The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1903-06-25
ODDS AND ENDS.

Y. Observer, contained an interest
ing and exhaustive editorial on the
status Of prohibition throughout
the United States, and in this con-
nection it is interesting to note
briefly, the conditions Of the drink
ing habit at the present time, in
comparison with the past. The
vote on the liquor question in
New Hampshire last month. and
the adoption of the license system
in that state, leaves but three
states in the Union that may be
counted as prohibition states.
These are North Dakota, Kansas
and Maine. At one time there
were seventeen prohibition states,
but there was never an absolute
enforcement of the law. Maine
seemed to come nearest to this
point, and probably it's prohibitive
enactments are more rigidly en-
forced at the present time than
are those in Kansas or North
Dakota. By tacit consent the
prohibition laws have come to be
treated as imperative in the
Western states named, and this
condition is fast approaching in
Maine.
Maine, New Hampshire and
Vermont were the pioneers in the
prohibition movement. Maine led
the procession, some time in the
early fifties, and the indications
are that she will be the last to
surrender the battle. Prohibition
was the result of a great temper
ance awakening which at that
time swept the country, and which,
if all accounts are true, was greatly
needed. It must be admitted that
in the old days the conditions were
worse than they are at present.
The drinking habit seems to have
been almost universal. There was
less beer drinking, but whisky and
rum were about as common as tea
and coffee at the present time. In
1917 there were $500 places in the
city of New York where liquor was
sold. That was one to every, fifty
persons. One out of every eight
of the population was living on
charity, and committee reported
after careful investigation, that
seyen-tenths of this pauperism was
due to the drink habit. The con-
ditions did not improve greatly till
the great temperance agitation set
in, and since that time there has
been a gradual, steady advance
toward a more temperate nation.
The vast majority of men are
coming more and more to a realiza-
ton of the fact that whisky and
prosperity do not mix we'll to-
i
gether. Soberness and clear brains
are demanded by great corpora
tons and industries at which large
numbers of men are employed.
The young man who drinks liquor
finds that he cannot keep pace in
the advancement with the young
man who abstains. Comparatively
few of the middle or better classes
now drink to excess and vast num-
bers of them are total abstainers.
Those of what is more commonly
known as the lower class have
made material advance along these
lines, and while the 400 and 1000
of the upper crust and the "would
be's'' of some of the large cities
may still be too weak mentally to
/ come to full realization of the
error of their ways, it is self-evi-
dent truth that the American
people as whole have made great
strides along the line Of modera-
ton in the drink habit during the
past forty or fifty years.
This Topping off of prohibition
states does not indicate g tendency
toward generalization. It proves,
on the contrary, that men are
becoming wiser. They know and
realize the danger that is ever
present in intemperance and are
j I. a Il M,