Douglas daily dispatch., 1926-10-03
DRUNKENNESS ON
INCREASE, SAY
MODERATIONISTS

NEW YORK, Sept. g lAP) =
Drunkenness in the United States last
year increased almost twice as fas.
as it did in 1924 and now has
reached it's preprohibttion level. the
Moderation League, Inc, reports. an
nouncing the findings of nation
wide survey of conditions in more
than 1,5OO cities
Reaching the conclusion that "the
Volstead act has failed utterly to
promote temperance and sobricty," the
report expresses the belief that %
greater degree of temperance would
be attained by a wise restrictive
law
The survey was the second con-
Quoted by the league, similar find
ing as to the effectiveness OF ENFORCE
ment under the Volstead act having
been announced last year.
The league is an organization COM
posed Of men from all ranks OF
life and is Incorporated under the
laws Of the State of New York, with
its announced object the 'restora-
tion of temperance"
The league bases it's findings on
reports obtained from police depart-
ment records of intoXication arrests
which in SS4 cases extended back
IL years.
When on the basis of these records,
the report states, 1--WE consider the,
drunkenness generally has already IN
creased to the preprohibition Level,
k1,ok NJ
children have increased far above
anything ever known before in this
country, we cannot escape the con-
clusion that the volstead act has
failed utterly to do what it was
intended to do, namely, promote tenn
perance and sobriety."
.MoveoVer, since conditions nave
become worse, not better, each year,
and with the next generation drink
ing as never before, there seems to
be no hope that the Volstead acC, in
its present drastic form, can ever
accomplish it's purpose.
During 1914 and 1915, before the
war boom got under way, drunken
ness remained practically stationary,
the report states.
During 1916 and 1917, war boom
years, there was perceptible in
crease, following the known rule that,
other things being equal, drunkenness
increases with good times and de-
creases with hard times.
'In 1918 and 1919 emergency war;
time restrictions on alcoholic bever
ages (far short of -dryness, how |
ever) were imposed. Drunkenness
took an astonishing drop during those
years. Near the end of 1919 the Vol /
stead act went into effect. In 1920
there was further drop, which the
1921 rise wiped out. Since then there i
has been an increase each year, so
that by 1925 there were more arrests
for drunkenness than in 1914"
, Conditions in the former so-called /
dry" states are worse today, the re-
port states, compared with 1914, than
are conditions in the so-called 'wet" 7
states.
Perhaps one reason for this greater
increase in drunkenness in the dry
states" the report says. sis that most
Of these so-called dry states were
not really so; but were, in the mafn
merely restrictive"
"The most curious result Of rational
the remarkable increase in the num-
ber of drunken drivers
'The number of drunken drivers
before national prohibition was more
or less constant from year to year,
showing only small fluctuations, with
a tendency toward a gradual rise
commensurate with the increase in
the number of automobiles the re-
port says.
The reason for this enormous in
crease in drunken drivers seems fairy
clear, the report states
"After prohibition one could not
purchase intoxicants, or at least safe !
intoxicants, almost anywhere, as
previously. This necessitated procur-
ing an ample supply-a case or bottle
i'm advance, and it was then carried
around on the hip or in the car and
consumed in transit. Drinking before,
prohibition was largely done indoors;
and after prohibition, from flask
on the road"
Figures obtained from public well
fare organizations and police officials, 1
the report states, shows an alarming
increase under prohibition of intoxi-
cation among minors.
Summing up the results of its sur
vey, the league announces from the
experience, before national prohibition,
cf the states which had restrictive
laws, from the experience or the
whole country during the restrictive
years 1918-1919, and from the exper-
fences of the Canadian provinces and
the Scandinavian countries, we believe
that a greater degree of temperance
can be attained by a wise restrictive
law than by a bone-dry law whicl.