Evening star., 1933-09-10

consumption on the premises. The lees
are scaled down for sale Of liquor at
retail for consumption off the premises.
AS far as can be determined, the saloon
under this system would return with
relative ease, although the licensing
licenses when there Is abuse Of the
privileges it confers.
Nevada-Nevada's liquor control act,
probably one Of the shortest enacted,
gives to the Incorporated cities of the
State any additional power required to
collect tax on and to regulate the sale
Of beer wines or other beverages now
or hereafter authorized to be sold by
act Of Congress" The act, in addition,
creates boards Of county commissioners,
the district attorney and the sheriff of
the counties, to act as liquor boards, to
grant or refuse or revoke licenses; enact
ordinances regulating sale in the coun-
ties; fix the hours of day for dis
posal of liquor: prohibit the employ
ment of minors or females in the rale
Of liquor, etc. A correspondent of The
Star has wired that the effect of the
act will be merely to revive old laws
prohibiting saloons within 500 yards of
churches or schools.
Only q Bare Outline.
The summary of the State-control
acts presented above, is Of course, bare
outline. Some Of the acts themselves
would fill a small volume. and some Of
their restrictive provisions can be in
terpreted only by the lawyers.
1t can be taken for granted that there
are weak spots In all Of them, Each one
represents a new experiment in this
country. And there are only ten Of
these control acts-as far as can be
determined from information available
here which have been adopted. The
dry organizations of the country, which
represent many millions Of Americans,
as we'll as those Americans who favor
sobriety and Temperance, but who have
been won over TO taking prohibition out
Of the Constitution, obviously have their
fight cut out for them in the States, in
perfecting the new control acts.
Prohibition In Maine.
The history of the prohibition move
| ment in this country emphasizes the
nature Of the fight that lies ahead.
Prohibition became effective nationally
| one year after the ratification of the
| eighteenth amendment, the effective
date being January l6, 1920. But more
! than half a century before that |date
! the first of the States went dry. Maine
| is good example of the changing senti-
! ment toward prohibition. The first law
| was passed in l846, and in 1851, the
law was strengthened But five years
! later. in 1856. the law wasrepealed. only
| to be re-enacted a year later. In 1867.
| by referendum, the law was again
strengthened and in 1884. by referen-
dunn, Maine wrote prohibition into her
State constitution. In 1911 a referen-
dunn on repeal of the constitutional
amendment was defeated.
Before the eighteenth amendment had
been ratified. thirty three of the States
had adopted prohibition. The Anti
Saloon League estimates that before
national prohibition became effective
| 95.4 Der cent Of the territory of the
| United States was under prohibition or
local option, and 68.3 per cent Of the
people of the country were living under
prohibition or local option.
Slow But Steady Progress.
The prohibition movement had been
slow in the beginning. but showed
steady progress up to the ratification
Of the eighteenth amendment. Regu-
lations and restrictions had been
| thrown around the liquor traffic by the
States and municipalities in efforts to
eliminate the more pronounced evils OF
| that traffic. Laws were gradually
adopted prohibiting sale of liquor or
Sundays, sale to minors or intoxicated
persons or habitual drunkards, etc. Fol.
lowing these first attempts, the effort
was made to obtain local option laws
giving the people in townships. districts
residential districts and counties the op-
portunity to eliminate the saloon wher
the majority of electors favored its
abolition Great areas were made dry
by this process. and this was the enter.
ing wedge resulting in Statewide pro-
hibition. After the larger part of thu
State had, by local option eliminated
the saloon, the Legislature, or ref
erendum vote Of the people, abolished
the traffic from the State.
The final step was to follow, in thu
Nation, the same process that had beer
followed in the States. The Anti-SalooI
Leagues campaign for national pro-
hibition by constitutional amendment
was begun in 1918. 1t was Senator
Sheppard of Texas-the valiant foe o
the liquor traffic, who is yet to admi
defeat-who received from a great dele
CATION which marched to the Capito
on December 10, 1918. proposed reso
luton calling for the constitutional
amendment. Senator Sheppard pre-
sented the resolution to the Senate Oh
the same day, and Representative
Richard Hobson of Alabama introduced
it in the House. The resolution which
finally resulted in the eighteenth
amendment, was presented in the Sen
1917, and in the House by Representa-
tive Webb of New York a week later
On December II of that year the Hous
adopted the resolution, and day late
the Senate concurred. sending it to tn
States. The thirty-sixth State to ratif,
it took that action on January Is. 1918
and the amendment became efecttv
one year later.
A majority of the people-includini
men, now voters. who were in shor
trousers. and. girls who wore pigtail
down their backs when the last salool
closed its doors in 1920-has indicate,
its belief that national prohibition ha
failed. The fight begins all over agail
in the States, but with a public senti
ment already nodded against the salooI
1 anu inc II E6uItIOudI CvuS dSSUNldtCN Will
the saloon.
There is only one thing about tn
; new experiment in control of liquor tina
can be accepted in advance as Ger
tainty. That is that it will not be per
feet, and that its imperfections will
. revealed as it progresses. The comm
test in the States is whether the imper
fections can be removed without resort
ing again to the complete outlawry o
the liquor traffic-which was the cul
mination Of previous experiments u
control
United Against the Saloon.
In the first new line Of battle afte
the repeal Of the eighteenth amendmen
the anti-saloon drys should derive en-
couragement from the fact that the,
will not fight alone. Battling side b.