Evening star., 1943-01-14
Hostesses Asked
To FrOWn on
Alcohol Use
Mrs. Walden Urges
Voluntary Restraint
To Aid Var Effort
By Frances Lide.


A little surprised to find herself q
woman with a cause" Mrs. Thomas
Anthony Walden, daughter of the
late Representative Edward William
Pou OF North Carolina, is the author
Of proposal which she hopes will
have the effect of increasing the
efficiency of the Nations war effort.
Her cause: Wide circulation of a
pledge both among civilians and the
military for a voluntary reduction
In the use Of alcohol "for the dura-
ton"
1t Is strictly winning meas
ure, she said as she emphasized that
the key OF the campaign is to in
crease the efficiency of both the
armed forces and the home front
during our prosecution of the war.
This is not move for prohibi-
tion," she stated. "The pledge is
intended to appeal to mans better
self, and to respect his judgment
rather than to dictate the extent Of
his restraint"
SAAVPNNA 4 CuSA
Her pledge for civilians, which was
recently adopted by the District
Federation of Womens Clubs, calls
for reduction Ito the minimum"
of both the serving and drinking OF
alcohol ito bring my war effort to
maximum efficiency and for the
purpose of promoting victory in this
World War"
She believes that if enough people
take the pledge, the serving of alco-
hol WI become less popular with
hostesseS. The idea," she says
frankly, "is to create trend frown-
ing on the use of alcohol"
Her pledge for men of the Army
and Navy proposes that the individ-
ual serviceman shall reduce to
minimum" his drinking of alcohol
while off duty and that he COM
pletely renounce the use of alcohol
while on duty. 1t further proposes
that promotions and the holding
of commissions be based, in part,
upon sobriety."
Asks Church Study.
Mrs. Walden has presented the
subject Of voluntary control of alco-
hol before the Committee on Civic
Affairs of the Washington Fedora
ton of Churches and the committee,
while not committing itself to any
particular form of pledge, considers
the subject of voluntary control of
sufficient value to receive special
study.
Wilbur La Roe, jr., the chairman,
said the committee feels that the
voluntary approach is far better
than the mandatory approach. The
women of America" he added,
could help tremendously in this
obviously sane and sensible solution
of difficult problem.
In Smithfield, N. c., which is
"home" for Mrs. Walden, civic and
patriotic groups have adopted the
pledge en- masse. The KiWanis Club
there has been especially active in
its circulation.
"Never a RefOrmer."
Mrs. Walden conceived the idea
for the pledge last summer In North
Carolina when she spoke with nu-
merous citizens who were disturbed
at the sale of alcohol to the service
men in training.
II have never been reformer,"
she declared. I'm the most tolerant
person imaginable, although I am
personally a teetotaler and have
never served alcohol in my own
home
Her father, who was dean of Con-
gress when he died in 1884, was op-
posed to prohibition in the last war
because he felt that the Nation was
not then ready for it, she recalled
Even though 1 was with him at
the time" she said, Il yet saw the
need of some substitute liquor con-
troll. Since then the custom of drink
ing has grown in such magnitude,
affecting all phases of life, that some
form of restraint in the use of
beverage alcohol is now imperative"