The Washington herald., 1922-07-23
Where Prohibition Has Sue,
ceeded, Not Failed.

To the Editor. The Washington Herald:
Frequent articles have appeared
IN the open Court column OF The
Herald to the general effect that
prohibition is a failure or that en-
forcement is impossible. / do not
desire to question the motives Of
these pessimists-member Of the
Cant Club" and the many who
are thirty travellers in our Ameri-
can Sahara. These good people
think their own Limited experiences
and observations Justify them in
their conclusions.
The best answer to these indi-
vidual opinions is the experience
of one Of the prohibition States.
Take Kansas, for example. where a
prohibition law was enacted q gem
Grafton ago. ! know that the mere
mention of Kansas and prohibition
will Immediately call forth wild
stories of drunkenness. etc. which
is supposed to exist in that State.
Our first law permitted the So
called light wines and beer. and on
its enactment the cry went up that
grass would grow in the streets.
business would cease. free-born
Ameruan citizens would leave the
State for personal liberty's sake.
labor would be discontented. strikes
and eventually anarchy would fol-
low. How milar TO present day
laments. Critic sm. cynicism. pes
simism are "old stuff" to people who
have lived in prohibition States.
At first no official in Kansas
would enforce the law. which was
primarily directed at the saloon.
Neither party would nominate any
except wet candidates TO office.
This vicious, fanRticsl, revolution
airy freedom destroying. light wine
and beer law must not be enforced"
Freedom was more preciou than
law, prob bition was a joke, said
the outraged vets.
Gradually sentiment changed. The
churches. the schools. the mothers.
daughters and sisters and a few
coura geous newspapers and politi-
clans started campaign of law
enforcement. Kansas elected an at
torney general who enforced the
law. Enforcement officers either
did their duty or We're removed or
special ass stants appointed. The
saloon disappeared forever. Money
flowed into the banks. crimes de-
creased, drunkenness. except in iso-
lated places. disappeared: labor
bought their own homes. and pros
perity reiEned. The home. the
the school. the church; business,
politics and the social well-besng
Of the people could all express graf
itude TO oh'bition.
In the meantime the people dis
covered that enforcement was made
difficult by dishonest brewers who
sent per cent beer under the label
of 2.75 per cent and the habit of
citizens Of importing their liquor
from Missouri. Hence they adopted
so per cent as the standard. As
the people discover the merits Of
prohibition, they support IL; and
gradually public opinion gets be-
hind its strict enforcement
OF course this law, like every
other law, is violated. but ven
ture to predict that in the course
of another generation the man or
woman who boasts Of drinking will
be unknown and wet politicians will
he as rare as the man who SAYS
flying Is impossible. Prohibition
was first tested in the States, where
all new ideas should be examined
and tried. The experience of these
states demonstrated its merits;
bence its extension. therefore
humbly suggest to my friends of
little faith that they study the ex-
perience of other States and then
advise their friends that the dream
VI light wine and beer is only a
dream. mirage in the Prohibition
Desert, which will never become
real