rrr
('A Nation of Hyp
ocrites and Habit
ual Lawbreakers’
Detroit Free Press.
The sentiment that made the eigh
teenth amendment a part of the funda
mental law of the land was largely
based on a belief that prohibition was a
practical measure which would protect
national health, morals and prosperity.
Ite! justification was to be a generally
happy effect on the country.
What is the ^result after fire years?
What seems to be the prospect for the
future?
Here is what seems to us significant:
The price of intoxicants today is sev
eral times greater than it was in 1920.
But anybody who has the price, and
cares to risk insanity or death, can get
all-the lioupr he wants. Finforcement
has utterly fallen dowD.
Millions of people in the United
States, including a large proportion of
the “best citizens' aud many officials
of high station and large responsibili
ties, are often and persistent flouter9 of
the dry laws. Judges asoeni the bench
after drinking bouts to try'Other men
for doiug what they themselves have
just been doing. There i9 scarcely a
pretense at concealment, and it in
highly significant that drinkers suffer
little or no‘ loss of ca3te even amoog
abstainers. Though many people still
believe in the efficacy of prohibition by
law, the nation as a whole has repudi
ated it.
Since the dry amendment went into
"effect,” a proportional criminal class,
numbering tens of thousands, possibly
hundreds of thousands, has sprung up
and has spread throughout the coun
try. Itsl most characteristic members
are cold-blooded outlaws, thugs and
murderers wbfl'are doing their best to
make the doctrine of the sanctity of
life and property a travesty. But they
live and vnorease; they are encouraged,
coddled and enriched by the most re
spectable' portions of society, because
thev meet the demand for whisky.
A really powerful argument by those
who first -urged national prohibition
was a contention that it would protect
the youth of the country. There was a
general admission that many of the
"old soaks” were past redemption and
might bause trouble for a time; but the
dry advocates contended that when the
receding generation disappeared, a new
generation which knew doi the taste of
intoxicants would appear. The picture
was attractive. • It was a big factor in
creating prohibition sentiment. It was
difficult for a conscientious person- to
figtn a project that might protect the
young.
But it is a sad, depressing and dis
appointing fact that the eighteenth
amendment has brought no blessing to
the youtb of America. It is a fair con
tention that, on the- contrary, it has
brought a curse.
The fearful increase of drinking, and
the consequent deterioration of morals
and standards, to say nothing of health
among boys and girls of high school
age and even of more tender years,
since the reign of the bootlegger com
menced, is as deplorable an evil as ever
has fallen on the country.
The saloon was bad; it should remain
outlaw forever. But the evil the regu
lated saloon did the young was trivial
in comparison with the devastation
caused by what has succeeded it.
In the beginning, backers of the
eighteenth amendment said: "Give us
time and we will show results.” There
was reason in the plea. And even to
day, if there were aav indication that
the dry workers were facing a prospect
of final success or were accomplishing
things that in any considerable meas
ure would compensate for the prevalent
deterioration of private and public
morals and for the general loss of re
spect for law and order which is in
progress,- particularly in-tlae cities I
large and small, there still would be
room for patience.
But the situation instead of improv
ing is growing steadily worse. Condi
tions never were so bad as they are to
day, and there is no light ahead. We
are a nation of hypocrites and habitual
lawbreakers. We harbor assassins and
bandits because they pander to appe
tite. Our youth is being ruined. And
we are getting no sort of adequate
compensation.
Reluctantly this newspaper arrives
ao the conviction that the eighteenth
amendment was a fearful error, and
that the most pressing domestic prob
lem before the United States today is
how to get rid of prohibition in its
present extreme form and substitute
for it moderate but effective liquor
legislation that will have the support
of public sentiment, will produce real
temperance, and' above all will save
the youth of the nation from its present
peril.
PRESS SQUIBS.
According to the income tax state
ments it appears that many men have
untold wealth.—Kansas City Star.
So far as the French debt to us is
concerned, money seems to be the only
thing we haven’t been able to get.—
Baltimore Sun.
Paraguay reports the discovery of
something ZOO times sweeter than
sugar, but neglects to mention her
name.—Detroit News.
It seems there are two ways to lose
money in <Wall street, the other being
to send it to the bank by an errand boy
you never saw before.—Detroit News.
An English professor asserts that!
man’s intelligence reaches its zenith at
sixteen years, a finding anticipated
about 720 years ago by all persons aged
sixteen.—Detroit News.
The Spaniards are getting rougn.
Football is taking the place of bull
fights over there.—Akron Press.
We fancy that if Senator Borah has
a pet cat, he strokes its fur up toward !
the neck.—Houston Post-Dispatch.
As rapidly as those swivel chairs in
Washington become empty under the
economy program, they might be towed
out to sea and sunk under gunfire so
that nobody else will fill them.—St.
"Louis Globe Democrat.
A minister in a certain town in Ala
bama took permanent leave of his con
gregation in the following pathetic
manner:
“Brethern and Sisters: I come to
say good bye. I don’t think God loves
Max Simel
The Pioneer Trader.
Furs Boutrin and
Sold „
•V *
Miners’, Prospectors’
and Trappers’
Supplies
Steamer Service On the Inoka
River.
Ask the People of Ophir about us.
STATION
Fairview. Inncko River
this church, because none of you ever I
die. I don't think you love eaoh other,
because l never marry any of you.
“I don’t think you love me. because
yon never paid my salary. Your dona
tions are mouldy fruit and wortny
apples, and by their fruits you shall
know them. Brethern, ana going
away to a better place, l-have been
called to be chaplain of a penitentiary.
Where f go you cannot come, but f. go
to prepare a place for you, and may
the Lord have mercy on your souls.
Good-bye.”
Du Rand’s
Cafe and
Hotel
Flat City
amaa
CHARLIE’S
LAUNDRY
McGrath, Alaska
A Bath in a Real
Bath Tub
Shoe Repairing
Sign Writing
Paper Hanging
Charles Rebhun
:The Handy Man
MMBMHV ^ - y* * »4*-4*«**r.
Are Yc Joing to Buna ?
We have in stock lumber of all kinds, rough and
dressed. Lately we have added a few lines, such
as Rustic and Shiplap, 4 and 0-inch Flooring, Win
dow and Door Casing, Window and Door Stopping.
Boat Lumber of all kinds.
And if you are going to build a sled, call on us. We have the
best hickory in Alaska.
0K0 LUMBER CO.
The Kusko
Times
$1 Per Month
A Dredging or Hydraulicing
Proposition. Yankee Creek
\ About 7 miles long, extending from
No. 1 below discovery down to^the
mouth of the creek.
Pay located all along for a distance
of about 3 miles from upper end, and
pretty wrll prospected and cross-cut.
Average depth of ground is from 7
to 20 feet. Top is all black muck,
that can be scraped freely. No rock
bigger than one’s fist.
Ground will go from 15 cents to $1
per square foot of bedrock.
Ditch on the ground, 3 miles long,
together with water rights. Ground
is pretty well cleared. There is also
a drain, 3 miles long. Also a water
right on Ready Bullion creek, from
which water can be brought to
Yankee creek with a ditch less than
a mile long [4,900 feet], with a pres
sure or fall of 120 feet, being 1000
feet to the work from the ditch.
After doing away with muck there
i will be from 4 to 6 feet of dirt to
handle.
Only about $11,000 has been taken
! out.
Prospecting work during the past
winter has resulted in finding values
that run up to $1 per square foot of
bedrock. J
I will either sell the ground or give
a lease on it. If the prospect is sat
isfactory to the buyer, a cash pciy
; ment will be expected.
For further information, terms,
etc., call on ground, or write or tele
graph me.
ED NOLLETTE,
Tokotna, Alaska.
i