We Need Prohibition
The Prohibition Amendment was not enforced by the Republicans
or Democrats. Incredibly, supervision of this new law was
entrusted to Andrew Mellon, a major distillery stockholder.
Enforcement agents were deliberately underpaid to make them
susceptible to bribery.
In spite of this deliberate policy of non-enforcement,
Prohibition:
• Reduced the fatality rate from cirrhosis of the liver by
more than 50 percent.
• Reduced the consumption of absolute alcohol by almost 70
percent.
• Closed down most alcoholic clinics and hospital wards for
lack of business.
• Greatly reduced the crime rate and prison population.
• Increased bank deposits from $15.8 million in 1920 to
$28.9 billion in 1924.
• Increased assets of savings and loan associations from
2.03 billion 1920 to 7.08 billion in 1929.
• Thomas Alva Edison, the great inventor, said in 1930,
“I feel that Prohibition is the greatest experiment yet made
to benefit man.”
• President Charles W. Elliot of Harvard University
vigorously opposed the adoption of Prohibition, but in 1922 he
said: “Evidence has accumulated on every hand that
Prohibition has promoted public health, public happiness and
industrial efficiency. Prohibition is actually sapping the
terrible forces of disease, poverty, crime, and vice.”
Today, most people of the U.S.A. believe in prohibition. They
favor prohibition of heroine, LSD, cocaine, marijuana, and other
illegal, antisocial drugs which claim, at most, a few thousand
lives yearly.
Because of the powerful liquor traffic and its allies in the news
media, most do not support the Prohibition of beverage alcohol,
simply because they do not know how well Prohibition worked from
1920 to 1933 in spite of poor enforcement.
Millions living today under local - option Prohibition testify
that their communities have less crime,
drunkenness and other alcohol-related social problems than do
“wet communities.”
Efforts to deal with the results of the consumption of beverage
alcohol such as a crackdown on drinking drivers and
rehabilitation programs are needed. But none of these deal with
the CAUSE of the problems.
If we ban drugs that claim relatively few lives, how much more
needful is it to prohibit beverage alcohol which kills hundreds
of thousands yearly?
Abraham Lincoln said, “Alcohol has many defenders but no
defense.” If you share Lincoln’s viewpoint, join us in
working for a sober U.S.A. (and Canada.)
~ by Earl F. Dodge
This article first appeared as a guest editorial in U.S.A. TODAY
in 1985.
Editor’s Note: The Baptist Pillar reprinted this article to
continue to sound the alarm against this evil
poison.
It is interesting to note that while the article is from the
U.S.A., it no doubt could apply to Canada.
Here in Manitoba, many government agencies were forced to close
their doors once a week for sixteen to twenty weeks in order to
save tax payers money. This practice was dubbed “Filmon
Friday,” after the Manitoba Premier, Gary Filmon. However,
the Manitoba Liquor Commission stores (which are government
subsidized and government operated) were exempt from the grip of
Filmon Friday, because it was deemed a necessity to keep them
open!
Perhaps this is a necessity to our government because statistics
showed that the Manitoba government collected over $200 million
in taxes last year from the sale of alcoholic beverages.
That’s from a province with a population of just over a
million people in it!
How much of this money and more is used to cover the medical
costs of ‘rehabilitating’ these people, caring for the
victims of violence, of accidents due to drunk drivers, and of
broken homes.
Many Scriptures could be sighted against all this wickedness, but
sufficient are the following:
Isa. 5:11, “Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning,
that they may follow strong drink; that
continue until night, till wine inflame them!”
Isa. 5:22, “Woe unto them that are mighty to drink wine, and
men of strength to mingle strong drink.”
Isa. 5:23, “Which justify the wicked for reward, and take
away the righteousness of the righteous from him!”
Hab 2:15 “Woe unto him that giveth his neighbour drink, that
puttest thy bottle to him, and makest
him drunken also.”