 1905, 1 arrest. For destruction of property in 1903 there were 25 arrests; in 1904, 29, and in 1905 the total was 22. On the Sundays of 1904 there were 10 arrests for "canning beer," and on the Sundays of 1905 not one. For gambling 376 arrests were made on the Sundays of 1903, and on the Sundays of 1905, 257.

RESULTS IN ST. JOSEPH.

On

Good results are recorded in St. Joseph in 1905 from the enforcement of the Sunday law. In 1903 17 arrests occurred for felonies; in 1904, 15, and on the Sundays of 1905, 7. Two homicides took place on Sunday in 1904, and in 1905 not one. Sundays in 1903 there were 195 apprehensions for intoxication, and on the Sundays of 1905, 170. For ordinary disturbances, Sunday arrests were 128 in 1904 and 103 in 1905. For careless driving on Sundays of 1903 7 arrests were made, with 2 for 1905. For miscellaneous offenses growing out of the free use of intoxicants, the arrests on Sundays of 1903 were 22, and on Sundays of 1905, 6.

SEDALIA IMPROVEMENTS.

Marked improvement was shown in Sedalia during 1905 over both 1903 and 1904 because of the rigid enforcement of the Sunday law. The Sabbaths of 1903 had 41 arrests for misdemeanors; the Sabbaths of 1904, 35, and the Sabbaths of 1905, 24. On Sundays in 1903 there were 134 arrests in Sedalia for drunkenness, and only 51 for the Sundays of 1905.

The law-enforcing régime has benefited Chillicothe, the police say. In 1903 2 Sunday arrests were made for felonies and 3 for common assaults, but on the Sundays of 1905 there were no arrests for either of these offenses. The police records for 1904 give 4 arrests for Sunday disturbances and for the Sundays of 1905 3. For other offenses charged to the Sundays of 1903 65 arrests are credited; 1904, 43 arrests, and on the Sundays of 1905, 27.

RESULTS IN THE AGGREGATE.

The police records of every city in the State show a similar improvement for 1905 over either 1903 or 1904. The following table gives the estimated saving in criminal costs for the cities mentioned above:

Concerning the effects of prohibition in the State of Kansas I quote the following clipping from the Kansas City Star:

Of the 105 counties in Kansas only 21 have any paupers. Twenty-five counties have no poorhouses, 35 have their jails absolutely empty, and 37 have no criminal cases on their dockets.

The beneficent effects of prohibition in the State of Maine have been set forth by the gentleman from Maine, who is a member of this committee, in a very able article on the subject of prohibition in Maine, which was printed in the Philadelphia Record a few years ago. And his statements have been corroborated by Senators and by governors of that State.

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