The Nashville globe. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1906-193?, 1917-07-20
Nashville, Tenn. July 20. II
SOCIAL BAN FOR BOOZE.

Booze has long been under mora
ban. During recent years business
has been manifesting impotence will
the wasteful economic consequence
of booze. Now a majority of tn
states have shut down ON the sale o
alcohol and the nation is about t
suspend its manufacture probabl,
forever To complete the conques
only one thing seems lacking Thi,
is social disapproyal
Society has too long tolerated booze
and tie train of evils in its wake;
has winked at violations of regula.
tons designed to initiate an admitted
evil. Society has classified drunken
ness as an amiable weakness; has
treated intoXication as a joke Ii
booze is to be kept down, laws framed
to keep it down must be regarded as
good laws, and men who defy then
in one way or another must be treated
as bad men. If drunkenness is
enough of an evil to warrant all the
anti-bOoZe legislation, it must be re-
membered that alcohol does not harm
unless wrongly used Good people
must stop laughing at men who per-
sist in getting "soused." There can
be nothing intrinsically funny about
a case of poisoning. Only on the the
DRY that booze is poison and harm
full one can all the campaigning
against it be justified. If a man who
is drunk is suffering from the effects
of a toxic agent there should be moth
ing in his plight to call for ebulll-
lions of mirth If there is anything
funny in the fruits of whiskey guz-
zling, then there is something funny
about any law that attempts to pre-
vent whiskey guzzling Previous pro.
hibitoTy campaigns have tailed
through unwillingness of the average
man to take them seriously. The
present crusade, successful as it
seems Tor the time, will fail likewise
unless taken seriously by the great
body OF the public,
With state and federal laws com
bining 10 outlaw the sale and trans
portation of liquor, the opportunity
for communities to become really
dry is now much better than al any
previous time. Alcohol can he snug.
gled and sold illegally, just as opium
is smDggled and sold. Alcohol can be
got by illegal manufacture, even more
readily, of course The degree in
which this illegal traffic can be car
ried on in any community must de-
pend upon the degree of tolerance
shown it by the good people of the
community. Good people form a
large majority of every community
If the majority wants the laws Ell
forced strictly, officers will assert
every ounce of their power to thai
end. Otherwise they will lose their
Offices.
Ii business and society make il
plain that they have no use for the
drinkeT and neither sympathy noi
smiles for the drunkard, the demand
for "moonshine" or smuggled booze
will tall off so materially as IL
threaten the bootlegger with eXtinc
ton in the most effective way, name
ly, because the profits of his trade
will become too small to warrant hin
in taking the chances involved. J
would be very poor economy to lie
the present experiment with bone dr.,
prohibition pass until there has bee;
plain demonstration that sustained
community support of the letter an
spirit OF the law is sufficient to maxi
it effective.
The confirmed victim of the bOoz
habit is entitled to more than sympa
thy from the public. He is entitled
to help. He has disease that ma.
be cured The chronic cases can b.
kept in public institutions, for il
most instances the public would hav
to support the helpful ones in an,
case To others the public can assur
absence of temptation and drastic
punishment for disregard Of law
Above all things let there be no smil
ing over eyasions of law, no laughin,
at men in high or low station who al