It is unfortunate that the law does not require probate judges to make
returns, to some State officer, of the sales of intoxicating liquor
reported to them by the druggists of the State. In the absence of such
returns accurate figures cannot of course be furnished. But it is
possible to make up, from such official reports as are attainable, a
reasonably accurate estimate of the liquor traffic in Kansas, and this I
shall endeavor to do. In one of the oldest and most populous counties of
this State—a county having nearly 25,000 inhabitants, and not a saloon
within its borders—the official returns made to the probate judge, for
the month of July last, show less than 1,500 sales. There are now
ninety-three organized counties in the State. Seventy-nine of them have
populations ranging from 2,500 to 25,000; and only fourteen have
populations in excess of 25,000. In more than one-half of the counties
of Kansas the sales of liquors by druggists will not reach 1,500 per
month; in less than one-half the sales will probably exceed that number.
Considering all the facts, however, it is fair to accept the official
sales made in the county to which I have referred as an average for each
other county. On this basis, with ninety-three counties, each averaging
1,500 sales per month, the aggregate for the entire State would be
139,500 sales per month, or 1,674,000 per year, or not much more than
one sale per annum for each inhabitant.
It has been ascertained, also, by thoroughly competent and reliable
investigation, that the sales of liquor by druggists do not average, in
value, to exceed 40 cents for each sale. I will, however, make the
estimate liberal, and call the money value of each sale 50 cents. And as
the sales by druggists aggregate 1,674,000 per year, their pecuniary
value, at 50 cents each, aggregates $837,200.