Arizona republican., 1917-03-29
Straiqhten the Line

Straiqhten tne Line
We are in sympathy with the work of the state
temperance federation which held a meeting here
on Tuesday and we agree with it that at is danger
ous and detrimental the public welfare to coun-
tenance the existence Of the saloon in any part of
the United States" favor of either or both
ways that have been proposed for the abolition of
the saloon throughout the countryby national pro-
nibtion or by the spread of effective prohibition
state 10y state.
One of the speakers at the meeting on Tuesday
stated what we have often thought that "the dry
victory in Arizona was only a skrmsh;" that the
real the decisive victory in this sector yet
20 be won Why thought it only skirnish
and why the speaker thought two quite diff
ferent things That the victory not complete he
believed was because just across the line in New
Mexico one could obtain liquor In his opinion there
could be no victory until there should be no wet
territory anywhere contiguous to dry territory. That
we viii agree would be a condition of thoroughly
bone dry" prohibition.
But is it vet an ideal condition he has in mind?
We have before us first the task of making ideal
conditions real This may be made but the
question is whether it should not be made so by
doing those things nearest at hand.
We have learned from reading the that
after side or the other has gained advantage
any of the battle fronts, that side flushed with
the partial victory does not Immediately press for
ward, covering much territory possible That
would be weakening and fatal The first thing it
does strengthen the line" secure itself in its
newly position and make ready for another adj
vance.
is what needed o be done in the of
prohibition against the power. The most fire.
quent, and have thought the most effective ar
gument against prohibition in recent years is the
saloon slogan, prohibition does not prohibit" We
know that many years after it's adoption in Kan
sas at least twenty years it did not prohibit in that
prohibit there until Governor Stubs
secured supplemental legislation that gave him full
control the machinery for the enforcement of the
prohibition law. Prohibition has prohibited
in Maine and the prohibition sentiment there has
been growing weaker year by year shown by
the increasing vote in favor Of re-submisson
These and other prohibition states long labored
under great disadvantage. the interstate commerce
laws of that time, a disadvantage that only
slightly relieved later by the Original package" law.
Some states which went dry fifty or twenty-five
years ago became wet again, largely because pro-
hibiton not prohibit. And other states, regarding
states where prohibition did prohibit horrible
examples Of futility declined to follow them 1t is
worse than useless to cumber the with
sentimental expressions of righteousness and virtue
THAT is hypocrisy on a statewide scale.
Now, the early disadvantages have been removed.
Our interstate commerce laws have been amended
as lend themselves perfectly the protection Of.
states which really to be dry. Whether they
shall be dry rot depends upon the states them
selves upon the people What Of Arizona want
do first is to "straighten the line" and make
Of the laws within and without to give full force to
prohibition
There is still a great deal of whisky drunk and
sold in Arizona. We have been told that in
lodging house in Phoenix a couple of young
installed in the liquor selling trade. of them
always present, day night, to customers
We suppose that the greater part of the liquor be-
ing dispensed is part of the enormous supply
shipped into the state between election day year
and the date when the amended prohibition amend
into effect. In its pamiest frontier days
there was probably half such volume of
liquor Arizona as there was January 1 of this
year. We suppose only comparatively little has been
snuggled since. How long the present supply will
last we do not know but unless the bootlegging is
broken up before it is all gone great deal will
be smuggled in later.
What we need is law enforcement rather
than immediate further advance into wet terri
tory. We have believe law enforcement league
of the federation. The league of course,
force the law but it locate violations of the law.
We have no custer law with which compel
Iuctant officials. but we have the recall.