The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1915-02-22
Misdrected Regulation.


OF the House of Representatives delivering an ad-
dress in the Vermont Avenue Christian Church
on Sunday, turned back to that page of history
which records that George Washington, the I83d
anniversary of whose birth the nation will rev.
erently celebrate today danced the Virginia reel,
was fond of a mint julep and sometimes bet on a
horse race. The Speaker did bold thing in call
ing attention in this year of 1915 to such human
traits of the Father of his Country; for if Wash
ington were living today in the Capital named to
perpetuate his memory, it is far from certain that
the superlative qualities with which he was en-
lowed his service to the nation, his religion and
answering devotion to the right would save him
from criticism for his occasional indulgence in the
julep, the dance the sport of the turf. AS Pres
ident he night not have fitted perfectly into the
ideas of the period and the system OF regulation
intended to govern the conduct of the people, great
and small, Of Washington.
1t is true the people who have their homes here
do not regulate themselves; it is done, or over
done, for them by statesmen who come here from
more less remote communities and take ad-
vantage of the opportunity to prescribe for Wash
ington the theories of certain enthusiastic though
obscure constituents whose most profound con-
viction is that they exceptionally qualified to
govern others. In Washington customs
garded wholly innocent, productive of harm to
one, have become if not wholly reprehensible
at least open to question suspicion. The inn
preston has gone abroad, perhaps somewhat
exaggerated, that the people of Washington be-
of their political helplessness are the sub
ects of fanatica restriction of their personal
duct, that it is city to be avoided by all except
those OF temperament responsive to the sound
IF for
instance must not be too severely blamed if. when
they arc forbidden a glass OF wine with Sunday
dinner, they depart with the impression Of great
and progressive country surrounding benghted
if not barbarc Capital Similarly, it is not at all
difficult to understand the resentment OF citi
zcns of German birth ancestry at system OF
regulation which forbIds the Sunday evening
gatherings OF their singing societies and social
unless the foaming mug OF their
native brew is banshcd. 1t is not these representa-
tives OF European civilization alone who no
more harm in a glass OF beer or wine than they
do in like quantity OF buttermilk many Ameri-
cans share their views and chafe under regula-
tons that direct them what to eat and drink and
when. Those business men who have devoted their
energies toward inducing important commercial
and other conventions to to Washington
will no doubt confirm the assertion. frequently
made nowadays that the reputation the city has
acquired as a place subject to excessive restric-
tons and overregulaton by outside theorists
or their servants, is responsible for keeping
away from the Capital many organizations and in
divduals whose presence would contribute to its
progress and prosperity.
The question conironts the people of Washing
ton whether outside regulation, in straining to
discover evils, either imaginary trivial has not
overlooked or ignored those that arc fragrant and
What is there in Washington today to
in the danger it presents to health and
morals, with the illegal traffic in cocaine, morphine
and similar drugs? Surely this is real evil to be
fought to finish What is to be thought of
system OF regulation that would refuse say MEM
Der OF the French cabinet glass of claret with
his dinner and permit INSCRIPTIONS practitioner
for a few dollars profit to supply youth in his
teens with a bottle of morphine to wreck his mind
and body. Yet this is just what has been going on
in Washington 1t is time for the people to begin
the task OF regulation themselves; outside efforts
have been misdrectcd and have failed wocfuy.
The Washington Herald has undertaken to rid
the city of what it regards the greatest menace
its welfare. The traffic in habit -forming drugs
is invading Washington homes and bringing grief
and despair to hundreds of parents. There will be
no lull in The Herads campaign while it is pos
siblc for the young of this city TO procure the
means of physical and mental suicide by ring
Of the bell of physicians office. The Herald is
Tor rational REFORM wherever reform is needed.
1t is not for fanatical persecution misbrandcd as
reform. To strain at gnat and swallow camel
is part of its policy.
The Herald received yesterday hundreds of ex-
pressions of approval OF its crusade against the
infamous drug traffic, and it asks confidently for
The continued, united support and assistance of the
people OF Washington.