BRITISH PRESS REPORT LIQUOR TRAFFICS EFFECT *
UPON YOUTH WHERE SALOONS ARE LICENSED
Furnishes Contrast of Conditions Obtaining Between Wet and Dry Coun
tries; Liquor Traffic Licensed Bids for Trade of Youth;
Recalls Old Days in United States
BOYS BUY POISON HOOTCH IN GLASGOW SALOONS
Authorities Powerless to Prevent Sales Under License System; Fifty to
Eighty Per Cent of Boys and Girls of Wine Region of
Hungary Arrive at School Drunk
Two recent news items carried in Brit
ish newspapers furnish facts as to how
licensing the liquor traffic “protects” the
youth from the evils of alcoholism.
They reveal a situation particularly in
teresting at this time when those who
are striving to restore some sort of li
cense system in this country are saying
so much about prohibition's ruining our
youth. One of these items is carried in
the Eastern England News, the other in
the Glasgow Daily Record and Mail.
Poison Hootch in Glasgow Saloons
We lirst quote from the Glasgow Rec
ord.
At a meeting of Dumbartontown
Council. Bailie Irwin requested that
the council discuss the conduct in
the burg streets on Friday and Satur
day nights.
The trouble unfortunately, he said,
was the conduct of their young men,
and the cause in his belief was the
sale of a particular stuff which was
ruining the morale of their young
men.
Drinks sold to young men at 2d. a
glass and 4d. a gill, was absolutely
ruinirs*; the men. They saw them go
ing into the shops where it was sold,
and coining out in a short time deliri
ous. The council ought to step in
and resolve that this stuff should not
be sold.
Provost Garrick questioned if they
had any power in the matter. If
this thing was known to the police, it
could be reported to the Licensing
Court and the magistrates could then
take sonic action.
Dean Guild M’Kinney asked it it
was not a matter for the Sanitary In
spector, but the Provost replied that
publicans selling this cheap drink
were not practicing any deception on
anybody. The men who paid that
price for a drink knew quite well not
to expect good spirit.
Attention is called to the fact that the
Provost questioned whether Council had
any power in the matter.
Here were the young men of the town
buying stuff at four cents a glass, or eight
cents a gill, that almost as soon as they
6wallowed it made them delirious. And
yet the city authorities apparently were
unable to prevent its sale.
This situation sharply contrasts the
difference between a legalized traffic and
an outlawed traffic. The claim is made
by enemies of prohibition in our country
that the youth buy bootleg liquor which
is of such poor quality that it drives
them temporarily insane. Not even the
wettest of these pleaders for the return
of the licensed traffic will contend that
the public officials have no power to pros
ecute this stuff and close his place of
business. But under the protection of his
license the publican, or saloonkeeper, of
Glasgow continues to sell this cheap, poi
sonous concoction to the boys and the
plea is made that the publican, or saloon
keeper, is guiltless, because he is not
practicing deception, "that the man who
pays such a low price for drink knows
perfectly well he is not getting a good
quality."
No Guarantee Against Hootch
It is also worth noting that here breaks
down the argument, so often heard in this
country that licensing the liquor traffic
will insure the sale and consumption of
only pure liquors. It is quite evident
that it doesnt’ work that way in Glasgow,
and those whose memory goes back ten
years will recall that it did not work
that way in our own country.
Anyone familiar with the old West
Madison Street district of Chicago, for
instance, will recall that poison liquor,
commonly known as “nickle disturbance,”
was on tap in practically every West
Madison Street barrel-house. Who has
forgotten the long-drawn out controversy
which held attention a few y'ears ago on
the question, “what is whisky,” and the
revelations that were made disclosing the
poisonous concoctions that were being
foisted upon the drinking public in spite
of the pure food and drug law?
School Children Drunk
We quote the other item from the
Eastern England News, as follows:
It does not surprise us that Amer
ica should give us a lead in socialtrc
forms, but there is a shock to our
pride that Hungary should leave us
behind. It is true that Hungary was
in desperate need of the law just
passed, which makes the sale of all
kinds of alcoholic beverages to any
one under eighteen years of age il
legal. The Hungarian Parliament
was filled with consternation when
M. Yass, the Social Welfare Minister,
related the appalling fact that in many
parts of Hungary, especially in the
lowlands where light wines are abun
dant and the water supply rather
poor—from 50 to 80 per cent of the
school-children arrive at school at 8
o’clock in the morning in a drunken
condition.
The government intends to deal
with .the water supply, but Parlia
ment proposes to do more than that.
It passed a resolution calling upon
the government to render illegal the
sale of all alcohol front Saturday
noon to Monday morning. Nor is that
all. M. Yass stated that his minis
try is preparing to launch a campaign
to educate parents to see that they
are poisoning their children when
they give them alcoholic drinks.
Where Stands England?
That is Hungary! Where does En
gland stand? The president of the
National British Women’s Total Ab
stinence Union, Miss Agnes E. Slack,
in a letter to the press, makes the
following statement:
“On the application of Messrs. Bar
clay Perkins, owner of the Fellowship
Inn, a ‘reformed’ public house on the
County Council’s Bellingham Estate,
the magistrates granted permission
for the partitioning off of a portion of
its roof garden to be used by chil
dren whose parents are drinking on
the premises, a special attendant be
ing also provided.”
Comment is superfluous.
Here then is seen further “beneficent
influences” upon childhood of the liquor
traffic!
Fifty to eighty per cent of the school
children in many parts of Hungary ar
riving at school in the morning in a
drunken condition—and drunk on wine—
that “harmless” drink which our friends,
the nullificationists, are demanding as a
means to save our present-day youth!
And that saloon of Messrs. Barclay
Perkins, where provision is made for the
care of children while father and mother
are enjoying their personal liberty at the
bar! What a crafty, foxy move that is!
Messrs. Barclay Perkins know that the
little tots in the adjoining room under the
“care of an attendant” and playing inno
cent games, are potential customers.
It is some such scheme as this that the
nullificationists have in mind when they
plead for the return of the liquor traffic on
the theory that it will benefit the youth of
our nation?
These facts gleaned from the English
press revealing conditions in localities
where the licensed liquor traffic is hold
ing full sway ought to be sufficient warn
ing to the people of this nation. \\ e don t
want that system here. The illegal liquor
traffic bidding for victims from the ranks
of our youth is bad enough, but it is in
finitely worse where the protection of
law is thrown about that traffic.
OBEY LAW, SAYS ROCKEFELLER
Characterizing the four qualities which
he deemed essential to insure success in
business as integrity, obedience to law',
clean living, and singleness of purpose,
John D. Rockefeller, Jr., urged that laws
good or bad be obeyed so long a they are
on the statute books. He said:
One has respect for the man who
seeks by legitimate means to bring
about repeal of a law lie actually
thinks contrary to the public interest,
but law is law whether it affects per
sonal liberty, social well-being, or
business. So long as it remains the
law of the land it should be obeyed
by individuals and by corporations.
The alternative is anarchy.
The man or organization that stands
for the nullification of the Eighteenth
Amendment is as much a traitor of the
government as was Benedict Arnold.
WHY IS THE ENQUIRE* NOW DISTURBED?
A Cincinnati doctor says that between 1920 and 1927 there were 65,000 deaths
in this country caused by liquor, and the Enquirer of that city is horrified, and,
of course, lays the blame on prohibition. Perhaps the Cincinnati doctor is right,
and perhaps he is merely guessing. However, a number of years ago when the pop
ulation of the country was far less than today and when saloons flourished, a noted
insurance actuary placed the number of deaths annually due to liquor directly
and indirectly, at 60,000. Had that rate been maintained from 1920 to 1927, the
number of deaths would have been 420,000 instead of 60,000, and this, too, with
out taking into account the increase in population. The Enquirer was not hor
rified at the greater number of deaths under the saloon regime.
WILL PROSECUTE CHEMISTS
Chemists Who Test Bootleg Liquor
For Prospective Customers of
Bootleggers, Are Violating
Law, Doran Says
Prohibition Commissioner Doran, in a
statement carried by the Associated Press
under a Washington dateline of Decem
ber 24, says that commercial chemists
who test alcohol and liquor to determine
its purity for drinkers are violators of the
prohibition law. Dr. Doran has instruct
ed agents to arrest and prosecute these
chemists.
At the same time he announced that
liquor now on the bootleg market is “ter
rible.” He says that prohibition bureau
chemists report this liquor to be made
from denatured alcohol and moonshine,
and that there is no genuine smuggled
liquor available. Liquor sold as “pure
Scotch,” is nothing but colored and doc
tored alcohol, and what little smuggled
liquor gets into this country is adulterat
ed and cut to such an extent that it is not
recognizable when it gets to the consumer.
The commissioner expressed the belief
that deaths resulting from poisoned liq
uor during this holiday season would be
reduced to the minimum, as poisonous in
gredients have to a large extent been
eliminated from denatured alcohol. J
GERMAN DRYS ACTIVE.
Adopt Resolutions Calling for Number
of Advance Steps in Tem
perance Reform.
Important resolutions in the direct
tion of propaganda and legislation
against alcoholism were adopted by the
thirty-eighth annual convention of the ,
German Society Against Alcoholism, (
meeting in Dresden, according to in
formation in that society sent to the
World League Against Alcoholism.
One of the resolutions aSks the
passage of a law' restricting the issu
ance of licenses. It would abolish life
time concessions. It also would pro
hibit the sale of spirituous liquor in
sport, bathing and recreation places
and would prohibit alcoholic advertise
ments in and around all public traffic
situations. Still further, it would com
pel all saloons to offer to their patrons
non-alcoholic drinks at proper prices.
The supplying of liquor to boys and
girls under 18 years of age is another
inhibition contained in the proposed
measure.
The resolutions make a plea for a
program of temperance work for women
and women’s societies. They also call
for non-alcoholic fruit juices as against
alcoholic fruit juices.
In the interest of safety of the gen
eral public government officials are
asked to take action to prevent acci
dents by giving instructions to traffic
officials and motor drivers on the evils
of drink and by demanding strict ab
stinence for officials and employes on
trains, street railways, motor cars and
other means of conveyance.
COLLEGE ATTENDANCE
INCREASES
According to tabulations received by
Dean Raymond Walters of Swarthmore
Co’lege, enrollment in American colleges ,
and universities has increased 25 per cent
in the past five years. The figures are
from 211 institutions on the approved list j
of the association of American universities '
showing their registration for November 1,
1027, as compared with that of November
1, 1922.
In their enrollment of full-time students,
these 211 institutions have a total of 410,
712, or an increase of 81,859 in the last five |
years. With the saloons closed there ij 1
more money available in many homes for
educational purposes. (