Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1926-04-16

~
quate opportunity to demonstrate its
value to the nation and the world,
said a statement presented today to
the senate liquor committee by the
! administrative committee of the fed
, eral council Of churches.
This declaration by the spokesmen
for twenty-eight protestant ccm-
munions marked the opening Of the
drive by the drys in response to the
assaults on prohibition which have
been made by the vets during the
past ten days. The statement was
BY DR.. William j. Haven, Of New
York, secretary of the American
Bible Society.
If serious evils have sprung up
since prohibition" the statement
said, They are far less than the
evils which arose from the liquor
traffic prior 70 the eighteenth amend
ment. The liquor traffic with the
accompanying saloon was allied with
political corruption. crime, gambling
and prostitution. II meant the wreck
age Of men and the degradation Of
families.
Not Adopted Hastily
The policy of prohibition was not
adopted hastily nor was il foisted
upon the country BY a puritanical
minority. II was first voted in most
of the states separately and then ma
tionally, because the people had be-
come convinced that the liquor traf-
fic was an evil Of such magnitude
that it had to be destroyed"
The eighteenth amendment was
made part of the constitution Ivy
the regular methods which the found
ers Of the republic devised with a
view to making the amendment of the
constitution difficult rather than
easy. Yet this amendment was adopt
ed more promptly than any other
change in the constitution ever pro-
posed.
The proposal to modify the Vol
stead act 80 as TO permit the sale Of
wines and beer presents insuperable
objections. II would make enforce
ment more difficult. 1t would inevit-
ably mean the return either OF the
saloon or something equally unde-
sirablc
Bootlegging in stronger liquors
would become more menacing because
y would tend to operate through the
places where the milder intoxicants
were sold. Moreover, there j. no evil
cence to justify the contention that
70 permit wine and beer would re-
duce the consumption Of ardent
spirits The teaching Of experience
Is 10 the contrary.
Methods of control short of pro-
hibit!on, such as taxation regulation.
and the governmentally controlled
systems of some Of the Canadian
provinces, Norway and Sweden. have
all proved inadequate TO cope with
the evil.
Personal Acquiescence.
The one path of advance is for
all good citizens personally to OBJ
serve the law and to support the
great enterprise, born cf the idealism
Of the people. Of completely ridding
the nation of as demoralizing a bust
ness as the liquor traffic has always
proved itself to be-
AT the opening today il was an
nounced that the continued illness of
Senator Means, republican, Colorado.
the chairman. had compelled him to
withdraw from the committee. SEN
ator Harreld. republican. Oklahoma,
was designated chairman, and SEN
ator Gillett, republican, Massachu-
setts. another dry, was named to re-
place Senator Means rs a committee
member.
Wayne 2. Wheeler, general counsel
Of the Anti-saloon league; Bishop
James Cannon. Jr., OF the Methodist
Episcopal church, south. and Mrs.
r. A. Yost, legislative superintendent
of the Women's Christian Temper
ance Union, sat at the end Of the
committee table at today's session
to direct the presentation for the
drys.
DR.. Haven was sworn and stood
while he read the statement or the
federal council The statement de-
scribed as "a delusion and a snars"
the personal liberty plea Of those
who oppose prohibition.
"All law Is infringement of per-
sonal liberty for the sake Of the pub
lie welfare" the statement continu-
ed.
Blot on National Character
-One OF the blots upon our nation
nj character is due to the utterly mis-
leading conception of personal free
dom which rejects control and de-
fies authority. How else can we
account for the swollen lists of d.
vorees, robberies, murders; the no.
torious deeds of public spoilation and
financial debauchery; the unlicensed
allusions Of the press and its txalsa-
tion Of rogues by the publicity IL
gives their trial and execution when
they are brought within the reach Of
tardy justice?
"They say that prohibition was