Evening star., 1923-03-07
EDITORIAL DIGEST

that b"for" the passage Of the
tGh;"rHlA '.inr rnHucHt prohibition was
literally effective IN thirty states .
- answer sufficient. as the kaIaniazoo
the national prohibition amendment
was L wartime measure harShIv
forced upon au unwilling nation az
an experiment and that II il wrr. put
L" Il vote nf the people it would ht.
defeated. The fact mast be aCkuuN l.
edged that the federal law is. to an
even greater extent than those iso-
lated state laws, beneficial in rcuoV-
ina l. 'rptatIon ana in making liuuor
Iuor" difficult t. obtain. The law is
really Stlil on trial. There is as yet
10 reasonable ground TOR asSuiui II Z
that diSr"Sp"ct for prohibition VIII
grow during the next decade # an
honest effort is made L. enforce the
law Accepting the sentiment that
the nation is getting jirier. the
Waterbury Republican agrees that
smuggling of liquor viii probably
always take place just as VIII III.
smuggling of other commodities. But
it is fair to assume that when the
rising generation comes Of age. its
umfamiIiarity with liquor will have
become 50 widespread that there VIII
be no general demand for il. and The
reform represented. by the eighteenth
amendment will have been substantially
aCcn;upllS Shtd."
These conclusions Will give more
comfort To the dryS than they will
to the vets who have built up u pic
ture of prohibition on its last legs
through failure and popular repudl- :
alton" points out the IgIluth Herald.
Even Chicago is dri@r than it was.
and u VIII he dricr Than - is uoN =
This is very much the opinion of the
Springfield Illinois @::to journal.
which insists that "thc evidence is
that nrohihition has come To stay and
- hn f,1r Of lA -.
gaining ground Mr.. Lawrence en-
cOuragcS American citizens with his
opening statement in his last article
to the effect that so long as the
law are unrcpealcd the federal GOV
ernment Intends to enforce them.
The light wine and beer advocates. if
they are sincere. only d"lude them
selves. Illicit sale and defiance Of the
laws will make their last resistance
in the great communities But ulti-
mately the law will yindicate itself
even there. Mr. Harding has not
been led astray by the talk al the
prohibition enthusiasts that the
eighteenth amendment would rCmoV"
liquor from politics. 1t has been in
politics for many years as Il force
for the disruption of society. II has
lost it's formidable organized force
in the closing Of the licensed saloon,
but it holds remnants together for
Whatever advantage IneFt may sbe III
elecung weak or partisan law-enforce-
ment officers.
1.-The right of citizens to advocate
repeal is exactly on a parity with the
right of other citizens TO stand for its
retention in the Constitution" the SpO-
kane Spokesman Review holds. 'hut the
association opposed to prohibition :
real purpose as disclosed by MIR.
Lawrence is to nuilify the constitu-
tion by amending the Volstead laws
SO as to legaliZe the now outlawed
traffic in intoxicating beer and wine.
The movement is tricky and decep-
tive. While processing obedience to
the law. it's object is disregard of the
law. 1t is sheer contradiction when
the head Of the organiza ton says that
he feels that the laws of the land
are sacred, but that when they touch
personal liberty each individual
should decide for himself what he
viii do about it,"