Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial. (Wilmington, Del.) 1878-1928, 1920-12-23
Dry Point Of View
BY Frederic ). Haskin

laws in the way Of lenienoy, and u ~ laced
BY tho fact that the prohibition amend
rnent in being widely and variotisiy
broken.
The question Of enforcement - now
admitted 10 be the crucial one. That ~,
there seems 10 be no doubt but that the
prohibitionists can pass all the laws thht
are needed. They dominate not only Con
pregs but most Of the State Legislators;
Thirty-eight States have already passed
enforcement codes, and II rs predlcted
that most Of the others viii speedily 90 80.
But passing q Law is one thing eah en-
forcing IL is another In spite Of 81 thfse
laws, liquor is pouring into the country
over both borders and through every
mort II IL being taken/out Of bond and
sold II is being llicitly made and sold.
It ia being made in many homes by the
occupants thereof for their own use, and
theae Illicit makers Of beer, vine and
whisky include persons Of q great VARIETY
Of classes, poor and rich, rural and urDan
Can this wave Of lawlessness be checkedE
The prohibitionists have presumably con
WINGED the American electorate that prom
bition is good thing IL il can be made
effective But If il cannot be made efec-
tive If Il gives rise merely to an elaborate
system Of iaw-brcahng, then the question
legitiroately arises again, as ~ whether
il il good thing IN such clrcunstaDces.
/ In other words, the best point o. attack
which the oppd~ents Of prohibition nave
| IL that a Inv which cannot be enforced ~
worse than 10 law 1T oil, and that intent
| gent regulation, which could be eniorceu,
/ would undoubtedly be better than com
plete prohibition which cannot De en-
| forced.
PROHIBITION on TRIAL.
The prohibitionigts evidently realize THIS
+ fact Prohibition may he considered %
/ be on trial now as practical proPosiuoh,
1 iust - 10 Vas on trial tor long tiihe - :
/ theoretical proposition. II cnforcement
il made vcar By wear more effective, y
/ win be hard indeed for the opponents q
The law 10 ma 10 m effective attack upon ~
RI the wave Of lAwbreakinR gathers ana
spresd ia. If the law ls a dead letter y
considerable part ~ the country, then
| prohibition xiii be attacked ~ praucai
failure. whatever its theoretical merits
The present sifuation seems 70 p about
| this Whisky a the standard dIstiery
hrarda can 10 purchased IN most large
oifi4e nv anyone who can pay from e1gnt
~ +p,el1,e dollars a 1lIaFt for It. fanous
r.oonehine brrvvs can be p'lrchased "
many rural sections. Certain alleged
medicines cortainirg large percentages ~
alcohol and prescribed on the bottle - De
taken in doses q several glasses day'
NAV be purchased 1T very Tessoneble
prices in drug stores and dsiIoaf essf5'
stores almost everywhere, ABOVE All ~
rn0st anyone who has ordinary cooEli 9
facilities ran make n his home either ale
Laer r3ro ~ whisky and beyond q doubt
grea+ numbers If persons do 20. Row can
eu Of these breaches II the law, arA-es-
DeciaIlv tho last ore, he stopped.
Ne talked this matter over with wayne
r. Wheeler who j. general counsel lot
he Anti-Saloon League, and has often
been referred 10 as the brains o. tnat OF
rauizatIon. His point q new . nlost
interesting ard presumably, may pe
taken as representative nf mat p g
sntiys DrobIhiti0lists in general pro
fo,cd faith il law and ID police power
I he basis 81 Mr. " heller philosophy
He sees the present wave II law-oreaAIn Z
- a mere temporary thing which VII
inevitably be crushed.
THE law breaker always talls- =
zavs He nav give is lot q trouble
but we VIII get MN n the long TUT
CAMPAIGN AGAINST LAwLEssNEss.
he outlined at some length how th'
Illicit sale II liquor would Pc checkeo q
laws governing the disposal q whlsA1
ii warehouses, bv streL gthenlns me eA
force mert organization, ara Oy oa-f
ralea If education agaIrst laWieSsh ess.
The man who breaks the .aW =
traitor and ought - Pc snot' 1@ sA
He a3ded that ID American people collI,
rot hope 20 stamp out ooisheE - = -,
zfsrchv as long IS they tolerated TIE law
. lsssress ~ those who break the PROM
hition amendment. The Anti Saloon League
he intmated. viii devote much Ct IA
educational effort - driving nome m
DIES. In other words il VIII Try 70 MAKE lh'
man who break, the prohibition laN A.
obiec. Of social 0dil.In That IS urQoUDV Ted
" oUe.thlpg which Is lachl0 Z II : con
Sidered no disgrace to make your OVID.
The best people do il. 7 ne methods are dls
cllssed al the most fashionable ana o'--e4
wise respectable gatherings
The prohI bitioulsts recoE re TINS s.
a iarnentable state II affairs lheE real
20 thar men do not fear the punishment:
# The law half as much IS theE iear tA'
opipior Of their fellows, They proposS
therefore 70 make the iquor-law- pre-, Ae
! s pariah, 70 put him II The same Class WIZ
the husv-bearded mountaineering Dol
shevist OF the carJoors.
/ / his would be easy II re We't ~ -
lated figure. But II Will &c hard When ihe,5'
are large, solid blocks q >uch ,aWoseaSS
ers when whole commnul tiles and especial
II whole social classes feel the same Wa
about It.
The ELJSIVE HOME BREWER
Nr Wheflar vas convincing ia his
statement Of how prohibition VIII b
enforced, except in the MISTER OF home
-: ~ ir1aa9 is the 3if}lctl