Cayton's weekly. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1916-1921, 1919-02-08
NATIONWIDE PROHIBITION

if we are to believe the prophets who think
the prohibition amendment to the United
States Constitution blunder They assure
us that we are in for an epidemic of Boil
shevism a protest against the infringe
ment of personal liberty; an increase of
unemployment, already made acute by de-
mobilization; an increased burden of tax
alton, made necessary by the loss of excise
revenue; depression of real-estate values
in our big cities; an increased aggressive
ness on the part of the forces of inteler
ance, as foreshadowed in the statement of
W. C. IT, U. official that "the next cam
paign will be against cigarets, gambling
and profanity'; reluctance on the part
of Europeans to come to land where they
will be denied their accustomed alcoholic
beverages; a great increase in "moonshin-
ing; an aggravation Of the drug evil; the
growth of national spirit of hypocrisy:
and a contempt for law, born of inevitable
failures to enforce this law in many great
communities where it is not supported by
public opinion. According to figures widely
circulated in the press, the bone-dry amend
ment will wipe out 992 breweries, 233 dis
tileries, and 100000 saloons; upset capital
invested in the brewing and liquor business
to the extent Of ST ,294, 100000; and throw
out Of work 749,418 employees drawing
annual compensation t othe amount of $685.
S72, 553.
But despite this somber outlook, an exam
nation of our press shows that the great
majority not only seem to take a cheerful
view of the situation, but proceed to give
reasons for their optimism. AS to Bolshe-
vism, they retort that the American people
will submit to the majority verdict in
sportsmanlke and American way To the
cti IF
that this will be only temporary, a possibly
unavoidable phase in the transfer of brew
cry and distillery employees from non-pro-
ductive to productive employment. If we
are atxed more, they say, the increased pros
perity that follows in the track of prohibi-
ton will more than compensate u.s. And the
other clouds on the antiprohibitionists' hori-
ION seem to the general editorial observer
no less unsubstantial. He points out, more
over, that the exile of John Barleycorn will
remove the "boss' from our State and city
politics, will decrease the cost of our police
departments, correctional institutions, chart
ties, and hospitals. Moreover as the Phila-
delphia Press remarks, "a lack of demand
from the brewers and maltsters for grain
will have it's effect upon the market for
farm products, and if this tends to cheaper
the cost of living the change will be well
coined by the vast majority Of consumers"
''On the economic side," remarks the New
York Globe, "the cessation of the guzzling
by which ten per cent of our productive
ness has gone to the support Of parasitic
class which has battened on human weak
ness should flush legitimate trade" Alto
gether, affirms the Boston Christian Science
Monitor, "the certain gain" overwhelmingly
outweighs "the alleged cost" And in the
PHILADELPHIA North American which halls
the Eighteenth Amendment as "the most
important measure of social and economic
legislation adopted since the Republic was
formed" we read:
cit means a conservation of national
wealth which within ten years will equal the
colossal costs of the war. By ending a
wasted expenditure of O00,O00,000 year,
it will divert that sum to the satisfying de-
mands for necessaries and comforts of life,
creating incomparably the greatest new
market any legislation could open to Ameri-