The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1915-05-29
Member Of the Associated press.
SATURDAY, MAY 30, 1915.
RUSSIA AND ALCOHOL.

q
which means primarily the ban against
vodka-is, on the whole, effective Ill
Russia is the conclusion reached by
William T. Collins, formerly of Brat
tleboro, who as staff correspondent
for the Newark, n. j., Evening News
last month made study of conditions
in Petrograd and other portions of the
Car S empire. His report is that the
prohibition not only is Loyalty observed
by the great mass of the Russian PEG
pie, but also is approved of very wide
ly. Writing on this subject in recent
issue of the News, Mr.. Collins says
Russia, by and large, is a good deal
like man who has had a resolution
designed for his welfare forced on him;
a resolution overturning the habits OF
lifetime, of his own lifetime and
that of his ancestors, as a matter of
| fact. The resentment that he might be
expected to feel is lost, at first any
how, in plain amazement. When he be-
/ gins to pull himself together, there IS
not so very much resentment after all
/ The titanic Russian nation is, after its
! nature, philosophical, and !. Russians
1 have beeqretfaiHedeto accept what must
4 be. Moreover, it is only the truth to
state that there is appreciation on
i manv sides, and especially among the
i peasant women, of the good resulting
from the vodka ban. Said one old Wo-
man: eff there is to be no more vodka
during the war, may the war last for
ever.
To be sure, there are many evasions
4 4 In of h
erwise. Numbers of people are drinking
anything and everything having alec
hol, or supposed to have alcohol in it
wood alcohol figures among these liz
uids-and not few deaths, naturally
have resulted But the government is
determinedly stamping out this traffic
Very stringent regulations are in oper-
alton against the obtaining, save or
carefully guarded physicians certifl
Gates, of anything alcoholic from the
chemists shops. When Russia first be
came &" dry, = the industry of obtaining
and presenting doctors certificates
flourished extraordinarily, but the sit
uation is different now. In the hotels
as a rule. the prohibition is Loyalty oh
served. There are places where alec
hol is obtainable-at a price-but thu
process. which, of course, implies col
fusion with the police, is not unattend
ed with difficulty. Your loyal Russian
will have nothing to do with alcoho
lust now. He may be suffering, but /
is war measure, and he must bea
his part in the war. And grea
. many Russians are coming to the belle
that abstention from alcohol is an eS
cellent thing for themselves and tn
nation.
SO the Russians. in public, any way
are taking to the intbibing of Harmless
drinks and doing their best to appea
as if they were enjoying themselves. ]
is interesting to watch them. The
affect particularly liquid Gale
kvass, which in the best restaurant
4 Is served in bottles placed in ice
buckets. relics of the days when chan
1 payne was obtainable. Kvass is nc
4 bad, but one is not consumed with
desire to dring a great deal of it.
\ is made usually from apple juice.
4 Meanwhile, countless people curse
I with vodka heretofore are improvin
in body, mind and pocket under IL
new regime. The public health u
doubtedly has profited as a result {
the anti-vodka regulation, and mar
banks have attributed an increase j
deposits directly to it. There are T
4 ports from not few districts tn;
4 peasant families now have comfor
= which they never have had before. I'll
= official reports say that there IS lie
, crime All in all, the remarkable e
pertinent, tremendous in its scope al
startling in its radiealism, is workil
well. 1t is more important to Russ
than the war is 1t is the hope tn
it will contribute in highly effecti'
degree, to making the new Russia
= The prospects for a continuation
= the vodka ban are, of course, somewh
II uncertain. Great interests = CONNIE
II cial interests, that is = are ALI
Il against it, and the question of COVER
II ment revenue enters in. Court inf
II ences for the resumption of the vod
II traffic are not to be disregarded. B
II the probabilities favor a retention
u the prohibition certainly during t
. war, and, quite likely, afterward.
any rate, there never will be retu
to the conditions that existed previo