The Washington herald., 1922-04-30
Defense of Whisky.
To the Editor, The Washington Herald:

10 the Editor, The Washington Herald:
Permit me a few lines in the Open
Court. L read with much interest
the lady's article, Thank the Lord
for Prohibition" With all due re-
spect. though. feel compelled to say
that I am neither selfish. thoughtless
nor merciless. Surely we all have
the right to protest against that
which we feel has worked injury
and caused widespread unrest and
discomfort. Certainly our fore
fathers were neither selfish,
thoughtless nor merciless when, to
protect themselves against unjust
taxation. they dumped the tea in
Boston harbor. The prohibition
amendment is a taxation upon our
patience IL nothing more. Further
more. 1 am accused of thinking only
of my own stomach and not of q
mothers feelings. The former I
deny. I am not alone. I am sure. in
my contentious and l do not be-
lieve in denying the many for the
benefit of the few. The latter 1t Is
certain no man fully understands,
but from present study of the sit
uation 1t would appear that the
IN RTdNe
danger OF injury. perhaps death
from poisonous whisky. Perhaps
the bootleggers will not be plying
their trade then, but this is far from
certain. With regard to the value
Of whisky as a medicine, fail to
see how anyone can say "all rot
Doctors have spent years in the
study and practice of medicine and
they certainly are better fitted to
be a Judge of what Is beneficial
than other people.
The Volstead act and the prohibit
tion amendment are unpopular. The
referendum in Ohio proves that and
I might also call attention to the
vote for delegates to the recent San
Francisco convention when the
Bryan ticket here was overwhelm-
ingly defeated 2.s5S to 1854.
l read the recent statement by
the governor of Oklahoma. himself
prohibitionist, wherein he states
enforcement of the law to he a fail
ure, the conditions existing at the
present time. and while he would
never willingly tolerate the open
saloon again. he has no corrective
measure to offer. Such frankness
is refreshing. and moreover an ad-
mission like this carries consider
able weight. A corrective measure
would be to allow the sale of beer,
wine and whisky in wholesale
liquor houses under government
supervision. without re-establishing
the open saloon.
am afraid the lady has small
faith in mankind. We are not a ma
ton of drunkards or gluttons and
the percentage Of men rolling in
the cutters would be very small. II
is quite similar to the time-worn
and threadbare argument concern
ing the number Of arrests in any
rests does mot mean 1000 men ar
rested: those making a practice of
becoming intoxicated to such a de.
gree were often locked up many
times during the year and upon
investigation this number would
boil down to three of four hundred
Police court records will prove this
The statement that we cannot ex-
pect the law to be enforced over
night seems little short of the
mark. 1t has been nearly three
years now since the saloons closed
"a very long. fretful, feverish
night for the dry advocates, with
many nightmares.
Let US hope at the coming Con-
sressional elections this fall. where
I understand the issue will be
raised. the first step will be taken
towards normally.
R. P, S.