The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1931-01-17
MORAL, ECONOMIC
REASONS C|YENbY
DRY LAW HACKERS
Montana Writer Declares TRAIT
fic in Liquor Always Has
Been LawIess
ONE PREDICTS WET FUTURE
Missouri Man Says Prohibition
the Right, Sane, and De-
cent Policy
ONE PREDICTS WET FUTURE
By BRUCE CATION
(NEA Service Writer)

American newspaper editors h
support the prohibition amendment
do so, in the main, because they be-
lieve It has conferred a vast moral
and economic good on the country as !
q whole.
Some of them are far from salts |
fled with present conditions but be-
lieve that the defects of the existing
situation will disappear IN time.
Others believe that repeal or modifi-
cation of the law would only make |
matters worse.
All Of this develops from an exam
ination of the comments made by edi- |
tors OF dry newspapers who took part
in the nationwide newspaper survey
conducted by NEA Service, Of which
The Bismarck Tribune is a client.
This survey. conducted along the lines
of the n which Federal. Prohibition
Director Woodcock announced and
then abandoned a few months ago,
showed 389 dry newspapers, 345 wet
ones, 80 that favor modification and
81 that are neutral.
Editors Give Reasons
At the end Of the QUESTIONABLE
sent out by NEA Service there was a
space for the editors to outline their |
reasons for following the policies their |
papers have adopted. Today some
excerpts from replies made by editors
Of prohibition papers are presented.
Typical Is the following. from an
Indiana editor:
I'm Jul section. at least, we are a
lot better off under prohibition than
we were In the days of the saloon.
We Shudder to think what would
happen should as many folks as for
merry get drunk and think they are
able to drive their cars"
A Michigan editor remarks:
Poor families are benefited because
of prohibitive prices. The liquor ap-
petite must gradually disappear. Law
enforcement agencies will become so
rotten that the public will be awak-
ened to the need Of action, out OF
which there should develop temper
ancc both in crime and liquor con-
sumption"
Has Reduced Evils
A California editor says that his
paper supports prohibition because
of the terrible evils OF the liquor traf-
fic which we have experienced in this
country. Every form of regulation
having been tried at m period of
our history and failed. and prohibi-
ton, with all of the difficulties. has
urquestionably reduced the evils to a
minimum. and will continue SO to re-
duce them until finally they approach
the vanishing point"
An Illinois editor lists his points as
follows:
Better conditions In homes of
workers; increase in home owning;
ending of drunkenness as an indus
trial evil: increase In savings which
has enabled many in present bad
business period to live on savings
which would otherwise have been
spent for liquor. This Is an industrial
district and my statements are based
on survey among employers, building
associations, bankers, business men,"
A similar note Is sounded by this.
from an Alabama editor:
Present conditions are an advance
over the licensed saloon. The old
man isn't lit up so often and the kids
get more shoes and more stockings
Fewer Hungry Children
Similar is this, from a Michigan
editor:
Under the 18th amendment there
are not nearly so many women wash
ing and scrubbing and not nearly so
many children going hungry and
barefooted as there were before its
adoption"
The inherent lawlessness Of the
LIQUOR traffic is a point many editors
keep in mind. A Montana e1itor
writes:
THE liquor traffic has always been
lawless, whether under licensed
saloon. government operation or pro-
hibition. No compromise with 1t &C.
composites any good purpose. The
traffic is evil and the logical course
is to fight 1t with prohibition. In the
Canadian province to the north Of
this state, about 40 miles away from
here, they have government liquor