The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1914-09-10

Temperance In this country so Nseri-
ously as tho delusion that law on
the statute book will prohibit the
sale Of liquor In A,.city, q county or a
State. A prohibitory law In COM
munity. whether the unit Of popula-
ton be large or small. is. after all.
only q good resolution; and, like a
good resolution. it has to be kept or
there Is not much to 1t.
"A State or q county or a city, Sob
ering up. getting the alcohol out Of
its system, goes through much the
same process under the prohibitory
law that a man goes through when
he swears of with a mighty oath.
When the man quits. after a high re-
solve and with more or less emotion
connected with the performance,
whether he lapses or not depends
largely on the man, somewhat on the
attendant circumstances Of his renun-
citation. and little-but very little
on the phraseology of his swearing
OF pledge.
The case OF prohibition la close
parallel. The State or the county or
the town--take any group--sees the
error OF Its ways. Perhaps the eco
nonic waste of liquor appeals to the
Judgment of the electorate: perhaps
the moral obliquity OF countenancing
by law an institution, the chief bust
ness of which Is to make fools and
criminals OF men, strikes the people
as civic folly; or perhaps all the good
people unite against those whom they
deem the bad people in q highly moral
yearning to hasten the millennium.
and law prohibiting the sale Of IL
quor is passed either by constitutional
amendment or by legislative act.
Fine business" declare all the
good people and all the wise people
and all the people desiring to strike
out the economic waste. Thank
heaven. that Job Is done" Where-
upon the Rum Fiend laughs low.
hoarse. second-act laugh, ana the
devil is still to pay--for the cigars
are on the highly moral yearners and
their aiders and abetters The truth
Is, the Job has only begun. II taxes
from one to five years TO get pro-
hibitory law passed In state In
Kansas. the only State where the law
really amounts TO much, II has takeg
a quarter of century TO enforce IT.
1t is pos1ible---even probabie---that
the common business sense OF the
American people and their common
moral sense have SO developed during
the past generation that the time re-
Iuired to get n State thoroughly I'M
der a prohihitory law viii be less
now than that required thirty or forty
wears ago. Nevertheless. until
state has enourh public will power to
keep up the fight for at least decade.
and keep 1t up Through many a con-
ffict. manys n doubt" winning here
and losing there--that State should
try tapering eff on local option rather
than to try swearing off~on prohibi-
ton.
When State Swenrs on.
Yet. OF course. swearing OF Is the
sat drRst r N
ny man to break up the traffic In IL
naor. As with man, SO with a. State;
the whole affair Is full of paradoxes.
Human nature Ia bundle of contra
dtctions Tapering off on local option
may carry a man or State through 4
week or a month or year; 1t NAV
reduce the poison In the system
slightlyE-perhaps enough to give the
will a better chance to assert itself.
But sooner or later the man or the
state must walk SQuarely UP To the
propositSon that Mr.. Boone and he
are rensiy 10 have 'tthc decree made
absolute" that separates them forever
II a man or a State has not the VIII,
the sense, the emotional stability the
fundamental intelligence grated or
rourage--oh for the privilege to Use
The enc short, ugly word needed To
nhrasc what state needss-E
State has not the CUTS to quit, the
prohititorv law VIII not help much
And that means that the people in
State, who see in Its various UBIQUITOUS
phases the stupidity of the saloon az
an institution. when they swear OFT
as state must realize the size OF
the lob before them. They must be
keen to sacrifice themselves freely
and gladly for the public good. 10 act
not only as the conscience OF tue
state, but It's Will. Its arms, its legs
These people must he willing to
endure personal hardships ard priva-
lions to undergo contumety and dis-
comfort and mare or less humiliation
for the cause otherwise. without
public will, strong and well directed
the State cannot Quit any more thaa
a man can quit: for something OF the
same process gnes on In state that
goes on in a man when he breaks
the habit OF lifetime that has begun
TO corrode his stomach. 10 deterior-
ate his kidneys. and shake his heart.
when re QUITS me afrecret organs att
cry out. When a State quits a SINH
lar thing happens
The craving Of the saloon comes
from the property owner who nerds
his rent: the business man who needs
the saloonkeeper's trade and the
trade OF his lady friends. The desire
for Just a small tipple in a State
perhaps It Is all right to get II at the
drug stores. All through the body OF
the State goes the fire OF desire when
a State swears off. It's weakened. un-
intelligent citizenship is angry: they
are the tissues rotted by the poison,
and their cure hurts.
Kansas In the Days OF Its Sprtghtly
Youth.
These citizens get on Juries and
prevent convictions of violators of the
law: they elect weak prosecuting ofi-
GERS: and the courts. like the heart
OF an inebriate.. at first are weak in.
a State that swears OFT: and 1t would
seem that a little giving In. a COCO
dose OF the oil Of gladness, would re-
store the weakened parts for bet
ter battle: but that Is the old delu-
sion. 1t Is the sound tissues In the
body, the good citizenship, that re-
mains unaffected. which must save
the day and keep up the high resolve,
So, IL there is not enough OF that
tissue: If the whole system 10 under
mined; II the State has no--let US use
the longer word out OF Difference to-
the kind editorials no intestines on
which to rely. II will take good wo-
man ana miracle to pull II through.
Hence the hope Of those of us who
iz.,t..,~ "a sr,t1varfza ton