The Washington times., 1917-01-04
Preface to q Prohibition Tract.

comes and the little book to
which this is a preface proves that II
Is On the way win be Q grand
good thing.
1t will bring back the romance into
drinking.
At present there Is no thrill of ad-
venture to be had from walking into
bar room and ordering . drink.
there is as much to be got out OF go
ing into the postofhce and buying .
stamp.
1t is true that the bar room has Its
attractions: there Is the pIeasurabls
physical glow, suffusing the human
innards, that comes from the drink
itself; there Is the mental excitement
and there is the psychic stimulation
But these attractive things are often
balanced by depression; and the at
traction OF sociability down in the
licensed saloon is balanced by the GER
tainty that one will meet bores there:
bar room bores whom one must
suffer or go to some trouble to dodge.
the bar room, as at present con-
stftuted, has almost as many draw
backs as recommendations
But when prohibition comes, ana
barrooms are abolished, and one must
seek out q blind pig. drinking win
assume a different and q more win
some aspect. In addition TO the pleas
ure OF drinking there viii be the zest
Of disobeying the law, defying the
constituted authorities, doutinG the
will of the majority.
Men who drink now merely from
habit will find q new thrill in 1t when
II Is forbidden.
Something that Is as dull as duty to
them will suddenly become q delight
once more through being surrounded
with difficulties and hazards. Prohi-
bition will bind with o new warp OF
color the drab wool of alcoholism.
Especially to boys and young men
who are not now drinkers will liquor
appeal when once it has been out
Iawed.
THE adolescence male OF the human
species dwells amidst perpetual men
tai and spiritual excitements, not able
from moment to moment to determine
whether he would rather be a pic
turesque criminal or q religious hero.
The thing he does not want to be Is
the thing which he perceives the ma
jority of his commonplace elders,
whose instinct for protective coloring
has made them neutl al and negative,
have become.
The youth seeks for. q CLEAN Of
poetry in existence; he hunts FOR
glamour; he Graves initiation into
mysteries, Eleusinian or any other.
He likes anything in the nature Of
secret meeting, anything with a
conspiratorial look about 1t; the blind
pig will furnish him with just enough
of the tang and flavor OF adventure
to capture him; he will conquer his
natural antipathy to the vfllainous
liquors served in such places and
learn to drink them even IL they burn
holes in his neck going down.
And is it not desirable that the
young man, during the formative pc
riod of his life {. lhow could we
get along without that phrase Dur
/ Ing lnC PCIlOu VI us
life?") should enjoy the moral
advantages to be derived from asso-
citation with older men who have
steadfastly refused to conform to the
laws and conventions which the ma
jorities seek to impose?
This is a question for the moral
/ lists: we throw il out for them to
grapple with; we can't answer 1t.
The friendships that will spring up
among those who meet eech other IN
blind pigs will be much closer than
among those who meet in ordinary
licensed saloons. They will be like a
little band of brothers. The sense that
they are all outlaws together will In
duct them into an intenser spiritual
intimacy each one with all the others,
II is always so with outlaws and
idealists; with those who oppose
themselves to the ruling power for
the most selfish reasons and Those
who rebel for the most unselfish Of
reasons. Rebellion is the essence OF
the bond.
There are no stories lovelier IN all
history than the tales OF the mutual
| dhcCIlOu anu oAAOhe NhO
ers and leaders of religious move
ments prosecuted by q majority. The
knowledge that they are opposed to
the majority draws them together no
less than the fervor OF theiP> belief.
The idealist and the outlaw discover
a fellowship, shot through with emo
tionaI color and heats and vibrations
not possible to us calm, mistaken re
probabilities.
| Speaking personally, II Is only our
native conservatism and ingrained re.
dictionary habit of mind which pre-.
vents us from envying in this respect
lcertain radical groups, for revolution,
lists are often both outlaws and ideal
lists, and therefore doubly susceptible
I, spiritual excitements and exalta
tions.
When prohibition comes, and brings
US the blind pig, there will follow
but no. Prophecy las we seen
to have read somewhere) IL danger
Gus.
| Perhaps there Is an unconsciou.
selfishness in our advocacy of nation
wide prohibition
Ourself, We have lost interest II
drinking. 1t seems to US useless
there isn't any fun in IL.
But, IL prohibition came, our inter
est would undoubtedly revive. We