Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-09-03
LIQUOR FIGHT IS HOT
Maine in Throes.of Another
Prohibition Campaign.
OUTCOME MUCH IN DOUBT
Repealers Claim Surprise Is in Store
for Republicans.
METHODS PUZZLE POLITICIANS
Doing Effective Work by Appeals
Through the Mails-History of
Prohibition In State.
OUTCOME MUCH IN DOUBT
METHODS PUZZLE POLITICIANS
special Dispatch TO The Star.


PORTLAND, Me-, September 2.--It is
easier to obtain all the whisky you want
In any city in Maine than 1t is to make
an intelligent forecast of the vote on
prohibition September IL.
The whole state is In the throes Of one
OF the most remarkable campaigns it has
ever witnessed. but the methods OF its
managers render 1t difficult to find how
the fight Is going. Eight or ten constitu-
tional amendments are to be voted on.
but the contest centers on the one ques-
ton. Shall prohibition be taken out OF
the constitution"
The friends Of the present system say
it shall not. and they have a strong argu-
mcnt in support of 1t in every voting dis
trict in the state.
BESIDES hundreds of resident speakers,
more than fifty prominent temperance
workers. including many women from
other states, are prosecuting campaign
that extends to every community IN the
commonwealth. Their meetings are large
and enthusiastic. and if these facts count
for anything. one might say that pro-
hibtion ifs in the constitution to stay.
But the campaign of the anti-prohibi-
tionists Is a puzzle They hold no mass
meetings, do no shouting and give no es-
Inmates Yet it is as plain as DAY that
tncS arc ndklIlS All thci eNe'S 'o'Nt
an effective organization, backed with all
the money they need. Their appeal is
through the mails.
Literature in Bundles.
They are sending anti-prohibition lit
crature In bundles TO every voter In
Maine, and this work is supplem tented
with personal appeals to individuals
through local organizations. This secret
campaigning of the repealers Is mystify-
ing the prohibitionists and the latter pri-
vately admit they can only guess at the
outcome.
AS for the repealers themselves. they
merely smile when you ask them for an
estimate. though one of their shrewdest
leaders admitted today:
I'VE are preparing another surprise
party for the republicans and prohibition
lists. such as we gave them last year
when Maine elected a democratic gov
ernor and two democratic congressman"
While the republicans generally favor
prohibition and the democrats generally
oppose 1t. the vote at the coming election
will not divide on strict party lines. There
are many democrats who favor prohibit
ton and many republicans who oppose
it. and, taken together. they constitute an
unknown factor of considerable impor-
lance in the problem.
On one point both sides are agreed, and
that Is that the outcome of the forthcom-
ing election will be close. There will be
no 1900 majority either for or against,
ton measure was adopted twenty-seven
years ago. Careful inquiry appears to
warrant the prediction that there will not
be margin Of more than 1900 or 5000
votes one way or the other.
First Prohibition Law in 1s46.
Prohibition has passed through various
stages. The first prohibition law was
adopted In 1915, and was repealed ten
years later. In 1862 the 'liquor agency"
system was established, under which i'm
mense quantities of liquor were sold
every year as medicine. That system
was abolished only last winter. after
having served as an effective shield for
the secret traffic In liquor.
In 1857 q constabulary law was enacted,
which appears to have been little better
than the agency system, and the constabu-
the Sturgis act. which suited nobody.
Finally, In 1884, the present constitutional
amendment establishing prohibition was
adopted.
The democratic legislature elected last
year voted to resubmit 1t to the people,
and the verdict at the election September
II will settle the liquor question in Maine
for many years to come.
Whether prohibition is a success or a
failure depends upon the point of view
In the cities and towns Of Maine 1t does
not prohibit, but in the smaller neigh
borhoods and rural districts it does, and
it is there that its supporters will poll
their largest vote.
But 1t sounds queer to hear prohibition
praised as the real thing here in Port
land, where 5000 worth Of liquor was
recently seized in q single night, or in
Bangor, where a drunken man amused
himself the other day by biting off a po-
liceman's ear.