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Mail Tribune 100, June 1, 1922 By Alissa Corman Jun 01, 2022 12:00 AM A A News from 100 years ago The following news items were drawn from the archives of the Mail Tribune 100 years ago June 1, 1922 TO ESTABLISH SANITY LEAGUE IN JACKSON CO. The Sanity League of America, a national, incorporated organization seeking a modification of the Volstead act so as to permit the manufacture and sale of light wines and beer under government control is being organized here. W. H. Willis of Portland, who is the district organizer in southern Oregon, says that the present law is producing lawbreakers by the millions, flooding the country with poisonous liquors causing untold sickness and death; and that the effort to enforce the law is costing $100,000,000 annually which must come out of the taxpayers pockets. “The saloon is gone forever,” said Mr. Willis, “and during my canvas I don’t find one person out of a hundred who wants to see it back; but the Sanity League does believe that light wines and beer under strict government control would take the profits out of the moonshine and bootlegging business and automatically restore these lawbreakers to law-abiding citizens.” JAIL INMATES CALL OFF STRIKE ON SHORT RATIONS Messrs. William Zeigler and David Miller, languishing in the county jail on variations of bootlegging industry charges, mutinied this morning, and refused to work. The gentlemen were assigned the task of cleaning bricks and stood upon their dignity and constitutional rights. Jack Smith, in jail on an indictment alleging “advocating the commission of a felony,” also balked, but, as he is awaiting trial, it is not compulsory for him to toil and spin. The state law prescribes that prisoners, who refused to work when called upon “shall be put upon a bread and water diet,” and County Judge Gardner announced that the prescription would be given, and the jailer announced that solitary confinement would be the lot of the malcontents until they felt like working. Sheriff Terrill called upon his obstreperous charges, and commanded them to go to work, and getting no results, changed tactics, and begged them to “take a chance on sweating — it ain’t killed anybody yet.” This plea also failed, so the change in diet was ordered. The though of missing a meal overcame their prejudices, and the strike was off. The physical grind to which the pair were assigned consisted of knocking mortar off bricks, while seated on a box, in the shade of the court house trees. — Alissa Corman; [email protected]