The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1920-03-03
Peoples Forum


Editor Of The Richmond virginian:
Prohibition. we firmly believe, is on
the statute books of the United states
OF America to stay.
The contortions of the dying mon-
ster whiskey and those so cordially
gree. Whiskeye has so long had an
ally in the law OF our land that ii Is
in sorry plight and making poor
shift, now that 1T wears the long
deserved brand OF an outlaw,
Legislatures are in frenzicd throes;
high officials faunt defiance in the
face OF federal laws. and the whiskey
crowd manifest decided symptoms of
restless turbulence.
The sinister threats of the dwin
ding minority. and the surface agita-
ton of the whiskey question, to be
sure, challenge some attention but Of
themselves constitute no serious men,
ace. The liquor interest Is down and
our. The liquor issue has been set
tied. Its deadly fangs. so long buried
in the very vftals of our political
system, have by due process of law
been extracted. Today our nation,
having ontlawed whiskcy Is gui1tiess
OF the charge of further completely in
so nefarious a traffic. Our nations
ma jor duty now is to make effective
the statute embodied in the eighteenth
Long standing custom is such in
regard to the bibulous inclination OF
rnultitudes of our countrymen that the
enforcement of the prohibition stat
ute, beyond doubt precipitates kind
of revolution in the midst OF the al
ready seething turmoil abroad in the
United States. But 1t is revolution
that is imperative SO far as present
well being and future prosperity OF
~ cd tat nf m
concerned. Our example. too will
have immense weight with the civil
lied nations OF the earth. There Is
not nation now struggling to be rid
Of the curse of strong drink that will
not train its vision to the trail OF the
Stars and Stripes and be nightly in.
huenced by the way the loyal sub
jects of Old Glory conduct themselves
under prohibition.
The alcoholic habit is national
disease with US, and is older than our
nation. Its victims of which there
are, alas, many. VIII slowly adapt
themselves to the changed order. 1t
may take ten years to educate the
American nation as whole to the
practical ideal OF total abstinence.
During this interim law evasions as
regards the prohibition statute must
be sterniy rebuked. and its violation,
whether by the bottom or top strata
OF society. held to strict and impartial
account.
Those bent on the notification or
the repeal OF prohibition are much in
evidence, saying: prohibition is inn
possible: at shall not obtain. ut liz
unconstitutional" and blatantly max
ing much more false and incendiary
clamor. There is remedy even for
such malady as theirs Let the law
which prescrihes the remedy see 1t
also duly administered
The cause embodied in the prohibit
ton of the manufacture sale. con-
sumption. importation and export OF
alcoholic drinks lis so manifestly de-
serving and righteous that our highest
tribunes of justice unanimously sup
pert It. en-sixteenths OF the
sovereign free states in our glorious
Union have said already in their
highest councils that booze shall hike
on the long trail that leads to the
unreturning bourne. The piping
vo ce of opposition. heard in defiance
to this mandate of the people, whether
such voice hail from the office of the
chief executive of New Jersey. or from
the rum soaked hoodlums of the coun-
try commons or the city alleys, figure
about as largely one swallow
among the myriads OF summer, or as
one pebble on long stretch of ocean
layed shore.
In spite of the verdict of the people
of the United States, or rather OF the
overwhelming majority, the outlaw
whiskey is still persistentiy cham
pioned in many of our public forums
and on numerous public platforms. In
spite of. the fact that the post-mortem
examination of the beheaded demon
strong drink diseloses no mitigating
circumstances in all its long. unho1y
reign. rum has yet iegions of sup
porters.
1t will take a long, long time for
newspapers in full alignment with
liquor traffic and subsidized by big
pay from the bullying till of whiskey
corporations to befoul with their
SANDER and gross .falsifications the
white and unterrified standards of so
worthy and able a champion OF civic
righteousness as Is the Richmond vir-
ginian.
From now on the Issue is clear cut,
There must be no temporizins. no