Worcester Democrat and the ledger-enterprise. (Pocomoke City, Md.) 1921-1953, 1940-04-19
LIE ST w Il
FO R q Z z
By George Browning


our forward looks to reveal something
more than mere speculations, it will
pay us to look backward now and then.
Some wise man once wrote: "Our fu-
lures are plainly foretold in the stories
of our pasts." And so it seems to me
that an occasional examination of our
local and statewide and national
pasts is good thing.
As write this, I am mindful OF the
fact that about seven years ago there
came to an end an experiment con-
ceived in the minds of certain we'll
meaning men and women, which
worked out most unfortunately and
most disastrously. This was the ex-
pertinent of national prohibition of the
manufacture and sale of malt bever
ages and hard liquors.
have no quarrel with the sincere
minded men and women who are OPP
posed to the use of alcoholic beverages
in any form. Neither have / any
guarrel with those who do not care
for tobacco, parsnips, jazz music OF
turnip greens.
I maintain, however, that it is well,
at this time, to examine the seven
years just passed and compare them
with the seven years which came just
before them.
Oddly enough, some folks never do
get enough disappointment some
seem to thrive upon and enjoy form
of martyrdom. There are even now
otherwise sane and senible men and
women who are calling for a return
of the good old days of the dry era.
And I do not refer here to the men
and women who made riotous incomes
out of bootlegging and who are doing
much wishful thinking for a return
Of that unholy trade. I refer to the
professional and amateur drys who
have either so quickly forgotten the
evils of the dry era or who feel that
the public has forgotten.
There is no denying the fact that
alcohol is the problem child Of all the
beverages. There is, it is true, that
great majority Of men and women who
can make the most out of their glass
Of beer or their nip Of brandy or their
glass Of wine.
Now, history proves that in this
country alcohol may be prohibited by
law, but not blotted out. That is so
because the great majority Of people
approve of it's existence.
It would be just as foolish to say
that because the Mississippi River
goes on an occasional rampage, that
river should be legally wiped off the
map, as it is foolish to say that be-
cause certain people now and then go
On an alcoholic rampage alcohol
should be wiped off the map. AS in
the case of the river, so in the case of
alcohol-sensible control is the word
control in the hands of sane men and
women-control which starts in the
home where young ladies and gentle
men are being raised, and where the
place of alcoholic beverages is under
stood and taught.
AS I consider the laws in Maryland
which today have to do with alcoholic
beverages, they appear to me to be
ample and wise. AS I look about and
note how they are being administered,
it is obvious that there is still much
room for progress. For one thing,
sound enforcement of these laws is
worth every cent it costs.
One has only to keep informed as to
the stills being seized and the boot
leggers being caught to realize that
there is work to be done by honest
enforcement officers.
There must not only be more en-
forcement officers, especially in the
counties, but they must be worth
while, competent men-and good men
are entitled to good pay.
But when I go back, beyond these
last seven years, and review the years
just before the repeal Of the prohibi-
ton amendment and recall conditions
as they were then-when consider
the starting point from which the
present era had to proceed, I wonder
1FOt az CllS OCCdSAOHetA ALipCAASSCiOAA AAl
the present situation, but on the con-
trary, I marvel that we have come
as far as we have in bringing about
sane and sensible control of the alco-
holic beverages.
Isee, first of all, wholesome diver
sion Of taxes into the treasures of
the state and the counties and the
communities, from the pockets of the
bootleggers where those and larger
sums were going. I see a gradual
calming down from the state Of eager
frenzy in which the great mass of men
and women had placed themselves
when the idea of a drink came to
mind-and that was often. 1 see re-
turn from the sneaking gulping of
bootleg liquor to sane and proper
n