The American issue. [volume] (Westerville, Ohio) 1912-19??, 1922-05-19
Economic and Industrial Conditions Greatly Improved By
Dry Law
new YORK FIGURES SHOW 80 PCT. DECREASE
In DEATHS CAUSED BY ALCOHOLISM
The Various Charitable and Welfare Organizations the Large Cities
Note Benefits of Prohibition
INTERESTING FACTS GIVEN IN MAGAZINE ARTICLE BY DR. WHEELER

Is Prohibition a success? This
Wayne B. Wheeler, General Counsel
Anti-Saloon League of America in tn
Magazine. Basng his opinion on tive
ing it up with figures from all over the
dry law is a great success. In the beg
out that the one-half of per cent st;
in dry states proved it was necessary
seven states have prohibited liquors c
per cent or more. The following from
Current History Magazine published
reprinted in this Issue to give our rea
Results of the Law
The first important social result OBJ
tanned from Prohibition is that arrests
and convictions for drunkenness have
decreased. This is the principal evil
at which Prohibition is aimed. Any
policy of government relating to the
liquor traffic which materially de-
creases drunkenness is tending in the
right direction. In making compari-
sons, the last full wet year. 1917, is
used to compare with 1921, unless
some other year is more typical.
In the year 1921 the city of Boston
had 72,89 arrests for drunkenness; in
1921 it had 30,oS7. The total for 1920
and 1921 combined is less than that
for any full single license year. In
1918 Cincinnati had 14,070 arrests for
drunkenness; in 1921 something over
500. In Milwaukee drunkenness,
drunk and disorderly conduct COM
bined, gave these figures; 4,73S in
1917, 1886 in 1921. The arrests for
drunkenness in 1917 in St. Louis were
4,958, in 1921, oo3. In Washington,
D. C., from November, 1917, to No
vember, 1918, the arrests for drunk
enness numbered 10,793; during the
fiscal year ending July /, 1921, the
number was SOS.
Theofficial records of New York
City give the number of arrests for
intoxication in 1917 as 1884. In
1921 the arrests for this cause were
6,247.
The police records of Cheyenne,
Wyoming, present the following COM
parison between wet and dry years:
1917 1921
Arrests for drunkenness 907 $50
Arrests for disorderly
Aggregate for all crimes 5,072 1,34l
The population of San Francisco,
California, increased about 10 per cent
from 1916 to 1921, but the arrests for
drunkenness decreased from 5,106 to
$3.50.
These cases cited from different sec
tions of the country are typical. Com
pairing the last wet year with 1921, we
find a decrease of approximately 50
per cent in the arrests for drunken
1850 iiio 10 d oliihiiiS lolitldSl "
the conditions in countries like Eng
land, where the official report filed
with Parliament showed an increase
in the convictions for drunkenness in
1920 of o5.26 per cent and where DIR.
Templeman, surgeon of police, reports
461 cases which have come under his
observation where little children or
babies were killed by being overlaid
by mothers too drunk even to hear
their pitiful cries. 1t comes with poor
grace, therefore, for our English visi-
tors to be criticising our Prohibition
policy, which is decreasing drunken
ness at the same rate that England is
increasing it.
Recent surveys made by those un-
friendly to Prohibition prove that it is
success The first article of the
New York Herald survey admitted
that there was a decrease in the con-
sumption of beverage liquor under the
vi ~ pei ISnl.
Another survey made through the
Cosmopolitan Magazine states that
the number Of drinkers of intoxicants
has decreased from about 20,000,000
under the license system to 2,500,000
under National Prohibition. A policy
of government that makes such a
showing is not a failure, but success.
When Prohibition is universally en-
forced and observed, the results will
be proportionately greater.
In the discussion of the results of
Prohibition two factors must not be
overlooked. First, in many states
with the more populous centers, such
as Baltimore. New York, PHILADELPHIA,
San Francisco, New Orleans, there