Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1920-09-12
|R|T|SH ADMIRAL
FLAyS DRY REGIME
IN UNITED STATES
|ecalls Prohibition His
tory of America to
Warn Great Britain.
ENIES NEW EXPERIMENT
Pbriety for England Lies in
Reformation of Public
Houses.
IVES NEW EXPERIMENT
SIR WILLIAM REGINALD HALL,
Il. NJ. nnd Director of
british Morni Intelligence Dur
inE the wnr.

SIR WILLIAM REGINALD HALL,
ar-Admirai X. ~. md Director of
nrItIsh Morni Intelligence Dur
Ing the War.
i 13y Cross Atlantic s;crvice)
.ONDOS. Sept. il.-American adj
catcs of prohibition are trying 20
scure the Issues OF that policy By
offending that IL is unfair TO judge
movement which is in it's expert
nthl stages. spokesman Of the
saloon League explicitly writes
prohibition as an attempt 10 en-
tx the United States OIL "unchartci
IS of reform"
unchar,ed'' is IS blessed a word as
sopothm!a. |, Is wei. calculated
nislcad those who are ignorant OF;
Incricin history. The inference is
IL prior 10 the liberty destroying
not been any cndeavor ID test,
ohlbition in the United States.
Try to Cover Past History.
Is easy. OF course, to understand
nious to dismiss - oblivion the
~ history of prohibition. That his
~ is one OF faiiurc. These are
g facts:
From ISL EDWARDS no fewer than
ION made experiments with pro-
oition In various ways; bst always
IA the same fatal result. Massa-
usetts. Tor example, experimental
IN prohibition for hiiccn years
In most emphatic manner
hen, in 1889. another attempt was
ide by the prohibitionists to ic-
,orce the law, there was only one
majority In their favor.
During the campaign OF 1859 the
|'vernor ordered the preparation OF
t,istics 10 Illustrate the effects Of
n n
milton. They were prepared Tor
|e Legislature In the most cor,i,I
anner. and they showed that, while
der prohibition there was an alarm
,s rapid decline In drunkenness
1en prohibition was replaced by n
cnse law.
EIiotn Statement.
Previous attempts 10 enforce pro-
|bi'ion in the .twcnty-three States
|a!ch have tried the experiment i.d
e famous ex-presidcnt ~; Harvard
diversity. Charles w. Eliot. to sum
he results in one COMPREHENSIVE.
enforce prohibition had. he SAID.
ad some unlooked-fo effects on
iblic respect for the courts. judicial
ocedure. oaths and law, Legislature
I'D public servants. The public had
EN- law dcned: whole generation
hahitual law-brcakcrs schoolcd in
aston and shamclessncss. courts in
fectlve through fluctuations of pol
\, delay. nerjuries; negligence, and
the law double-faced and mcr-
nary: legislators timld and Insih-
while; however. II Is pertinent to
riment. but rather remedy which
as been proved TO DO a d!sastrou.
lure in the various States in which
has been tested, there Is another
Epcct Of the question which is LOO
'equcntly ignored.
Refuse saloon Reformation!
In the United States there was
bubtless excuse for trying drastic
r the average American saloon. 1t
ems to have been the focus OF the
orst elements in the life of the
And II must be remem-
red that the so-callcd temperance
formers in America always opposed
&c principle that il they were de.
rived OF their horrible examples"
'etr oratory would fall nat.
n. Notwithstanding the need for re-
'rm, has never sunk to tho degraded
vel of the American saloon. Hence.
follows that II would be sheer folly
, apply TO the public-housc problem
is been SO pronounced Il failure In
10 United States.
There are other equally weighty
'asons why ii would be extremely
'ngerous to attempt prohibition in
us country. Some OF them are hin;-
,dictnent
, Hume Drew Would Increase.
"A law which is enforced against
le general sentiment of the nation
ould be so ignored or cvided as
, bring all law into contempt. .As
me united states. private manu-
'cture or intoXicants would become
idespread, and indulgence In other
rms OF stimulation. such as drugs.
ould increase enormously.
\ Still more vital objection to Dro-
Ibltion Is one which may be com
ended TO the serious. attention of
gion who have given their support
, the prohibition movement. Do fScy
,altze tha, in SO doing they are
1 bro dars their own position? Do
ie aid OF. the law in REFRESHING n
oral weakness they are confessine
he impotence OF the pulpit. the weak.
ess OF the church, and the failure
the gospel?
Excess in drink is akin to all other
tcess. 1t Is not different. save in
'rm., from excess in seXuality. eat
Ig. dressing or any other vice which
az it's origin in the abuse of an in
Pss it is the AIM Noble o t fseaT pe
build. can never be achieved by
Whatever drink problem" remains
day can BIO solved by a policy
hich does not destroy Individual
.eedom. The reform of the public
ouse Is the direct road to sobriety,
ne OF the most glowing passages
acaulay ever wrote was that which
G penned In praise Of the English
m OF the seventeenth century.
Never" he declared, was an Eng
shlnan moro at home than when he
'ok his ease in his inn"
That the inn has deteriorated is
Of the fault Of the brewer or the
censed yictuai Her. 1t Is due to our
osoiete licensing laws and the re-
rictive Interpretation of those laws.
prohibttion is utterly alien to the
form is akin to that preferences FOR
'mpromise which has given him his
aiding place in the world.
TOWER SHIPS WILL
-