The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1914-05-24

Prohibition of the liquor trasiic
and equal suffrage for women
throughout the United States are
marching arm n-arm down the cor
ridors of history. says the Christia n
Science Monitor. There is no polit-
ical alliance between the movements
nenlna them, but there Ia something
potentially stronger. a moral affinity.
The, saloon. has been for gene fations
the persistent and peculiar foe Of
woman, 1t has dsfisd. nsulted and
shamed, her; it has pauperized and
ruined her home. ii has blfghted her
fendest hopes. 'rampled upon her
most sacred affections, and one of
! her first acts under enfra nc hisement
IS to crush II beneath her heel
The liquor interests have oppos-
ed votes for women at every step;
the votes of women, as has recently
| been seen in Illinois. are cast In
showers against the liquor interests
everything they represent and every
: thing that represents them Yet the
prohibition party in an organize d
( sense is one thing. the Equal Suffrage
party another While the bond OF
sympathy between the rank and nte
of both Is deep and constant vet
/ each is working along its own line,
toward It's own goal
Ridtcule Favorite Weapon.
For half century after the adop-
| ton by the State of Maine of the
policy Of prohibition everything in
the ingenuity of the distilllng and
/ brewing interests OF the country
/ could invent was employed in an eff
/ fort TO bring IL into ridicule and con-
tempt,
AZ n curyanpaac. 80 .ht .
campaign some of the neighborine
sister States were either deferred
from following its example or In
Inundated after espousing IT, So that
Kansas, halfway across the CONT
nent, was the next State TO invite
I openly the antagonism OF the disttl-
lers and the brewers and the sar-
casm and ironic wit of their friends
Maine became prohibition State
in 1851, Kansas followed In 1880
! and Kansas for period went
| through practically the same exper-
| fence as Maine, with the difference
that while its people were accused
OF every form of sham and hypocrisy,
1t was also published that prohibition
was running the State industrially and
commercially. Nevertheless, North
Dakota followed in 1890. Georgia.
Oklahoma, North Carolina and Mis-
sissippi In. 1907 (the law In each case
becoming effective on January l..
1ao9). and Tennessee on July /. 1909
Arkansas became a prohibition State
on January lst OF this year and a
prohibition amendment to the con-
stitution Of West Virginia goes into
effect on July ist. next
Ten Prohibition States.
Thus there are practically ten
States of the union under prohibition
at present. Each OF these States IA
striving. at great disadvantage. TO
maintain its antiliquor laws, the IL
quor interests In the neighboring
States combining their old tactics
and striving equally hard to bring
the prohibition cause into disfavor
and disrepute. As usual however,
they are defeating the end they seek
In this instance they are making it
clear to all observant persons that
prohibition in the strictest sense will
not be possible until II shall be made
national, and it Is the conviction
growing out of This belief that il
paving the way for prohibition
amendment to the constitution OF tho
United States
Only few days ago the Judiciary
committee of the house of represen-
amazed the liquor interests and
greatly embarrassed their friends by
placing the Hobson Sheppard amend
ment unceremoniously before the
house itself. and strangely coincl-
dent was the reporting also, and. at
the same time. of the Mondell equal
suffrage amendment. The fact that
neither was accompanied by q rec
ommendation did not make matters
any more comfortable for their op-
ponents
One reads in one dispatch. for in
stance, that Just now members OF
congress are greatly perturbed by the
prohibition amendment" because Vt
has. been precipitated upon them 80
unexpectedly. The congressman hes
itate to take sides. The disposition
increases, 1t is added. III the amend
ment can muster two-thirds vote,
the senate consenting. to send II to
the legislatures of the States for rat
ification. the assent OF three-fourths