The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-08-06
By ROY A. HAYNES United States Prohibition Commits

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 John Simply of New Bedford, on a whaling cruise in the Pacific back in 1886, wrote this in his diary con cerning those who were dreaming of railroade across the continent of America:
 At 6 p. m., being seated at supper, the master observed, MT. Ayers, l have been reading the newspapers and am of the opinion that rail road from one end of the United States to the other will be, built by the time we arrive home.
 Now God forbid that our voyage should be protracted to this distant period, for when that great event shall be accomplished heaven and earth and sea and skies may be no more. The Lord preserve us all in our senses to the last"
 In 1863 the spike was driven that welded east and west Today land that only a generation ago seemed like another world, shrouded almost in mystery, has become |. part of the everyday life of the nation.
 No doubt the statesmen of the world smiled indulgently at the pie ture of a handful of colonials setting themselves against the might of the British empire
 Darius Greene was the butt of the jokesmfths. The world laughed at Langley and the Brothers Wright
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 ..Adventure With The Impossible"
 Some years ago it was my good fortune to visit the Canal Zone, and the first time 1 looked out over the famous Culebra Cut, l saw the Pan anna Canal as a great highway Of commerce. But out there before me lay the machinery. of the ensinery of De Lesseps in the dust and discard ,,f carued mechanism of French engl- neering seemed to cry Impossible" 7" AfterW ard there came the daring or Roosevelt Before the American will the obstacles taded the fears fled. The impossible became the achievement of the century
 And so it has been with the traf . fife III alcohol. Men said that what had always been, could never be re- moved. And they believed it. The fight for prohibition has been, perhaps, America s greatest the world highest adventure with the l impossible. It typifies, it seems to me, more clearly than any other na : | tional achievement. the spirit that | has set America apart as natloh and the consciousness of people l that was but quickened by the war peril.
 The little old leaders of the world, |
 odicul, writing from Paris on the eve of the peace conference. are daring | to tackle the new era, consciously | They are attempting the impossible. So they will accomplish the impossi . ble, just as will you and 1. There IS | bigger, better reason than compul- sion that makes it seem sure thal they, and we. will be able to take the measure of and deal with, somehow the future that is here. There art signs here in Paris which anyone can see that conscious daring is to be the feature of the new era. That Is the very spirit of the day..
 i've are going to try. knowingly, the impossible. One of the quietest- minded. most matter-of-fa of the great American jurists, statesman high in the councils of the new world leadership, said this very thing to me. It was at the end of long eve. ming spent on the war, peace recon struction When it came to the tu- ture. he was asked this question:
 "'What will it's chief characteris- tics be-
 'Adventure,' he said like a shot as though he had long ago thought out his answer Romance and ad- venture. Not the old sort; not the ruthless half-conscious gambling, each man for himself, but adventure where the risk will be real, open eyed, deliberate - high adventure, with bold plunges into the mysteries of science. daring graphing with the unsolved problems of thought art and social living.
 We shall dare to marry the spirit ual with the material The man of our future will not say that these evils have always existed. and there fore, they will always exist. He will seek to determine. rather, what is the greatest evil and will set himself to defeat that evil first. And he-and we-shall succeed We shall make conquest of the mpossihle-because we have learned to dare."
 Benefits Of Prohibition.
 The words were prophetic. When prohibition was written into the charter of the nation the eighteenth amendment marked the real begin ming of the great adventure. The sentiment against intoXicants had been growth. stretching back for years. It had manifested itself in groups. communities. states But in the great centers of population, es- pecially, the organization of the IT, quor interests vas so complete; their hold on governmental agencies so strong; their entrenchment through the hotel, .he restaurant and the re- sort so deep and so perfect; their contributions to city, state and na-