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THE RISE AND FALL OF PROHIBITION
THE RISE AND FALL OF PROHIBITION
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY NEW YORK · BOSTON · CHICAGO · DALLAS ATLANTA · SAN FRANCISCO MACMILLAN & CO., Limited LONDON · BOMBAY · CALCUTTA MELBOURNE THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, Ltd. TORONTO THE RISE AND FALL OF PROHIBITION THE HUMAN SIDE OF WHAT THE EIGHTEENTH AMENDMENT AND THE VOLSTEAD ACT HAVE DONE TO THE UNITED STATES BY CHARLES HANSON TOWNE New York THE MACMILLAN COMPANY 1923 All rights reserved PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Copyright, 1923, By THE MACMILLAN COMPANY Set up and
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AUTHOR’S NOTE
AUTHOR’S NOTE
The chapter from Mr. John J. Leary, Jr’s, book, “Talks with T. R.,” entitled “On Prohibition,” is used in this volume by permission of, and by special arrangement with, Houghton Mifflin Company, the authorized publishers. Thanks are also due the editor of Harper’s Magazine , for his kind permission to include portions of E. S. Martin’s article, and to the Rev. W. A. Crawford-Frost, for his consent to reprint extracts from his sermon. Messrs. Funk & Wagnalls have been most helpful in perm
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CHAPTER I THE PHENOMENON OF PROHIBITION
CHAPTER I THE PHENOMENON OF PROHIBITION
The strange phenomenon of Prohibition, after an appearance amongst us of over three years, is still non-understandable to the majority of a great, and so-called free, people. It is one of the most astonishing manifestations the world has ever witnessed. It came upon us like a phantom, swiftly; like a thief in the night, taking us by surprise. Yet the Prohibitionists will tell you that no one should be amazed, since for years—for almost a century—quiet forces have been at work to bring about this
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CHAPTER II OUR GREAT UNHAPPINESS
CHAPTER II OUR GREAT UNHAPPINESS
Are the American people any worse than other people, that they should be put en masse upon the water-wagon? Who is it that sits in judgment over them? What unseen Kaiser, Czar, autocrat passes sentence upon their morals? We fought a War to get rid of such leaders and rulers; and now, ironically enough, we find ourselves under the domination of far stronger task-masters. I have recently been traveling through a great portion of this great country. Everywhere I found a curious unhappiness. People
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CHAPTER III OUR ENDLESS CHAIN OF LAWS
CHAPTER III OUR ENDLESS CHAIN OF LAWS
When we sit back and rail at the Eighteenth Amendment and the Volstead Act, we lose sight of other laws equally tyrannous which, however, do not happen to affect us. Is it generally known, for instance, that in the State of Utah there is a statute which makes it a misdemeanor to purchase, sell or smoke cigarettes? One may not puff in a public place; yet one may do so in private, the law contends. The Mormon Church is opposed not only to drinking and smoking, but to coffee-drinking as well; and a
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CHAPTER IV TOO MUCH “VERBOTEN”
CHAPTER IV TOO MUCH “VERBOTEN”
One hears a great deal about the way the Volstead Act and the Eighteenth Amendment were “put over” on the American people. It is true, as I have said, that the legislation came upon us suddenly; but everything was done in a perfectly legal and orderly manner. The people did not realize how far the Anti-Saloon League, and kindred organizations, had gone in their work. Also, deny it as they will, the advocates of Prohibition used the War as an excuse, as a cloak for their propaganda. It was perfec
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CHAPTER V MAKING THE WORLD SAFE FOR DE-MOCKERY-CY
CHAPTER V MAKING THE WORLD SAFE FOR DE-MOCKERY-CY
What psychological effect will this constant contempt for the law of the land have upon us as a people? Surely something dire and dreadful is seeping into the national spirit, and we are in grave danger of coming to a human dislike of all laws, in consequence. We talk of Prohibition as a good thing for the generations to come; but how about disregard for the law as it will affect our children and our children’s children? Drunk, they might not be responsible; sober, to their higher selves they ar
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CHAPTER VI THE INFAMOUS VOLSTEAD ACT
CHAPTER VI THE INFAMOUS VOLSTEAD ACT
There are seven Articles in the original Constitution of the United States of America. There are nineteen Amendments (to date). The Fifteenth Amendment has never been taken seriously in certain of the Southern States; and the Eighteenth Amendment has caused more dissension than any law ever placed upon our statutes. The Volstead Act, which is but an enforcing act of the Amendment, is highly unpopular. After three years of trying to coerce the people into obeying a mandate in which millions of th
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CHAPTER VII A TRIUMVIRATE AGAINST PROHIBITION
CHAPTER VII A TRIUMVIRATE AGAINST PROHIBITION
How many Americans know that on August 6, 1833, Abraham Lincoln, with two other men, took out a license to sell liquor? Through the kindness of my friend, William L. Fish, I am permitted to reproduce it (see page 84 ). Times were different then, it is true; but one has the feeling that Abraham Lincoln was not a Prohibitionist. He was temperate in all things. In his amazingly interesting book, “Talks with T. R.,” Mr. John J. Leary, Jr., includes a chapter wherein Theodore Roosevelt speaks in no u
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CHAPTER VIII “THE FEAR FOR THEE, MY COUNTRY”
CHAPTER VIII “THE FEAR FOR THEE, MY COUNTRY”
THE Prohibitionists contend, when we who are but human suggest that the Eighteenth Amendment and the Volstead Act should be changed, that the law is the law; and now that these are part of our statutes, they are there to stay, that they must not be tampered with or altered in any way; that it is up to every good American to accept them, not to complain, not to make any utterance which would be apt to disturb the sweet peace these laws are intended to bring to us. They forget that it is they them
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CHAPTER IX DRYING UP THE OCEAN
CHAPTER IX DRYING UP THE OCEAN
There is a little town in Wyoming which, outwardly, is as arid as that waste of desert not so many hundreds of miles away from it. Yet for a consideration one may obtain all the moonshine and gin one desires at another village near by. The lady prohibitionists, all members of the W. C. T. U., as they pass the erstwhile village drunkard (on their way to some sanctimonious meeting), remark what a wonderful thing the cleaning up of the town has been. Poor devil! only a little while ago he was liter
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CHAPTER X THE MULLAN-GAGE LAW, THE VAN NESS ACT AND THE HOBERT ACT
CHAPTER X THE MULLAN-GAGE LAW, THE VAN NESS ACT AND THE HOBERT ACT
The Empire State, not certain that the teeth of the Volstead Act were biting it hard enough decided on April 4, 1921, that it would pass what is known to the man in the street as the Mullan-Gage Law. It begins as follows: “ Sec. 1. The penal law is hereby amended by inserting therein a new article, to be article one hundred and thirteen.” It goes on to say: “The possession of liquors by any person not legally permitted under this article to possess liquor shall be prima facie evidence that such
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CHAPTER XI BOOTLEGGING AND GRAFT
CHAPTER XI BOOTLEGGING AND GRAFT
Prohibition, being a phenomenon, has inevitably bred other phenomena. The most ardent fighters for a dry United States are the Prohibitionists themselves—and the bootleggers. A new industry, which flourishes every day, despite the honest attempts of the Government to suppress it, has arisen. It brings in a fat profit to those who enter it. An incredible army of active workers is marching—or rather driving in motor-cars—through the land, doing a prosperous business. They do not deposit their earn
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CHAPTER XII “DON’T JOKE ABOUT PROHIBITION”
CHAPTER XII “DON’T JOKE ABOUT PROHIBITION”
Not content with forcing us to close our lips to liquor, the Prohibitionists recently sent out a request, which amounted to an order, that no one should open his lips to speak disparagingly or in jest of the sacred Eighteenth Amendment. We were to be denied the blessed privilege of laughing at ourselves, even! I suppose that a few fanatics—oh, merely to study life, bless their hearts!—had gone into a vaudeville theater and had been incensed at the ribaldry of the actors and the shrieks of mirth
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CHAPTER XIII HOW CANADA HAS SOLVED THE LIQUOR PROBLEM
CHAPTER XIII HOW CANADA HAS SOLVED THE LIQUOR PROBLEM
The Dominion of Canada has solved its liquor problem, for the most part. It is interesting to note that in those Provinces which are technically dry, a wretched state of things exists, as in the United States; and those Provinces which have government control are well ordered. For instance, Nova Scotia has absolute Prohibition. I went there in May and June, 1922, and, as in the States, I never lacked for a drink when I desired one. Practically every chemist is a bootlegger. To show you how badly
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CHAPTER XIV CRIME AND DRUNKENNESS
CHAPTER XIV CRIME AND DRUNKENNESS
Promises were made by the reformers that with the advent of Prohibition the country would witness a great lessening of crime and drunkenness. Our prisons were to be almost emptied. Unemployment would be practically unheard of; and the health of the people would be infinitely better. Never has the country suffered more from strikes than during that period between 1920 and the present time. Labor is still restless, for all the sanctimonious predictions of the Anti-Saloon League. We see, then, that
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CHAPTER XV THE LITERARY DIGEST’S CANVASS
CHAPTER XV THE LITERARY DIGEST’S CANVASS
The cry has gone up from time to time since the passage of the Volstead Act that the country at large wanted—nay, had demanded, Prohibition. The Literary Digest , hearing and noting these reiterations, decided to investigate the feeling of the land. They would have a referendum of the people through a straw vote; and they would get, in that way, at the truth. Many of us were not at all sure of the sentiment in communities like the Far and Middle West. We knew that the South, for reasons best kno
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CHAPTER XVI LITERATURE AND PROHIBITION
CHAPTER XVI LITERATURE AND PROHIBITION
The Young-Old Philosopher has recently been traveling over the country as far west as the Coast. He had heard that conditions, so far as Prohibition was concerned, were excellent out there; but he wished to observe for himself. He found them quite the contrary. In states like Oregon and Washington, which went dry long before national Prohibition became an established fact, the people were obtaining anything they desired. Close to the border, there is plenty of bootlegging, endless daring adventu
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CHAPTER XVII AMERICA TODAY
CHAPTER XVII AMERICA TODAY
My friend, the Young-Old Philosopher, is worried about America. He sees a drift toward old-time Puritanism—with the hood of hypocrisy used as a general covering. He knows a distinguished judge who recently sentenced a little bootlegger to thirty days in jail, and excoriated him in the court-room with all the power of language at his command. Then he dismissed court for the day, as he had an important social engagement uptown. On the way, he suggested to the Young-Old Philosopher that they drop i
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CHAPTER XVIII OTHER REFORMS
CHAPTER XVIII OTHER REFORMS
When books of the quality of “Jurgen” can be suppressed—happily this romance of James Branch Cabell has been restored to the libraries and book-stalls of the land—we are facing a dangerous precedent. “Casanova’s Homecoming” was likewise censored. But the Vice Society might be about better business. I could name a dozen volumes which they have stupidly imagined should be withdrawn from circulation, but it would be merely an idle repetition. The principle remains the same. Publishers and authors h
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CHAPTER XIX IS EUROPE GOING DRY?
CHAPTER XIX IS EUROPE GOING DRY?
If William E., otherwise known as “Pussyfoot,” Johnson has his way, Europe, too, will know the great drouth. It is something to have lost one’s eye in a cause, and still to retain one’s nerve and enthusiasm. There is no doubt that the liquor interests in Great Britain have become frightened, just as the tobacco interests have become alarmed here; and there are rumors of large sums being spent to contravert the propaganda of the temperance advocates in England. Lady Astor has come out strong for
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CHAPTER XX WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO ABOUT IT?
CHAPTER XX WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO ABOUT IT?
One finds it hard to believe that a law is just and right and proper which so many splendid minds consider otherwise. There have been numerous societies formed to combat the Volstead Act, and in their long lists of members one may read the names of honorable citizens who feel impelled to express their views. Hundreds of influential newspapers stand solidly against the Eighteenth Amendment. The fight has not been taken up in one section of the country only. Mass meetings have been held in far sep
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