, 1921-08-19

obtaining and using liquor. is not sufficient evideree
to congress that the people desire to return to 'et
conditions. On a moral question like prohibition no
legislative body Is going TO take favorable action on
what is considered the immoral side.
So long as there is not rigid enforcement of the
law and the people can secure supplies of liquor from
outside sources, we will continue to have what NAV be
called plstone prohibition
1t is realized that enforcement is difficult and il it
ever is made effective will require a long time, a large
army of enforcers and a different class of enforcers
than those heretofore or at present on the job. The
whole situation seems to lack sincerity, at least in this
section of the country. 1t may be different elsewhere,
and possibly is If the Boston Commercial Bulletin
speaks truly it is different in New England. While
the Bulletin speaks editorially, news columns do not
bear out the story. The Bulletin says on the general
subject:
"a man who does not smoke would cheerfully ap-
prove OF a tax Of a hundred per cent on cigars, or
even a law prohibiting the use of tobacco, but the
habitual user of tobacco would have quite a different
opinion on the subject
"Tf a law should be enacted forbidding the use of
tobacco, and certain rich men should assume that they
would still be able to buy and smoke expensive cigars,
while laboring men would not be allowed to buy tobac-
CO for their pipes, they would certainly be making a
foolish assumption. And yet this seems to be the
thought that was in the minds of many men regard
ing the law prohibiting the sale of intoxicating drinks.
The poor man was to be saved from the saloon, but
the intoxicants he wanted and especially the wines
and beer that have been the subject of much discus
sion of late.
"An the talk we hear about the blessings of beer
and light wine is no new idea. Massachusetts, tried
the beer experiment in 1870. After three years of
state prohibition a law was enacted permitting the
sale OF malt liquor. The result was an increase in the
number of commitments to jails from 5,770 to 1880,
Drunkenness, crime and poverty increased, and with
the sale of beer permitted, the difficulty of enforcing
laws against sale of hard liquors became so great that
the prohibition laws were repealed. Georgia tried the
same experiment more recently with the same result.
"a few newspapers read by very respectable people
in Boston and New York do not represent the senti-
ment of the American people on the liquor question,
and not all men who play golf are drunkards, in spite
of the artists who draw comic pictures for the daily
papers
Congress, the state legislatures, and the american
people have declared against alcohol as a leverage.
and the benefits derived from national p.ohibition
have been greater than even its advocates dared to
hope. Whether we miss our customary drink or not,
it does no good to whine and cry that we will obey the
law against whiskcy if we can have all the beer and
champagne we want. National prohibit'oI IS 4 part
of he Constitution of the United States, and the
Eighteenth amendment will not be repealed in order
to satisfy men who want their favorite beverages ex-
cmpted from its provisions"