Page Six
THE STATE
July 15, 1933
"I Am in Favor of
R e p e a I "
SAYS JOHN HINSDALE
★
IF you ore inclined to be wet in your
views, you probably will derive con¬
siderable satisfaction from reading
the accompanying article which was
written for THE STATE by John Hins¬
dale, well known attorney and legis¬
lator of Raleigh. Mr. Hinsdale pre¬
sents some strong arguments in sup¬
port of his position on the prohibition
question.
ONE of the first votes 1
over vast was for pro-
| hibition and, as paradox¬
ical as it may seem. I am
today ready to vote for
repeal of the Eighteenth
Amendment for the same
reasons that actuated me in casting a
prohibition vote many years ago. The
real thing we are all after is temper¬
ance. I suppose if the most ardent
prohibitionist could be convinced that
alcoholic beverages would he used in
moderation by all. he would be perfectly
willing to sec alcohol sold without re¬
strictions.
There are. of course, other consid¬
erations which have
и
hearing on the
matter, such ns the invasion of the
rights of the states by the Eighteenth
Amendment, racketeering and other
lawlessness that has resulted from pro¬
hibition. but these pale into insignifi¬
cance if it can be proven that the
Eighteenth Amendment has diminished
the use of alcohol and resulted in a
strengthening of the moral fiber of the
people of the United States. What is
the truth about the matter?
The noble experiment of prohibition
was initiated by the American people
while under the exhilarating and ideal¬
izing influences of the World War, when
we were all full of fine and high re¬
solves to make the world a better place
for the coming generations than it had
been in the past.
These fine ideals and high resolves,
if they ever had any reality, soon ceased
to exist and n large portion of the
American people soon relapsed into
bootleggers and patrons of bool loggers,
keepers of speakeasies and patrons of
speakeasies, and it is from this intol¬
erable condition of lawlessness that we
are seeking an escape.
Before the adoption of the Eighteenth
Amendment the consumption of alcohol
was confined largely to adult males.
Few women ever thought of taking a
drink and such an idea never entered
the mind of the younger members of
society. What is the condition at the
present time? Whiskey is consumed,
with few exceptions, by all classes of
society. By men and women, young
and old. By ladies and gentlemen of
the best social standing; blind tigers
exist in all sections of every city in the
United States and in
many of the cities where
the prohibition sentiment
is weak speakeasies and
open bars exist in count¬
less numbers.
The result of this con¬
dition of affairs during
the past ten or twelve
years has been to convert
the people of the United
States into a nation of
law-breakers. The person
who buys whiskey from a blind tiger or
who patronizes a speakeasy or an open
bar is morally as guilty as the person
who sells the whiskey behind the counter
or out of a darkened automobile in a
back alley.
This contempt for the prohibition
laws of the nation has bred a contempt
for all laws that do not meet with the
approval of the public or of particular
classes of society. The rackets in the
large cities of the United States are
the direct result of developments grow¬
ing out of violations of the Eighteenth
Amendment.
Human life is as cheap in these cen¬
ters as it has ever been in any part
of the world and T have no doubt the
epidemic of kidnappings over the United
States, beginning with that of the Lind¬
bergh baby, can be traced to this spirit
of lawlessness begotten from violations
of the prohibition amendment.
Now how about North Carolina?
There is no use in kidding ourselves
into believing that we are any better
or any worse than the average people
of the United States. These same con¬
ditions that exist in other cities and
states exist right here in North Caro¬
lina. Corn whiskey is consumed hy¬
men and women of the best social posi¬
tion, just as it is in other communities.
The moral fibre of our people has been
undermined by this constant breaking
of the prohibition laws of the state and
nation with the result that it has be¬
come easier to violate other laws.
When we voted prohibition we were
confident that the consumption of whis¬
key would be a constantly diminishing
factor, having as its ultimate goal the
total abstinence of a whole people, but
instead of this having been achieved
we find whiskey and other forms of
alcohol in just as great, if not greater,
demand as they were when the Eight¬
eenth Amendment was first adopted.
Our jails have been filled with offend¬
ers. the chain gangs and penitentiaries,
both state and federal, have been filled
to overflowing with offenders against
this law.
Not a man has ever served a sentence
for a violation of the prohibition laws
that was not aided and abetted in his
lawlessness by the acti\'c approval and
cooperation of respectable men and
women. This sounds unreasonable but
it is literally true. When a person buys
from a bootlegger he is morally as
guilty as the seller rtnd without the
patronage of the substantial people in
our state and in the United States not
a bootlegger could make a living for
a day.
There is another point of view from
which this question should be observed.
There is no doubt that the people of
New York, Massachusetts, Pennsyl¬
vania, New Jersey and many other
states of the Union desire the repeal
of the Eighteenth Amendment. These
people know their own problems better
than we do. They know whether it will
be for the moral betterment of their
citizens if the condition of affairs that
they consider intolerable be changed.
For instance the people of Now York
City know whether it will result in the
moral uplift of that city if the thirty
thousand Speakeasies said to exist there¬
in be put out of commission with their
resulting evils of racketeers, gang wars
and murder.
Now is it right for North Carolina
or any other state to say to these sister
states, “No, you cannot regulate your
affairs in this respect, we know better
what is best for you and we shall see
that you continue to live under what
you say are intolerable conditions.” I
(Continued on page eight)
