Carolina watchman. [volume] (Salisbury, N.C.) 1871-1937, 1933-09-15
COMMENT
DRY FORCES BATTLING
Salisbury, N. c.,
September II, 1888

oNPSShAi1<A A/1|'
To THE CAROLINA WATcHMAN;
The United Dry Forces, in thi.
and other states, r engaged in
desperate battle to save the XVIII
| Amendment to the Constitution
A solid phnlanx of twentyfour
states have made it clear that they
no longer regard national prohibi-
ton as that solution of the age-olo
liquor problem, and it is only 1
matter of time, probably a matter
of weeks, when twelve more viii
join these twenty-four repeal vot-
ing states, and the XVIII Amend
ment will be no more. 1t woulo
take an optimist, indeed, to see any
hope for the retention of nationa.
prohibition in the constitution
Yet, the United Dry Forces are
confident that they will block re.
peal. Where can they hope to Sc.
cure the necessary thirteen states:
The poll Of the Literary Digest
which has been about 1000 correc,
90 far in guaging the public mind
in the matter of repeal, gives the
prohibitionists only two states, to-
wit: Kansas and North Carolina
and these are on the dry side by
less than one per cent of the votes
cast. Comparing the ACTUAL re-
turns of the twenty-four states.
which have already voted for re-
peal, with the eturns of the Lit
erary Digest, one sees no chance for
national prohibition remaining with
us much longer. 1t will matter
little what North Carolina or Kan
sas does in the coming campaign,
repeal is a dead certainty.
The real problem is not what a
few states, drier than the rest, may
do. 1t is a question Of how and
in what manner shall the legal sale
of intoxicants be controlled? The
legislatures of the several states will
do we'll to carefully consider the
liquor control let of the Canadian
Provinces, especially those of Que
bee and Ontario, and the famous
Bratt System of Sweden. If liquor
comes back, gave the state absolute
monopoly of the traffic. Let no
person, firm or corporation be per-
mitted to make a dollar out of it.
If any money is to be made out
of the liquor business, let it not go
into the hands of the old liquor
crowd or the present sorry band of
bootleggers, but let it go into the
Golfers of the State, where it can
be used to pay off our bonded in
debtedness, to supplement the edu-
cational fund or be sent back to
the counties for local tax reduction
purposes. The drys look in hor-
rof at such, a plan, crying out to
high Heaven that it is putting
the State in liquor business" Yet,
that is quite true, but the state is
a better agency by far than either
the old liquor crowd or the persent
crop of bootleggers Quebec and
Ontario: have lot yet created a
perfect control system, but theirs
is far better than anything we have
tried in the United States.
If and when North Carolina is
ready to junk the burlington Act,
it would be we'll to send*a commits
sion to Canada to study the system
in vogue North of the Great Lakes
and St. Lawrence. A partial sue
cess is far better than a-total fail
ure. Rigid Canadian control is
preferable to unenforcible prohibi-
ton. Stringent control of the sale
and a Tightening up of the penal
statutes will do no more to pro-
mote temperance than all the pro-
hibition speeches of "SPussyfoot"
Johnson, F. Scott Mcbride. DR..
Clarence True Wilson and Bishop
Cannon will accomplish from now
till doomsday.
A FAD