The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1909-07-05
BUSINESS METHOD
OF DRY MOVEMENT
The Man Behind the Anti
Saloon League
METHODS OF CONTROL
Trained and saIared Workers Conduct
Systematic campaign-Ant-
Liquor Legislation Is the
Objective Point.
METHODS OF CONTROL

New York, July 3.-'In % years there
will not be a legalized saloon in the
! United States" is the prediction of the
/ Anti-Saldon League, the organization
which is fighting in every state of the
union to secure the enactment of prohibi-
| tory laws.
I'm 20 years the states that have adopt
/ ed prohibition as a result of the Anti
Saloon Leagues agitation will have re-
scinded these laws and the league itself
| will be forgotten" reply the leading rep
resentatiyes OF distilling and brewing in
tereas.
1t is impossible, of course, to decide
which of these Numerically opposite fore
casts Is the correct one. The anti-saloon
leaders base their hope of annhilating the
saloon, SO far as its sanction in law is
concerned, upon what they have accom-
, plished already. Their opponents on tho
other hand point to the history of past
| prohibtory waves which have swept over
| the country and then have subsidized, leav-
ing scarcely any trace of their Temporal
rily wide effect. These two presidents
! form the only material on which the av-
/ erage man can base even guess as to the
possible course of events in connection
! with this subject. Even this method pro-
! vides no exact basis of conjecture, for
the present organized attack on the liquor
/ trade presents elements of strength and
weakness not present in former crusades.
Even the severest critics of the Anti
| Saloon League admit that there has been
during the past few years remarkabl
expansion in the extent of territory in
! which liquor selling Is forbidden Five
of the southern states have outlawed the
liquor traffic by statutory prohibition.
! North Dakota, Kansas and Oklahoma
have state prohibitory laws, in addition
to Maine, which has remained steadily
in the prohibition column throughout tho
| fluctuations of this movement for half a
! century. Many other states contain q
| large proportion of no-icense territory
under the operation of local option laws.
In all of these states the anti-saloon
propaganda is being carried steadily on by
the trained and salarled workers of the
league Taking into account the towns
and counties in wet states that have
adopted no-license, the claim of the league
that over one-third of the population of
| the country is living under prohibitory
laws at the present time seems to be well
| within the facts AS to the extent to
which these laws are observed authorities
differ. Obviously there has not been a
decrease of one-third in the consumption
of liquor.
More than 90 years ago an even greater
| proportion of the people of the United
States had adopted prohibition, apparent
4 ly as a definite policy. That was during
the Temperance wave of 1S50-55, when
all the New England states except Mas
saohusetts, besides New York, Delaware,
| Michigan, Indiana and Iowa went dry
At that time, it will be observed the
movement was strongest, roughly speak
ing, in the states where 1t Is weakest now.
| 1t persisted for varying periods in these
different states, but ultimately all of them
except Maine went back to the system of
regulating the sale of liquor by. law.
There are some noteworthy differences
between the movement that attained such
proportions in the early fifties and that
of the present day. The earlier crusade
was primarily temperance campaign.
1t was an appeal to the individual to stop
the use of drink and was accompanied
by the formation of many temperance So
cieties and the signing of the pledge by
tens of thousands of persons. The adop
ton of prohibition laws followed as a re-
suit of the change that took place, tenn
porarly at least, In the convictions of n
large proportion of the population. In the
| present campaign the procedure is exactly
opposite. Effort Is concentrated on the
enactment of prohibitory laws on the the
DRY that II the sale of liquor can be
stopped by law the individual will be
| forced to practice abstention. The sue
upon the question whether prohibition is
4 or can be fully enforced. The experiment
! is young In most states and there is
| abundant evidence that the laws are wide
| ly evaded, as Is indicated by the official
revenue figures. which show the displace-
ment of beer and the lighter beverages in
these states by whisky and similar liquors
that can be transported and concealed
easily.
The fact that the recent legislation
against the liquor traffic has not been at
tended by any such expansion in the
| membership of the numerous temperance
| societies or any such sudden decrease in
! the consumption of liquor as the rapid
| transformation of whole states and wide
stretches of territory. would indicate, and
actually has been accompanied by a de-
! crease in the voting strength of the pro-
| hibition party, is sufficient evidence of
some new and powerful factor In the con-
test against the legalized sale of liquor.
! for the explanation of this over mastering
force it is necessary to turn to the Anti
Saloon League and to the man who is the
animating and directing power of the
] league, Rev. Purley A. Baker. The sue
cess of the league is assuming a dominant
position In the fight for prohibition I'M
doubtedly is due in large part to this one
/ man, who assumes the modest title Of
general superintendent of the league, but
| VINO In reality IL tiiS
| of the forces that are waging country
wide fight against the saloon. Mr. Bak-
er's early training was in the ministry.
| but in directing his present work he has
| taken a leaf from the book of the cap
tains OF industry who have built up our
| great industrial combinations From the
! league headquarters in Columbus, O., he
dominates the prohibition movement to-
/ day quite as thoroughly as Mr.. Harri-
man exercises his mastery over the trans
portation business of a large section of
! the country or as Mr.. Rockefeller i'm
poses his will upon the oil Industry. As
! in the case of the Industrial magnates.
too, the standard by which Mr.. Baker
/ lentenants must rise or fall is the thor
! oughly practical one of results" The
state or district superintendent who can
not show results in the way of progress
and financial support is likely to find HIM
self deposed or transferred to some less
important post. The leagues opponents
J have made much of the fact that Its
agents are paid for conducting the anti
! saloon agitation and that their livelihood
l depends upon it's continuance. But while
upon the loftiest grounds 1t bSs been
found the most effective yet eevised in
accomplishing the leagues Objects
Nearly all the active workers of the
! Anti-Saloon League are clergymen and.
| although not UNCONVENTIONAL or religious
movement, the agitation is carried on
| through the churches. In fact, Mr.. Baker
and his associates may be said to have
created new profession for ministers in
| cop1nctipo the anti-sa1oon movement As