THE FARCE OF PROHIBITION

Hokitika Guardian, 22 September 1925, Page 1

THE FARCE OF PROHIBITION

(From SIK i’HlK'lVAl. PHILLIPS, August Ut BUFFALO (New York State). Proliihition is creatine ;i new type of drunkard in the United States. In the old days of open public houses no young woman or young man of decent upbringing would have even lbought of drinking whisky at a dance or other social function. To-day they slip easily into alcoholism as a kind ol sporting adventure. The mere fact that a pocket llask is now illegal, invests the sordid business of tippling with romantic excitement.

Girls in their teens encourage this fa! e conception of courage. The young man who goes to a dame or a dinner without his well-tilled tlask is voted dull, if uoi a coward. Sitting-out time is drinking fitce. The girl who hesitates to drink is considered “ slow.' It is ns mmdi the fashion among the go-ahead. ” up-to-date ” members ol the rising generation to consume whisky between dances as it is to use a lip stick and to wear rolled stockings in hot weather. The farce of Proliihition is apparent to any stranger who keeps his eyes open. I have seen and heard some astonishing things since I crossed the Canadian frontier lour days ago. They all tend to the same inevitable conclu-sion-—that the law is mocked tit even l»v many of its official supporters, and that anv person who wants alcoholic liquors can gel all he wants, with only tin* {lousiest pretence cd concealment. lILLPI.LSS “ DRY ” AGENTS. You can gel them, in clubs, amid jeers at- the helplessness ol the ” dry agents. I was taken to one club composed of prominent bankers, lawyers, and business men, where the real social eculiv was a back room entirely surrounded liv wooden lockers. It was crowded with members, cadi with his own particular bottle of imported Scotch or home-distilled rye on a lodge before him, and while-jacketed waiters running to and lro with pints of aerated water.

In one such assemblage 1 mol tuo Federal officials and two State officials. In a chib in another town the Public Prosecutor put hack his bottle before the others had finished and excused himself as he had to return to his office to prepare a prosecution against a. "bootlegger." Not Ins "bootlegger." Some clubs, ii is true, bar all ■•wet" drinks. Rut the majority I am assured, countenance them, and there is very little pretence of secrecy.

How it is Making Drunkards.

in the London " Daily Mail.” i. lO’Jo.) Prices have fallen. Men of moderate man.' are well aide to keep their lockers replenished, demtiite Scotch finds a ready sale in one city I visited at lid a ease. Deliveries tire made with automatic regularity. " Legitimate ” purchases via doctors’ prescriptions are as regularly purchased by many “ patients " who have not the slightest difficulty in securing the precious passport to a chemist’s cellar. Tlie.se supplies cannot be touched. by niiv Proliihition agent. They bear the exemption mark sanctioned by law. MURK SECRET DRINK INC. Not only are new drunkards being made in the rising generation; they can In* found among the older men who once upon a time drank nioderate|v. There is a tendency to slip down to the cllih in the middle ol the alterimon for a "snifter” or two. I here they meet a pal on the same errand, and the bottles pass and re-pass. Lunch is laid upon a solid foundation of ; ,|,-chill—often had alcohol. 11l these days of artistic forgery even the labels on the bottle may he spurious.

Official statistics may show a decrease in drunkenness under Prohibition, but these figures do not disclose the real state of affairs. There is more secret drinking ill the home. Victims of delirium tremens pass quietly into private institutions, their malady frequently caninullaged by a friendly physician.

The Hood of had liquor let loose since the United States went dry is responsible lor many deaths Irom poisoning. Blindness, paralysis, and insanity are some of the effects ol “bootleg ” indulgence. DRUNKARDS MARK KARRILR. All grades of society arc permeated by this iniquitous system. A banker whose guest I was this week apologised for the absence of his man-servant who bad not yet returned from hospital after being laid low with alcoholic poisson due to drinking crude spirit ot bootleg " origin. I attended a dance at which a young and pretty girl staggored and fell helpless to the floor. T thought she had fainted. She was merely drunk. The supporters ot Prohibition tell you that when this generation is dead, the taste for alcohol will be dead too; thill the young folk will grow at maturity free from Hie curse ot whi-ky.. They an* wrong. Drunkards arc being made earlier -that is all.-