OF PROHIBITION

t'UK
fURTHER READING
Lorin Barirz, ed., The CuLture of the TUJelltieJ". Indianapolis:
Babbs-Merrill, 1970.
Sranley Coben, ReveLLion Agaillst Victoriallism. New York: Oxford
Universiry Press, 1991.
Edward A. Marrin, H.L Mmcken alld the DdnmkerJ. Arhens:
Universiry of Georgia Press, 1984.
Marion Elizberh Rodgers, Mencken: The American iconoclast. New
York: Oxford Universiry Press, 200'5.
I
pJlOt
Iq
Prohibition Is a Success (J 924)
John Gordon Cooper (1872-l955)
en 0 N Prohibition was 'I significant issue dur­
ing the 1920s. The Eighteenth Amendment to the
Constitution, which was ratified in 1919 and took
effect in 1920, prohibited the manufacture, transpor­
tation, and saLe of "intoxicating Liquors" in the United
States. Congress passed the VoLstead Act in 1919 to
enftrce the amendment, and consllmption ofauohoLic
beverages at first declined. However, federaL and slt1te
enftrwnent efforts failed to stop the making, smuggLing,
and seLLing ofauohoL. Much ofthe ilLicit activity was
controLled by organized crime syndicates. Within a few
years there was discussion ofmodifying the Vo/.;tead Act
to aLLow the sale ofwine and beer or to turn over its
enfOrcement to the states. Some people began caLLing for
the repeaL ofthe Eighteenth Am ndmertt aLtogether. The
fOLLowing viewpoint, a defeme ofProhibition, is taken
from a 1924 magazine artic!.e by John Gordon Cooper,
a fOnncr railroad worker who served as a RepubLican
congressman from Ohio from 1915 to 1937
I NTRO 0
What importance does Cooper attach to the fact that
Prohibition is not just a federaL Law, but part ofthe
Constitution? What benefits ofthe ban on alcohoL does
he List? What arguments does he make about opponents
of Prohibition?
That prohibition should be strictly enforced as long
as it is a part of the Constitution of the United Stat s,
and that as pan of the Consritution it is deserving of
rhe respect and support 0 the citizens of the United
Srares, is not a debatable question. Our whole system of
gOY rnmellr, our greatness as a nation, and the unequaled
benefits, opportunities, and privileges which we enjoy as
individual Americans are all based on the Constitution.
A blow at the Constitution is a blow at all that is ncar
and dear to llS. The Eighteenth Amendment prohibiting
the traffic in imoxicating liquor as a beverage is an inte­
gral p:m of the Constiturion and as such is as much enti­
tled to respect and obedience as any OUler part of the
rundamenral law of the land. Disregard 0 the Eighteenth
101. Gordoll Cooper, "The Bellcfit'.' of Prohibition," Fontm, June 1924.
VOL.
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FROM R[CO
Amendment is just as serious as disregard of the guarantee
that life, liberty, and property may not be taken from a
citizen without due process of law. Disobedience of one
law inevitably breeds disobedience of other laws and
leads to anarchy. We may change the Constiturion but
we can not nuHify it.
Even the most active enemies of prohibition do not
openly advocate disobedience to the Constitution. They
propose insread rhat the sale of beer and wine be legalized
on the claim that such beverages are not intoxicating. It is
not within the scope of this article to go at length into this
phase of the subject, but experience has amply proved that
the liquor traffic cannot be regulated, that when it is
granted all inch it will take a mile, that the only way to
meet the evil is to place it outside the law and then enforce
the law. To legalize the sale and traffic in wine and beer
would enormously increase illicit traffic in "hard" liquor.
THE EFF CTIVE ESS
OF PROHIBITION
The extent to which prohibition is eff< ctive today
depends on the point of view. To contend that it is en­
tirely effective in parts of some of our great cities where
the entire population is of foreign extraction and where
the law officers wink at violations is, of course, useless.
But it is JUSt as far from the faer to argue, as do some li­
quor advocates, that prohibition has increased drinking
and intemperance throughout he country. Relatively,
prohibition is effective and it will advance toward com­
plete effectiveness just as rapidly as citizens come to a
full realization that it is a vital part of the fundamental
law of the land, and to the degree that enforcement offi­
cers are selected because of fitness and determination to
do their dury instead of because of political influence
and "pull". Of course it will become more effective as a
new generation which nevet knew the open saloon takes
the place of those who cannot forget their apperites for
strong drink.
The effectiveness of prohibition has been a varying
quantiry. When war-time prohibition ent into effeCt
July 1, 1919, it was obeyed even by the hardened boorleg­
gers and moonshiners to a remarkable degre because (he
people were still living under the influen e of the Jiscipline
and unselfish zeal of war days. Our police statistics mirror
this condition. Then came the reaction from the strain of
the war, such reaction as has always followed war. There
was a moral let down. Violations of the prohibition law
were the result, nor the cause, of this moral reaction and
a ,urn toward the pursuit of selfish pleasur s and desires.
The liquor interests soon saw what they believed to
be a chance to resurreer their outlawed business. hey
began their smuggling oper:1tions and encouraged moon­
shining in order to seCLlre supplies of intoxi ating
TRUCT10N TO THE PRESENT
93
Part 3: Prosperity, Depl"essiotl, atld War (1920-1945)
beverages for the thoughtless and the indifferent. They
revived their slimy tactics of graft and bribery so that
they might secure permits to withdraw bonded liquor
and secure the protection of officers sworn to enforce
the law. They formed alliances with corrupt politicians,
and the whole country has been subjected to an unceasing
propaganda aimed at law and order and a sober and de­
cent America....
Last year alone the savings deposits of the country
increased a billion dollars. Insurance holdings gained
eleven billion dollars and vast sums were expended for
the radio, moving pictures, and other entertainments.
Stock in the nation's great enterprises has been acquired
by a much larger number of people. The growth of the
Labor Banks is another indication that the workers are
saving their money more than ever before.
Despite all obstacles and handicaps the social, eco­
nomic, and industrial reforms accomplished by prohibi­
tion are so numerous that it is impossible even to
catalogue them within the limited scope of this statement.
No longer are there 177,790 open, legalized saloons invit­
ing patronage and serving as centers of evil, vice, corrup­
tion, and death. The country has never been so rich and
the people so sober. But for prohibition, readjustment
from the war could not have gone forward so rapidly
and successfully.
That drunkenness has dropped to a minimum under
prohibition is proved by the fact that in most cities a
drunkard is a rare sight on the streets, and the homes
for alcoholics have decreased from 238 in the time of
the licensed saloon to 38 last year. There are few com­
munities in America where it is not almost as easy to
enter the lodge of a secret society without a password as
it is for anyone to buy a drink of intoxicating liquor with­
out being sponsored by an acquaintance of the dealer.
BENEFITS OF PROHIBITION
The death rate in the United States has fallen amazingly.
In the first four years under prohibition the decrease was
equivalent to saving 873,000 lives. Crime has lessened.
More people may be arrested,-but for traffic law viola­
tions, breaches of some automobile, food, or sanitary reg­
ulation and not for drunkenness. The federal census
shows a decrease of 5.8 per 100,000 in our criminal pop­ ulation from 1917 to 1922. Hundreds of penal institu­ tions have been closed since prohibition. Judge William
M. Gemmill, of Chicago, a foremost criminal authority,
says that the drop in the number of arrests for drunken­
ness is equivalent to 500,000 a year. The licensed liquor
traffic was the most fertile source of crime, and much of
the existing criminality is traceable to the now outlawed
liquor traffic which is encouraged by the advocates of nul­
lification of the Constitution.
America's prosperity is the wonder of the whole
world. We have five-sixths of the world's motor vehicles.
Mr. R.T. Hodgkins, Vice-President of the Rollin Motors
Company, asserts that at least seven million motor cars
have been bought with money that formerly went to
the saloon. [Business statistician] Roger Babson says
that prohibition turned what would normally have been
a downward trend into an upward one and thus accounts
for much of our recent and present prosperity. Two or
three billion dollars yearly were turned from the destruc­
tive channels of drink to the constructive channels of
legitimate business.
•
The average man is the greatest gainer
from prohibition.
•
94
F
d
The average man is the greatest gainer from prohibi­
tion. In the past ten years the per capita wealth of Amer­
ica has increased from $968 to $2,918, most of the gain
coming after the adoption of prohibition. It is not the
men and women who work for a living and are busily
engaged in producing the wealth and prosperity of the
nation who are agitating against prohibition. Such agita­
tion finds far more willing supporters among the wealthy
idle who want liquor to stimulate their jaded appetites in
their pursuit of pleasure. It is among these people far
more than among those who work with their hands
that the advocates of beer and wine find aid and comfort
and sympathy.
tl
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Prohibition Is a Failure (J926)
fl
William H. Stayton (1861-1942)
INTRODUCTION
Throughout the 1920s a political divide
tl
G
grew between "wets" who wanted the frderal prohibi­
te
tion ofthe sale ofalcohol relaxed or repealed. and "dlYs"
who ,-upported the Eighteenth Amendment to the
Constitution creating Prohibition. This political fiult
line in ,-ome re'-peet,- reflected a deeper social divi,-ion
between America urban and mral areas.
h:
s
In 1926 the u.s. Sena/(' held hearing,-
011 the effic­
tilieness of Prohibition. Among tho,-e testifjing was
William H. Sta)'ton, the founder and leader of the
AHociation Against the Prohibition Amendment. The
AAPA, begun in 1922. consi,-ted of wealthy indwtri­
alim who supported "wet" cm/didntes for political of
fice. Sta)'ton in his te,-timon)}, excerpted here,
summarizes what he considered to be the harmfid
4ficts of Prohibition on American societ)'.
What has been the effict ofProhibition on the nation~'
drinking habits, according to Stayton? How has Pro­
hibition changed the role of the frderal government, in
OPPOSING VIEWPOINTS IN AMERICAN HISTORY
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Social aud Cultural Issues of the 1920s
his opinion? HolU does Stayton respond to argummts
that Prohibition has contributed to American economic
pro,perit)'?
The evidence presenced in the hearings before the
subcommirree of the Senate] udiciary Committee, uncon­
troverted and unchallenged, shows:
That authenricated statistics compiled and reporred by
the police deparrmenrs of practically all of the larger cities
of the Unired States, and many smaller ones, reveal a pro­
gressive and conrinuous increase in arrests for drunkenness
from 1920, the first year of constitutional prohibition, to
1925, inclusive, thereby proving that prohibition is not
now effectively entorced anywhere in the United States.
That arrests for drunkenness began to decline in
practically all cities of the United States in 1917 and con­
tinued w drop rapidly during 1918 and 1919, and that
during the period of this decline in arrests for public in­
toxication, milder beverages, such as beer and wine, were
the principal drinks readily available for public
consumption.
That by 1924 the arrests for drunkenness in the prin­
cipal cities of the United States were practically as great in
number as in 1916 and 1917 when they reached the high
peak, and that available reportS show that in 1925 they
had gone higher than the pre-prohibition peak, thus
proving that prohibition as a remedy for inremperance
is a total t1ilure.
FAILURE OF ENFORCEMENT
That attempted prohibition enforcement, for the first
time in the history of the Republic, has introduced into
important departments of the Federal Governmenr, cor­
ruption on a colossal scale, and scandals of such magni­
tude as to bring discredit upon the agencies of the
Government and shake the faith of the people in the in­
regrity of the governmenr they set up for their protection.
The testimony of Assistant Secretary of the Treasury,
General Andrews, revealed that 875 prohibition agents
have been dismissed for corruption. These figures repre­
sent only the discovered corruption, and there ate none
so sanguine as to believe that they reptesent more than a
small proportion of the actual corruption that has existed
in the prohibition unit from the day it was originated.
That after six years of national prohibition, and the
expenditure of vast sums of money to enforce the law,
rhe manufacture of alcoholic beverages by illicit distilla­
rion and diversion and conversion of denatured industrial
alcohol, has become a great and growing industry. The
money value of the outpm of these products was esti­
mared by accredited agents of the Federal Government,
charged with the duty of enforcing the prohibition law,
as several times as great as the combined expenditures
William H. StaytOn, Congressional Dige,·', voL S. no. 6 Uunc 1926).
VOL.
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for whisky, wine, beer, and other alcoholic beverages
before the ratification of the Eighteenrh Amendment.
Federal District Atwrney Buckner of New York esti­
mated the money value of alcoholic liquor fabricated
from redistilled denatured alcohol in the States of New
York and Pennsylvania alone, to be more than
$3,600,000,000 a year, and Federal Prohibition Adminis­
trator Frederick C. Baird of the Pittsburgh district, esti­
mated the value of the moonshine products of the stills
he had captured in his district, in an eight-monrhs period,
to be in excess of $2,000,000,000 a year.
These facts show the value of the unlawful output of
alcoholic liquor in a very small territory of the United
States, not including any smuggled liquors, to be approx­
imately $5,600,000,000 a year-about four times the
value of all alcoholic liquors consumed in the United
States before prohibition. In these calculations no accounr
is taken of moonshining, unlawful distilling, diversion
and conversion of industrial alcohol, outside of the States
of New York and Pennsylvania, nor has consideration
been given to the facts that moonshining is a much
more general practice at points removed from the sea­
board, and in so-called dry territory, than in the Eastern
part of the United States where there has been an almost
uninrerrupted supply of smuggled liquors.
Furthermore, these estimates do not touch the value of
the quantity of liquors-whisky, gin, wine, cider, beer, ap­
plejack, and other alcoho'iic concoctions now generally
made in the homes throughout the length and breadth of
the counrry-in the cities, in the suburbs, and on the farms.
That the manufacture of moonshine whisky is an al­
most universal practice, as illustrared by the fact that
172,000 stills or parts of stills were caprured in 1925,
and that the number caprured year after year, has
increased rather than diminished, and that the Federal
Administrator of Prohibition admitted that not one srill
in ten in actua.l operation is captured by the agents of
the Government.
That rhe srills and parts of stills were captured in
vastly grearer numbers in so-called dry Stares than in
wet Srates, proving conclusively that where it is more dif­
ficult to obtain smuggled or diverred whisky, the demand
is supplied by local manufacture.
•
Prohibition has created a vast army of
rum-runners, moonshiners, bootleggers,
and corrupt public officials.
•
That the enforcement of the prohibition law in cen­
ters where the sentiment of rhe people is strongly arrayed
FROM RECONSTRUCTION TO THE PRESENT
95
Part 3: Prospn-ity, Depressiofl, a"d War (1920-1945)
against it-which condition prevails in most of the pop­
ulous centers of the United States and in many of the
smaller cities-has become such a difficult, corrupting
and crime breeding problem, that the time and effort of
public officials is so largely occupied in attempted sup­
pression of its evils that they are compelled to neglect
other vastly more important public duties.
INCREASED ORIN ING
That prohibition has led to increased drinking of intoxi­
cating liquor on the parr of women and children; that it
has popularized the hip pocket flask; that it has made the
serving of liquors in the homes a social custom; that it has
contributed directly to a condition of immorality graph­
ically and tragically illustrated in an alarming increase in
social diseases, especially among the youth of the land.
That prohibition has created a vast army of rum­
runners, moonshiners, bootleggers, and corrupt public
officials, thereby directly breeding a condition of lawless­
ness unequaled in the history of the Republic, and that
this era of lawlessness has been disastrous to the moral
standards of government and individual citizenship, and
that its evil outcroppings have been evidenced by the pre­
ponderance of desperate and violent crime now being per­
petrated by the very young.
That the cost of even moderately effective control of
the commercialized traffic would mount to prohibitive
sums, it being estimated by United States District Arror­
ney Buckner of New York that it would require an appro­
priation of at least $75,000,000 a year to restrain the
commercialized industry in the State of New York.
That in addition to its complete failure as a temper­
ance measure, as shown by the fact that public drunken­
ness is now as great as in any period before prohibition, it
has visited upon the country a train of evils of far reaching
and deadening effect upon the public morals and public
conscience; that it has been a prolific hreeder of crime;
that it has demoralized the youth of the land, and that al­
together it has been the greatest curse that ever came upon
the country disguised as a blessing....
PROHIBITION AND BUSINESS
It has been the boast of the drys that prohibition is good
for business. We beg to remind you that prohibition was
put forward as being good for public morals, and that it
has been shown that it has been disastrous to public
morals. The only defense that can now be made of it is
that it is a good economic measure. Prohibitionists have
quoted glibly many captains of industry as being favor­
able to prohibition, but they did not bring any industrial
leaders here to so testify. They fall back upon the testi­
mony of Professor [Irving] Fisher of Yale University
that it has saved the country $6,000,000,000 a year.
96
The defect in Professor Fisher's testimony is that he
did not take into consideration the desperate financial
plight of American farmers, who, according to Senator
Capper of Kansas, have sustained a loss of
$20,000,000,000 in farm values during the past five
years [due to a decrease in demand for crops previously
used in alcoholic beverages]; and who are now pressing
before this Congress numerous bills designed to relieve
them from an almost bankrupt condition.
Neither did Professor Fisher take into account the
fact that men who arc actually engaged in banking and
business admit freely that much of present day prosperity
is due to unparalleled buying on installments, with 75 to
85 per cent of all automobiles, furniture, jewelry and nu­
merous other commodities being bought on time pay­
ments. The estimates of bankers who have studied the
problem. and vvho have actual knowledge of the question
through handling the installment paper, is that in 1925
this installmem buying aggregated more rhan five billion
dollars. It is admitted by bankers and real economists
actually engaged in business that the presem flourishing
volume of business in the automobile industry-of
which we have heard so much-is due entirely to the in­
stallment buying of motor cars. Ie is not, in any sense, due
to prohibition, because the evidence in this case shows
that a vastly greater amount of money is now being
spent for some kind of alcoholic liquors than before
prohibition.
FOR FURTHER READING
Norman H. Clark, Deliver Us from blil: An Interpretation o/American
PlVhihitirJl1.. New York: Norron, 1976.
Thomas M. Coffey, The Long Thirst: Prohibition in America,
1920-1933. New York: Narron, 1975.
Thomas R. Pegram, Battling Demon Rum: The Stmggle for a
America, 1880-1933. Chicago: Ivan R. Dee, 1998.
DI)'
Kenneth D. Rose, American Women and the Repetll a/Prohibition.
New York: New York Universiry Press, 1996.
THE GREAT DEPRESSION
AND THE NEW DEAL
I '.
III tr
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I{
SelfHelp Is the Best Response to Unemployment
(1932)
Henry Ford (1863-1947)
Henry Ford, pioneering tlutomaker and
.fOunder o/the Ford Motor C'ompanJl, was perhaps che
most jamous American bushzeJsman ofhiJ time. A ;elf
made man with little jonnal ;chooling. he occasionally
wrote nfw;paper and magazine artideJ expounding hiJ­
1liewJ on Aml.'riean Jocial problems. the jOllowing
viewpoint is taken /rom two sueh editorials inserted by,
INTROOUCTIO,
OPPOSIN
VIEWPOINTS IN AMERICAN HIST'
RY