SOCIAL EXPERIMENTS

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 464, 23 February 1933, Page 4

SOCIAL EXPERIMENTS

Although the American House of Representatives has repealed Prohibition, a great many mysterious rites will apparently have to be performed before the "man on the sidewalk" will be able to lighten the tedium of his journey home after the time hon oured custom in force in less enlightened countries wliich have not so far attempted "the greatest modern social experiment." The cabled explanation of the position is hardly enlightening and on first indications it appears that it is going to be even more difficult for America to extricate herself from Prohibition than it was to persuade herself into it. In fact it is predicted that although the peoples' elected representatives, have voted j against the dry laws by more jthan two-thirds majority, it will j be four years at least before the j liquor traffic can be re-intro-j duced. This will be encouraging j news for the anti-saloon league j and the bootleggers, who, alj though they view the problem from slightly different angles, are of one undivided mind as regards the undesirability "of returning to liquor "as she is drunk". A great deal of water can pass under a great many bridges in four years, and so can a great number of other liquids. In the four years interim , it will doubtless be the bootleggers' chief concern to eke ' out a precarious livelihood and at the same time, to use an apI propriate Americanism, throw as many spanners in the works as possible. Apparently the next stage in the argument is the ratification of the Federal decisions by the conventions of the individual states. This is where the bootleggers and their allies by force of circumstance, the dry forces, will have happy hunting and it is even now anticipated that 50 per cent of the States will still approve prohibition. It is not disclosed what further interesting processes remain when this stalemate is reached. In the meantime apparently, the status quo will remain and no immediate aetion will be taken to give the speakeasies public aecess and State recognition. Although it has many worries of its own, the world in general will probably sympathise with God's ' Own Country in the mess in which it has become involved through its enthusiasm for experiment. In addition to the pressing international and domestic problems with which he will be called upon to deal, Mr. Roosevelt will now have the additional anxiety of maintaining Prohibition while the 36 States of the federation argue the matter out between themselves over a period of years. There is no doubt that the "greatest modern soeial experiment" as it has been carried out in America, leaves a great deal to be desired. The other nations of the world have been interested spectators of the experiment but it i& doubtful whether it has taught them anything except that experiment has often unfortunate results. In any case Humpty Dumpty has been given; a very na#y push and if he finally tumbles off the wall, it is quite certain that all the King's horses and all the King's men will not even endeavour to put him together again.