 However, the city still could not escape the economic downturn of the region, including new alcohol policies passed in 1908 that would suddenly put the employees at nearly 2,000 bars across the state out of work, including 20 percent of the saloons across Sangamon County.There was growing unrest among railroad workers after the Illinois Central Railroad began a "retrenchment" (cost-cutting) policy in December 1907.For example, men in nearby Clinton saw their work week drop from seven to four days a week by March 1908.