There is another reason that has dissuaded me from the conclusion that the Amendment be modified immediately without further trail. It is my inability to suggest or find any other satisfactory remedial substitute for the existing law. My study of the systems of liquor control in other countries and of plans that have been submitted to the Commission to supplant present conditions in the United States leaves me in doubt as to whether any of them would be adaptable to our diversified, populous and extensive nation or to the heterogeneous aspect of its people. The plan developed by Mr. Anderson and presented in his statement seems to me to be the best, and if after further trial prohibition is not enforceable I should favor serious consideration of this system. I believe that the experience in one of the states of the dispensary system has demonstrated the insufficiency of such a solution as a national institution.
Absolute repeal is unwise.
It would in my opinion reopen the saloon. This would be a backward step that I hope will never be taken by the United States. The open saloon is the greatest enemy of temperance and has been a chief cause of much political corruption throughout the country in the past. These conditions should never be revived. The states favoring prohibition should be protected against wet commonwealths.