Evening star., 1925-11-22


in spirit and In letter?
AT the outset, let it be said that the
dryingup process has still a long way
TO go, and if the fashion is TO be dry
large number of WashingtonianS
both In and out of official life are not
yet fashionable"
However, and on the other hand,
the prohibition fashion has germinat-
ed. 1t is on its way to birth, pro
Vfded II is not too rudelv stepped on.
There is a nucleus. and q not unimpor-
tant one. among the high officials in
Washington who have ceased to serve
anything stronger than cider, near
beer and ginger ale in their own
houses, and who have gone so far as
10 decline alcoholic beverages when Of
fered them in the homes of other per
sons, even though they be pre-War
diplomatic or drugstore supplies. 1t
is true that there has been a percent
age of Government officials and other
Nu6nbers of Washington society who
since the very beginning OF prUhibi-
ton have refrained from either Civ
ing or partakiug of beer, wine, Whls-
ky or gin. 1t Is also true that Il
percentage We're hite-ribboners be
fore the prohibitory was enacted.
Cutting Out Liquor.
But mulling around in Washington
society as a whole. including both Of
fetal and unofficial life, there is Il
growing number of men and women
who have turned their backs on Bac-
chus. They are people in high posi-
ton, people OF means.
They are not adopting holier-than-
thou attitude They are simply cut
ting out the hootch. the booze. or
whatever more dignilied term may be
applied TO liquor. And gradually
this group is being recruited.
To say that Washington is as wet"
as the Potomac, if not the Atlantic,
Shas been trite for some time. Only the
other day Gov. Clifford Pinchot. Penn
sylvania's leading dry" declared, in
a speech delivered before the Anti-Sa-
loon League crisis convention in
Chicago, that:
THE present era of disrespect for
the law (prohibitionl can ne iaId right
at the door of conspicuous political
leaders i'll Washington who set the
example. The eighteenth amendment
was betrayed in the house of its
friends.
Among the cities of America. Wash
ington, where laws are made. became
the conspicuous leader in diSrespect
for the law and the Constitution of the
United States. Cabinet officers, judges.
Senators. Representative of Congress
and leaders of official life in every
line, publicly, notoriously and as "a
matter of course broke the funda-
mental law of their country"
Vote Dry; Drink Wet.
It is no secret that during the period
Il prohibition some members OF Con
yress who voted "dry" have drunk
wet" and that officials of the Gov
ernment have continued to have their
cocktails, their hiShhatlls and their
toddies. Drinking OF alcoholic bev-
erageS has been by no means confined
10 official life here. Many OF the lead
ers in private life have paid no atten-
ton to prohibition. Indeed, it became
the fashion to drink. Many persons
who before prohibition did not take a
drink once a month, and some of them
not once u year, have become regu-
lars. They never kept it in the house
before prohibition went into effect, but
now they have it, or had it.
There are faShionS in customs. just
hs there are in clothes. AS one Of
those supporting the move away
from drinking said: Not all the peO-
pie drink today because they like it.
|but many OF them drink because it is
The fashion"
What will happen il it becomes un.
fashionable to drink? The society
bootleggers might let that thought
shudder its way home. And, by the
way, fashions are not confined by any
means to the class OF people in so
ciety" Persons in other walks of life
follow the fashions just as readily.
White House Bone Dry.
In Washington, to some degree, the
White House has always set the fash
ion. The White House today Is bone
dry. There is no qualification about
hat statement. President and Mrs.
coolidge do not serve liquor of any
kind no matter who may be the White
House guests, nor do they touch it
themselves. AT entertainments where
they are present it is not served.
This drynesS is extending to the
President cabinet and from the cabi-
net TO the assistant secretaries and to
other officials. And gradually this
obedience to the law is spreading.
1t is not difficult to realize how
potent such an example may become.
II is a fact that the difficulty or en-
forcing prohibition has been due In
very large part to the failure OF rep
resentative and influential citizens,
both in Washington and out of it, TO
live up to the law. Their example and
their Connivance at law-breaking has
been drag on law enforcement from
The start If now these same inftuen-
tial people turn their backs on liquor
:he work of the enforcement officers
will diminish rapidly, it is predicted
by some of those who are endeaVor-
ing to set this new fashion.
Legal and Illegal Liquor.
There are two kinds of liquor and
wines today. those whose possession
and use Is legitimate, and those whose
possession and use is not legitimate.
In the first category are the pre-
prohibition cellars, medicinal and sac
ramental liquors and wines ana those
owned and used in the foreign en-
bsssies and legations and the homes
Of the diplomats attached to those
embassies and legations.
Under the law as it stands today
an official of the governme--t or a
private citizen may still drink and
not be a vielator OF the law. There
is legal liquor and illegal. The legal
is that which came into the possession
of the owner prior to the date of pro
hibition. AS one member of the cab
> met said:
~There are several nice questions
involved in this matter of drinking
er observing total abstinence. fol
example, IL a man, an official or the
Government in Washington, II you
will, has In his possession liquors
which came to him in an entirely
legal way, which he owned prior tc
the enactment of prohibition laws
there is nothing in the letter of the
law to prevent his drinking them
SIIppose. in such a case. a man has
for wears been in the habit of taking q
cocktail before dinner, or OF serving
wine at his dinner table. He has
the Nouors and the wines in a lega