Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-07-25
Canadian Liquor Laws Are Scrutinized
BY Thousands of Interested Americans

dying off rapidly because Of poisoned whisky.
After swarming around a tub of some moon
sinners mash the flies would come into
homes and eat up the fypaper.
Then tried temperance legislation.
Things changed Immediately. Everybody
stopped drinking and went back to work. 1t
quit raining out of season and the farmers had
fine crops. Money flowed freely. The banks
began to bulge. The folks don't whether
they go to heaven not when they die. be-
cause they say that variety is the spice of ife"
*
On the other hand, the drys painted differ
ent sort of a picture:
when we had prohibition in all the Canadian
provinces we were perfectly contented and
didn't care whether the millennium got here
or not, because, as far as we were concerned,
it was here. Then the liquor interests went out
and bribed the Legislature, bought the votes
of the people took them into the booths and
with drawn pistols made them vote wet-and
now look what we have" AT this point the
sergeant-at-arms furnished pocket handker
chiefs all around, but the chairman announced
firmly that If there was any more crying the
room would be cleared.
Continuing, the drys declared
Then we got so-called temperance egisla-
ton. Temperance applesauce, IL you ask U.S.
Our streets are Uttered with the drunks. II
man asks his wife to go to the movies he's
liable to get the answer, No thank you, dearie
this is my night to get drunk man can't
leave MS nome without the FISK OF DelnR SlOL
down by some craZed wet The saloon evil has
returned in the guise of beer taverns. and the
poor man spends all his money on beer, ale
wine and is then too tight to earn any more
The farmers complaining about the weather
and the crops have gone to seed. A man is
liable to get on train in Toronto with ticket
for Montreal and wake up next morning half
way to Alberta because the engineer forgot
which way to go. When we had prohibition
everything was fine. Without prohibition the
whole country is headed straight for the bow
vows, and, if you ask us. it's liable to be there
this minute"
Whereupon the committee adjourned.
Your correspondent intends to write series
of articles based on what he finds of conditions
in Ontario, the largest dry province in the
Dominion, and in the province Of Quebec, which
has become famous for it's method of dealing
with the liquor problem through government
control of intoxicants. The articles are intended
to be neither wet nor dry will they be
arguments for or against the two systems. 1t,
would be comparatively simple to write from
either viewpoint, for the question of prohibition
lends itself most easily to argument. A series
of articles could be written from the standpoint
of the dryS which would be accurate in every
sense and which would portray conditions as
they are-from the dry standpoint On the
other hand, the same thing might be done from
the vets way of thinking. Both have been
done. The articles to follow this first one,
however, will be devoted only to describing con-
ditions as accurately possible and at the
same time with due consideration for the fact
that there is always another side Much is TO
be left unsaid. and much ground will be neg.
lected which might add interest and weight but
which must be passed over because of the nat.
ural limitations of time and space.
1t is of interest before beginning such a.
series confined to only two of Canada's nine
provinces. to state briefly the situation in each
of them Out of the nine, five of the provinces
have adopted one form another of govern.
ment control of liquor The remaining four
Ontario and the three maritime provinces New
Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward