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SS&S&
i MAT, 1920
he Commoner
&
Prohibition as an Issue
The activity of the opponents of prohibition
tomes in a nature of a surprise, but of their ac
tivity there is no longer room for doubt. It is
i surprise because the triumph of prohibition
was neither sudden nor incomplete.
Instead of being sudden it was tho result of a
nrolonged conflict during which those engaged
In the liquor business and their patrons had
ample information as to what was going on.
The Women's Christian Temperance Union,
organized nearly 50 years ago, began in a cru
wde against Ohio's saloons; the women visited
the drinking places, pleaded with those in
chargo and prayed for the abolition of the traf
fic. From the first, the noble women who mar
shalled under the banner Of the W. 0. T. TJ.
proclaimed undying hostility to the Saloon, and
they have never for one moment lowered their
flag or slackened their efforts. '
Twenty-six years ago the Anti-Saloon League
was organized. It also had its birthplace in
Ohio. Its name indicates its relentless opposi
tion to the liquor traffic.
The prohibition party, organized for the solo
purpose of abolishing the saloon, is older than
the Anti-Saloon League, and has entered every
presidential campaign since its birth with a can
didate pledged to the overthrow of the saloon.
A quarter of a contury ought to be sufficient
to give the dealers in intoxicants fair notice
and to warn the supporters of the saloon of the
movement on foot for its extermination.
The movement seems new to the east only be
cause most of the eastern papers did not take
tho efforts of prohibitionists seriously. Prob
ably they are under the delusion that because
tho wise men came from the east nineteen hun
dred years ago, they must necessarily come from
that direction all the time. They seem to think
that this is a law of nature that cannot be
changed.
When the south began to go dry they caid to
their readers, "Don't worry about the south; the
white people down there don't want prohibition
for themselves; they want it only for the black
man. It will never cross the Mason and Dixon
line." But it did cross that line and reached
the Canadian line, and every state bordering on
Canada ratified.
When the west began to go dry they said to
their readers, "That is another western craze
and will soon blow over." Their attitude re
calls a story told on a Kansas farmer who lived
on the prairies where tho winds wore high. Ho
was putting up a fence with stone and mortar
when a neighbor came along and said, "I would
nt waste time on that fence; 'the first high wind
JU blow it over." "Look at that fence," said
the farmer, "three feet high and four feet wide;
u the wind ever blows it over it will be a foot
Higher than it is now' And prohibition did blow
over the whole country.
As the first states to go dry were agricultural
nates, the wets congratulated themselves that it
was purely a rural movement, and would not
reach states containing large cities. But it did.
wate after state went dry south, west and
jorth. The movement traveled toward the
northeast, gathering strength as it went. Still
jae eastern editors insisted that it never could
im.7 tted because submission required two
l?n ? both Huses. But it was submitted and
on with votes to spare.
Ifci ,the wets said that 'tt could not be rati"
an in they Pinted out what seemed to them
a surmountable opposition. "The drys," they
tnw' i mxU,8t have botk branches of the- legisla
wX tjttee-fourths of the states, while the
BtaEn" T 0nly one Huse in each of thirteen
72 w otller words the drys had to elect
tohnf?8ieo iu 36 states while the wets only had
a tZ? , Huses in 13 states. It did seem like
HoSndous ha&dicap, but the drys carried 91
HoSi0?4 of 96 wh"e the wets held both
one wl New Jrsey, both in Rhode Island and
W?n UB0 in Connecticut.
states n ,ra,tification began some of the smaller
Predint . irst- Then the wot press began to
Worn; ,.tnat if the amendment was ratified, it
ould be
ratified by the small statesthat they
might "" oy tne small states mat iuy
In,!. iaUS forCQ Tirnhlhfflmi nn flirt hlff fltatOS.
Would ew very inignant -at a constitution that
kcredttrf!1 such an outrage. But within an
kit i i ort timeless than a year and a
au the big states, all tho middle states
and1 most of the small states had ratiflo.l ti,
? JJ he sma11 8tatea ,n Arcing prohibi
tion on Connecticut, New Jersey and Rhode ?s"
To show how complete the victory is, it is on
ly necessary to point out a few facts Firs? 34
Wll an7 ?F bthCir 0Wn individual act-nearly
all of them by constitutional amendments
adopted by popular vote. Those state" that
adopted prohibition by statute have, since its
..., M..WICU icsi&iumres picageu to
tinuo prohibition.
The amendment was submitted by five
con-
more
IvX i 4 UUB UL lue aenate, wnen only a two
thirds vote was required for submission. Tho
House gave it more than two-thirds. Votes
taken since that time indicate that tho strength
of prohibition has increased in both Senate and
House. The last record vote in the Senato
showed a majority of 5 to 1 for tho prohibition
Bide. The last vote in the House showed a
majority of almost 4 to 1.
But, more significant still, it Is not a parti
san victory. On the contrary, the two leading
parties have been close rivals in the effort to
see which could give to prohibition tho largest
percentage of its votes in Senato and Houbo.
In the Senato the Democratic vote was just 3
to 1 in favor of submission and the Republican
vote, 5 more than 3 to 1. In tho House both
parties gave more than two-thirds of their vote
to the amendment, the Democratic percentage
being just a little the larger.
Seldom, if ever before, have the two parties
acted together- so harmoniously on any import
ant question. It was triumph of the con
science of the nation irrespective of party. It was
the greatest moral victory ever achieved at the
polls so far as history records.
These facts have been presented in order that
the reader may understand the audacity of the
effort now being made by the opponents of pro
hibition to undo what has been done or, rather,
to invite a period of lawlessness, because they
can not hope to repeal the constitutional amend
ment by constitutional methods.
To repeal the amendment it would be neces
sary for the wets to secure two-thirds of both
Houses in order to submit a repealing amend
ment and then secure ratification by 36 of tho
48 states. Who believes that such a change in
public sentiment is possible?
A few states have attempted to define for
themselves the alcoholic content to bo permitted
in beverages manufactured and sold within the
states. Rhode Island attempted to fix tho al
coholic content at 4 per cent, and New Jersey
has recently attempted to fix it 3 per cent.
In Massachusetts a number of legislative dis
tricts voted under a state statute, to instruct
their representatives in the legislature to yote
for 4 per cent. The Federal Enforcement Law
fixes the alcoholic content at one-half of one
per cent and one and four-tenths per cent has
been declared by the war department to be in-Saling-possibly
not to the men whose sys
tem has been diseased by alcohol but at least
toB hfiSirioBslMe that the supreme court
isfon -1
Ter" ilfdefLt the purpose of
rSitutional VS3
Tff iTis of nSvafu whatever "and leaves
statutes it is o no v Tbe cQUrt
prohibition entirely a aw fi of
can not so hold on the gr ou nu in b
tne dt5CTb. Political
question whi $T5 has the right to do-
Cid!ef- tbe court were to XJnZnt
a subject upon wh ch the f3gwlthin the
can no .act (hat is . tja t would be
reserved rignts . . tne dea(j can con-
affiks ffi te" how tM'
constitution was written, ra b nt genera
that can not he changed yy m a
tlons the American People of o
difficult position, nut m
any supremo court tying tho hands of tho p(
pie, and surely, those who wrote tho constitution
never Intended to mnko it unchangeable, for
they oxprossly provide a way by which tho
constitution could bo a aondod, and tho present
amendment has boon adopted in strict conform
ity with tho constitution's provisions.
Of courso, no attention will be paid to theao
wets who protest, against tho amendmont, bo
causa it was ratified by stato legislatures.
Eighteen amendments havo been adopted and
they havo all been adopted in this way,
Tho absurdity of tho protest is apparent when
It Is romomborcd that tho stato legislatures deal
with all other questions. Tho woto do not com
plain whon a stato legislature changes tho Iwa
in regard to domestic relations, tho caro of chil
dren, educational institutions and taxes. Even
human life can bo taken in accordance with stat
utory provisions. It is only when a legislature '
dares to deal with the saloon question thnt the
wots lose faith in tho judgmont of legislators.
It seems impossible that olthor party would,
put a wet plank in its platform or nominate a
candidato pledged in ndvanco to violate his oath
of office and refuso to onforco prohibition, and
it likewise seems impossible that a Congross can
be elected favorable to a rcpoal or material
modification of tho enforcement law.
What then will bo tho effect of tho Injec
tion of tho prohibition quostlon Into tho cam
paign? It will simply prevent a dcllborato con
sideration of other pressing subjocts and make
the prohibition quostlon tho paramount issue!
Thoso'who aro lcading'tho fight have nothing
else on their minds, tyo matter "what a candi
date may think on anyfc.othor question, If ho Is
not wet they aro against him. .
This being tho attitude of tho wots, tho dryri
are not at liberty to,fi(inoro tho issue. To do
so would bring a condition that would soon sb
ordinate all other Issues and compel tho country
to give its entire attention to tho anarchistic
liquor traffic that has been legally exterminated! .
by a constitutional amendment. Can tho AmorU
can people afford to put asido gTeat political an4
economic problems and give their whole1 atten
tion to combatting an outlawed business?
Statistics show that crime as well as drunk-?
eness has decreased under prohibition and that
the homes of tho land havo boon safer than ever
before. To turn back would be worse than never
to have entered upon the fight. The liquor buni
noss, if it were "called back" after the adoption
of prohibition, would bo more impudent and In
solent than it has beon in the past, if any in
,. crease of its impudence and insolence were pos
sible. .
A return to the saloon would not only b3 ruin
ous to us but it would be disastrous to the cause
in other lands. If prohibition can not bo suc
cessful here especially after such a victory,
where on earth can tho friends of tho home
select a battlefield for the triumph of virtue and
morality?
It behooves dry Democrats and dry Republi
cans to bestir themselve's at once, and, beginning
with the lowest political units, instruct those
who go to tho conventions, state and national,
to vote for a dry pla't'forra, pledging tho party
to prohibition as the -permanent policy of the
country and to strict enforcement of existing
laws, together with tho nomination of men who
can bo trusted to resist tho influence of those
who would carry us back to tho reign of tbe
liquor traffic.
The more decisive tho victory for prohibition
the more speedily shall we be able to give atten
tion to other problems, domestic and foreign.
The sooner tho dry forces make their power
manifest tho less disturbance will tho liquor
forces make in the two conventions. There
never was a greater Issue before tho country
than the prohibition issue now la, and no time
is to be lost in meeting the challenge of those
who represent the friends of tho brewery, dis
tillery and saloon. W. J. BRYAN.
If any of Governor Cox's friends try to ex
plain his small vote by saying that "ho had no
opposition," it is sufficient to answer that tho
Democrats of Ohio would have taken the trouble
to go to the polls if they had been interested in
his candidacy. They know that on a wine 2nd
beer platform he would lose the state by 100,000.
Ohio retires Cox as it retired Harding, only
more so.
Hoover's lament: "O had I but served the
people with half the zeal I served the (N. Y.)
World, they would not have left me," etc.
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