Perth Amboy evening news., 1918-12-27

sanc of the most earnest and prom
frcrt men in New York have formed
an association for the study Of what
ghcs consider one of the gravest prob
lcms The nation has to solve. That IS
substitute for the saloon.
They are not approaching the SUD-
Zee. with any false notions. They
know what a bane and source OF deg
radiation the saloon has tfen- They
know also the saloon has been a focal
point. a social center. for millions or
persons. They know that to many
men home means little more than a
place in which TO eat and sleep and
that the majority of men have not the
within themselves Tor ra-
tional recreation as amusement. They
kaCw hat liquor drinking is a habit
Eundcd down through the ages. ana
tlat by legal enactment a custom so
deeply rooted through centuries can
moi be cured unless something takes
It's place that is nearly as satisfactory.
Government officials at Washing
ton have no doubt that nationwide
prohibition IS going to p~recipitate
OF The gravCst situations this country
has faced. They rave no chart to
guide their course, for his is the first
greai country to adopt prohibition.
Russia excepted, and that does not
count.
They are making provision to meet
the situation as best they can but
their experience thus far serves onlv
to make them appreciate the magni-
tude Of the job they have to handle.
The sOuth-practically all OF It's
officially dry" vet never has there
been so much moonshining In the
soutl, as since prohibitory laws went
into effect there and w~hiskey-vile
whiskey-is sold clandestinely, despite
the Law. Because IL offers proht un-'
dreamt OF in former times, moonshtn-
In has been taken up by men who
never engaged in it before.
TIE government found whiskey 50
plentiful in army camps in the south
tIat It was forced to act. 1t FORMED,
unler Colonel Daniel Porter, what Is
krown as the flying squadron" a
special force which has cooperated
with state bodies to combat h evil
Nearly 500 Illicit stills nave been de-
stroyed by the raiders within seven
months. Hundreds OF moonshiners
hsvs been sent to prison. Other hun
dreds await trial. Scores OF men,
among them sheriffs and deputies.
have been killed. Many others have
been wounded. There has been n war
in miniature (about which little has
been heard) under a while the big
war in Europe has been in its last
phase.
To discover and destroy an Illicit
still i'm the mountains Is simple com
pared with finding IL in the city. In
the mountains the smoke OF the still
can be seen far away and the smell of
liquor carries far where the atmos-
phere is pure. In a city a still can
send its smoke out through n tall
chimney lue, and n city Is a place OF
a thousand mingling odors.
Whiskev making and beer making
do not require complicated machinery.
Scme stills are crude and cheap. The
Tie government has raided places in
which whiskey, or what passed for
whiskey, was made in an old ice cream
Freezer. Usually the parapharnalia is
little more than some copper kettles
the worm or pipes and the cooling
vessels.
Moonshining is going to play a large
part in the news of the country after
Juig ! next. 1t is going to be known
where II never vas established before.
1t is going TO be widespread In every
great city.
Drug addiction Is o more lnsidious
aud grisly evil han liquor drinking.
II is stated pm authority of govern
ment officials that there are 1000, 600
known drug addicts In America and 1t
Is estimated that there are 500. 900
persons who are secret addicts.
Nearly every criminal is Il drug adj
diet. There is n direct relationship
between drug addiction and crime
The drug addict will commit any act
IN order to get money to buy drugs.
OF all the "dope'-cocaine. morphine.
opium. heroin. etc.-heroin is the
worst and vileSt. or the 500, 600 Sc
crct addicts most have become victims
through not having the physical or
moral strength 10 stop the use OF drugs
10 which they had become accustomed
IN a serious or painful illness.
II is b~etraying no confidence to say
the government officials who have
studied the questions of liquor and
drugs fear nationwide prohibition will
spread the drug evil.
The experiences from partial prohi-
bition give slight basis for calculation
as to the effect OF total prohibition.
Their is a lot of liquor consumed In
dry" states. One northern state fur
nishes an example. To check the flow
OF liquor into that state. railroad en-
~RQyes we're slysstedrwfth police pow
er. and. to stir their ardor. they shared
in the fines imposed or the money oh