Omaha daily bee., 1909-08-15

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lessened the evil Of intemperance. Neither
as a statewide system nor under local
option has prohibition ever made the slight
est contribution toward the solution of the
liquor problem. The one solitary service
that It has rendered to society is that OF
furnishing a warning example Of the SUI
preme folly Of attempting to legislate vir.
tue into mems lives.
There could be no stronger evil
dence Of the failure of prohibi-
tion than the fact that seven
Of the eight states that adopted the sys-
tenn fifty years ago. have since abandoned
II and gone back to the policy OF license
and regulation. The people OF these states
adopted prohibition in good faith. They
honestly and earnestly desired TO wipe
out intemperance. They realized that in
temperance was directly or indirectly the
cause OF much crime, poverty and disease;
hat It was a financial burden on the state;
and hat It was a hindrance to material
prosperity and to moral progress. They
thought II was a better policy to abolish
than to license and regulate a traffic that
seemed to them to be the root and sourse
Of this evil. Now, to claim that prohibi-
ton was even ~measurably successful In
these states, hat It accomplished even a
little good, is to insult the intelligence OF
the people of New England. No sensible
person can believe that these seven states
would nave deliberately repudisted a sys-
tenn that they had adopted in high hopes
and with high moral purpose. II they had
found that that system was making for
sobriety, prosperity and good citizenship.
Significance OF Prohibition.
In view OF the fact that it is always
easier to secure the enactment than the
repeal of laws of a reputed moral pur-
pose, the reputation Of prohibition by
these states is all the more significant.
The only conclusion consistent with rea-
son and common sense is that the people,
after years of bitter experience, found
that they had built on false hopes, and
that conditions were not only no better,
but far worse under prohibition than they
had been under the license system. 1t is
also very significant that the states that
were swept off their feet by the prohibit
ton wave fifty years ago, .are among
those states that are being least affected
by the present agitation. And even Maine,
which is the only one of these states that
has retained prohibition all these years.
Is actually showing unmlstakable signs Of
genuine repentance. 1t is conceded on all
sides that a decisive verdict against pro-
hibition would have been rendered at the
last state election in Maine, when resub-
mission was a prominent issue. IL It had not
been for the fact that 1t was a presiden-
tial year. Prohibition is generally least
popular where it is best known.
II prohibition really prohibited, the fact
ought to be. reflected in the figures
of the United States revenue department.
But, according to the government reports,
the use Of alcoholic liquors act
ually Increases with the spread Of
prohibition. In 1898, the year the anti
Saloon league was organized, the per
capita consumption of malt and spirituous
liquors in the whole country was 1875 and
l'46 gallons respectively. In 1899, when only
10000 people were living under prohibitory
laws the figures were 1873 and LII. In
1897, when approximately IS, 900, 900 people
were living in dry" territory. the figures
had risen to the high-water mark. 22O and
LBS. The report of 1908 shows a decrease
OF about 10 per cent in spirituous liquors
as compared with 1907, while the consump-
ton OF malt liquors wal about the same
for both years. Thus we are confronted
with the remarkable fact that. in 1903.
when the prohibition wave had reached
enormous proportions and was wiping out
saloons at the rate of 1000 a year. the
American people consumed more liquor
per capita than they did in any previous
year since lSSA the year 1907 alone excepted.
Conditions In Maine.
Now let us turn for a moment to our old
friend, the state of Maine. That prohibit
ton has been a failure and a farce in that
state is a matter Of common knowledge.
No one who is not a blind partisan will
deny this. Four years ago, Governor Cobb,
a sincere prohibitionist and an honest. out.
spoken man, declared, In his inaugural ad-
dress. that the state ought to be ashamed
OF Itself to have & prohibitory law on its
books and to make that law a laughing
stock OF the nation. And he insisted that
as a matter Of common honesty, the Law
ought to be either enforced or repealed
Recorder Whelden of Portland recently
made this statement: There are at least
400 men and women who are brought be.
fore this court time and again for intoxica.
tion." Think Of 1t. 400 habituals in a city
from which the liquor traffic is supposed
to have been banished sixty years ago
During four years, up to January 1. 1907
III Fortlanu, liquors were seized on seventy.
five streets and alleys and at AS differ.
ent places; and 932 different persons wer,
brought into court for violation Of tn,
liquor law.
The report OF the committee OF fifty
based on a most thorough and extensiv,
investigation Of conditions in Maine. tell
the whole story OF the miserable failure o.
prohibition throughout the whole state
Every one that has Travelled through Main,
knows that there is not a town In tn,
state where even a stranger, II he takei
the trouble to make inquiry. cannot get al
the liquor he wishes, such as It IL. And II
many places the stranger is waited on b!
some considerable person who asks hin
whether he would not like something
The statistics relating to arrests 70
drunkenness and deaths from nlcohoIisn
in Maine all tell the same tale. They spel
| the word failure.
Dream In Georgia.
In response to the loud clamorinRs OF tn,
Anti-Saloon league, tho legislature o
Georgia enacted a prOhibitory law
couple OF years ago. The act went int
effect January l. 1903, For a short time
the new law seemed to have a good effect
Judging from surface indications, 1
looked as II prohibition might at last breal
it's long record OF failure and actually stoI
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