The advocate. [volume] (Charleston, W. Va.) 1901-1913, 1908-07-02
THE PROHIBITION MOVEMENT

THE PROHIBITION MOVEMENT.
The talk OF Incorporating in the
democratic platform plank on pro
hibition Ia rather disquieting t.
those who have held that the prohi
bition movement is of temporar,
nature and one that; like many 9th
crs that have entered the political
arena, will be of short duration in
its influence ahd> effect.
1t is not to be expected that it will
| always display the remarkable in
tcnsity shown in recent months in
widely separated portions of the
country, but it promises to be an &C
tive pervading force. The advocates
of prohibition are imbued with all
the fervor, zeal and optimism of the
early advocates of the abolition of
slavery. They worked and hoped for
years without much realization of re-
suits. They voted for decades, know
ing that they faced defeat in each
campaign, but confident of intimate
victory. That Tie seed they sowed
did not fall upon barren ground is
attested by the increased public SEN
timent in their favor.
1t is folly for the opponents to as
sert that the establishment of pro-
hibition increases the consumption
Of liquor. If that assertion were cor
rect, those who manufacture and sell
liquor would undoubtedly favor pro-
hibition. The future of prohibition
is certainly more promising of ulti-
mate success than was the prospect
of the anti-slavery movement in the
'4O's and sos of the last century.
No constitutional provision stands
in the way. No political party, as a
party, dare oppose. All the great re-
ligious bodies are distinctly more ia
vorable than they were to the aboli-
ton of human slavery. The recent
action of railways demanding elimi-
nation of employees addicted to the
use of alcoholic stimulants, the rul-
irgs Of similar nature by important
commercial and manufacturing firms
and corporations, the firmly fixed
opinions of managers and directors
of financial and fiduciary institutions
as TO the desirability of sober clerks
and 'assistants-all these are power
full allies In the prohibition move
ment.
10 the Negro, perhaps, more than
10 any other of the elements which
go to make up the heterogeneous
mass Called the American people,
the prohibition movement is likely
to prove beneficial. Ours is the race
which has suffered greatest from the
unrestricted sale Of intoxicants, and
to US will come the greatest good
from prohibition. Already, Georgia's
criminal record has taken a turn for
the better, and other states, in which
prohibition is general, have expert
ehced an appreciate falling on in
crime. In Atlanta fewer Negroes are
sentenced to the chain gang, and
other "dry' towns are sending out
the same cheering message.
West Virginia, as a state, is yet
in the "wet' column, though more
than half of her counties have decIar-
ed for prohibition. Unfortunately.
these are the counties in which the
Negro is neglible quantity. Jefer-
son, Fayette, mercer, Mcdowell,
Ohio and Mingo are still sending
their full quota of Negroes to the
penitentiary, while Kanawha-whose
prohibition, with the exception of
this city, is recent-has not yet felt
the wave Of reform. But state wide
prohibition is coming and the sooner
1T comes, the better for the Negro.