The Washington times., 1918-09-15
Problems of Prohibition
To Make the Law Effective Against Illegal Whiskey
Gigantic Task


In the picture in the next columns are few OF the
friends of whiskey, the poisonous drug.
Whskey makes his own friends; he actually creates
Them
Whskey changes health into sickness 1t changes COM
fort into miserable poverty
Whskev creates crime-at least threefourths of the
crimes of violence The detective in every murder case
looks automatically for the empty whiskey bottles or for
the place where the criminal last bought his whiskey
Whisky unfortunately, is easily and cheaply made,
and easily hidden. The gallon of whskey on which the
Government is about place tax of eight dollars charg
ing high price for the right to drug the peope-that gal
ion of whkey be made secretly and protaby for less
than fifty cents.
Very serious will be the problem confronting the Gov
srnment when it to enforcing the absolute pro-
hbton which begin in the United States the first
Of next July.
In France and other temperate European countries,
where the government fights whiskey, brandy and all
poisonous alcoholic spirits the mder smuants that many
nations temporarily light wine and beer allowed
And this makes easier the fight upon whiskey For where
the mild smulants to be bought openly in France
England and Italy the trade of the illegal Whiskey maker
Is not profitable and it dies.
] Here in the United States, however, the lawmakers
have decided make the experiment of absolute pro-
bition throughout the entire United States beginning
next July
It is one of the most important and most interesting
experiments made by any nation since the day of Moham
med Millions of will be called upon to change habits,
lifelong with the individual and centuries long with the
aon-Asiatic
It is important that the difficulty of the problem should
realized the nature and danger of the alcoholic posons
understood and the nations undertaking in the line of pro-
dibition thoroughly prepared.
No greater calamity could be imagined than, through
prohibition aiming at absolute temperance, to make
Whiskey, secretly manufactured the national drink
In Thomas Jeffersons day the national drink of the
-
ably ten times than today and Jefferson did
not exaggerae when he said that in the United States
Whskey killed third of all the citizens and ruined their
families
In his day it would have been thought impossible to
impose absolute prohibition the nation in which 100
per cent of the used smuans and cnethird JEFF
ferson said, were drunken
Jefferson advocated in his letter to the Legislature of
Virginia and in other cities the encouragement of light
wine and beer as the only way of fighting whiskey.
But the United States, going step beyond anything
that Jefferson would have imagined, decides on abso
lutte prohibition pure water sweetened favored waters
non-alcoholic, as the nations only drink.
To carry out this program will require cooperation
the part of the public and great vigilance on the part of
che Government.
the farmer makes barrel of sweet cider and leaves
it in the cellar few months it automatically becomes
strong drink few glasses of it will make man drunk
If man makes barrel of grape juice-which the
law planned does forbd-and if he allows the crane
Juice to stay in the barrel it will erment and become wine
process almost as simple will produce poorly made
lind Of beer Farmers in Europe, is well known make
their beer their wine and their own whskey or
brandy.
The greatest enemy of whiskey has been said is a.
thorough understanding of its character and effects
All men nstinctively kill snake when they see it.
The has been taught for centuries that the serpent
venomous the enemy of mankind. 1t is destroyed the
moment it appears.
Whiskey has killed more men in the United States
than snakes killed in India
The swollen neck of cobra in the long run is no more
deadly than the swollen shape of whiskey flask when
that flask becomes the ruler of household and begins
bringing in the friends that the artist has shown in this
picture.
Of the two the poisonous reptile is the more mercifu