The American issue. [volume] (Westerville, Ohio) 1912-19??, 1919-08-01

ROAto anu a1fVoo AiAN ~
sons who express this view point to
the unquestioned illicit entry of liquor
into the states where Prohibition is
already the state law. They hope that
the exemptions in favor of the sale
and use of alcoholic liquors for mt
dicinal, mechanical and sacramental
purposes can be so manipulated as to
secure liquor for beverage purposes.
The other view is that, while ma
tion-wide Prohibition will be decidedly
distasteful to many especially to some
elements of the foreign-born part of
the population, America as whole
will accept. enforce and justify the
measure. No ono doubts that eva
sions will be attempted but i'll favor
of the praeticability of the enforce
ment of the law arc these powerful
considerations:
First, experience has shown that
the large extension OF Prohibition ter
ritory has lessened the case of eva
sion. When Detroit went dry liqu,
was smuggled in from the wet city OF
Toledo, in the neighboring state OF
Ohio. New Toledo has gone dry, ard
the Detroit commissioner of police
told us that the task OF enforcement
in Detroit would be much simpler.
This illustration will serve. There is
law-breaking minority, but it is
minority only And once the boun-
Diary difficulties between dry and wet
areas are solved by the constitution
OF the Republic as dry area through
out, the problem Of enforcement will
be cut down to narrow dimensions.
Second. the frontier question is sim
plifed by the fact that Canada, on the
north, is now practically Prohibition
country, while, as to Mexico. on the
south, | understand that the Mexican
government has agreed to establish a
dry zone, ten miles in breadth, so as
to diminish the likelihood of snug
SIIS. IL 10 ihPol ldiit " duu lidi
Congress is expected to pass a strin-
gent enforcement law. and that re-
sponsible public opinion will undoubt-
edly sustain its operation. NJ. Taft.
ex- Pre- sident OF the United States, who
has been hostile to Prohibition hitf-
crto, now definitely states that when
Prohibition becomes-as it will next
JANUARY Part of the Constitution of
the country, the law must be re-
spected, enforced and obeyed.
What Shall We Drink
Yet the most convincing proof OF
the practicability of Prohibition is, to
my mind, the fact that the liquor trade
is breaking up. The wine growers OF
California arc organized and agrees
sivc; but everywhere | find on sale
grape juice" from California. sweet
and pleasant non-alcoholic drink made
from kind OF grapes now cultivated
in place OF the varieties from which
the famous wines of California were
made As for the breweries, ii is an
astounding experience in Prohibition
town to discover that brewery has
been converted into a fruit-canning
establishment, or a cold storage and
ice plant" or soft drink" factory.
1t looks as though most American
breweries would become mineral
water CT soft drink" factories. "Soft
drinks" mean in America multitude
of pleasant connections made from
fruit juices and served in these hot
days with ices. There is fortune
awaiting the man who will popularize
the "soit drink bar" in our great Eng
lish towns.
] found at St. Louis that the An
heuscr- Burch brewery is manufactur-
ing a beer substitute called "Bevo,"
which contains less than half of one
per cent of alcohol. 1T looks like
beer, it smells like beer, it tastes like
beer, but it doesn't have the kick" say
the Americans. There are many OF
these beer substitutes, and they have
a large and growing sale.
The saloonkeepers are selling out
their stock of all kinds of liquors.
Bone dry for ever; buy enough to
last you lifetime" is the notice over
saloon in St. Louis. 1t is a tacit
admission that the liquor game is end
ing. "What will you do when you
have used all your private stock" /
asked a fellow-passenger, who told me
that he was buying and stocking wines
and spirits freely. "Oh," he said,
when it is all gone will just have to
give up drinking. After all man
does not really need to drink, and Pro-
hibition will be for the good of the
country" That last phrase sums up
the faith of the real American. He
may not like Prohibition. He may
dislike it very much. But he knows
it is good for business. good for the
children, good for his city. In a word,
Prohibition is good for America. And