Prohibition (Part 1)
1920–1933
This week, we begin what will end up being a two or three part series on Prohibition in the United States. Though officially lasting thirteen years, from 1920 to 1933, the movement has far earlier roots. I’ve heard stories from family members about this period in United States history, but I’ve never been able to wrap my head around the fact that it actually happened — but more importantly, why. And indeed, every state, sans New Jersey, Connecticut, and Rhode Island, enacted prohibition on its own, before a constitutional amendment was passed.
One reason the movement was so popular was due to support from religious protestants, which at that time was still a substantial portion of the U.S., who opposed drinking because of a perceived “negative effect” on society. There were the health issues alcohol caused, which even in the early 1900’s were fully known. And finally there was a demand for resources due to WWI. Just like spoons were melted down to make bullets, supporters argued that the factories used to produce alcohol would be needed in the production of war-time resources. I liken it to if we were to ban cigarettes today — I think most Americans view smoking cigarettes as negative to culture, and definitely negative to our health. Perhaps that is how Americans felt about alcohol a century ago.
But for whatever reason, prohibition passed, as you will read below. The results of it, though, were mixed. On the one hand, rates of alcohol consumption did, in fact, decrease. So too did health issues associated with drinking, such as liver failure. But, the legislation did little to eliminate the “economy” of alcohol — it merely sent it underground where it was controlled by crime organizations like the Mafia. This led to a growth in crime and violence. And when the great depression hit, the U.S. government desperately needed the tax revenue that had been lost as a result of prohbition.
This week, we cover prohibition’s rise in the States, and then on the nation’s stage. Next time, we’ll cover what life was like in that era and when the experiment eventually ended.
PROHIBITION THROUGHOUT THE UNITED STATES
June 12, 1910Significant gains and steady advance have marked the progress of the Prohibition movement throughout the United States during the past twelve months, the details of which are manifest in the record on file at the Chicago headquarters, and, despite the predictions of the United States Brewers’ Association and the liquor interests generally, that the Prohibition wave had reached its highest point January 1, 1909. Specific gains of importance for the Prohibition cases have been recorded in not less than thirty different States during the past twelve months.
On December 31, 1908, there were five States under complete Prohibition law–– namely, Maine (1854), Kansas (1880), North Dakota (1890), Georgia (1907), Oklahoma (1907).
On January 1, 1910, there are nine Prohibition States, including the previous five, and Alabama, Mississippi, and North Carolina (in each of which states the new law went into effect January 1909), and Tennessee (which closed its retail liquor traffic July 1, 1909, and abolished liquor manufacture December 31, 1909).
These nine Prohibition States have a total population of 12,393,162, and a total area of 508,807 square miles.
State Prohibition campaigns are now in progress and are expected to reach a decisive result within the next two years in Florida, Iowa, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Oregon, South Carolina, Utah, Vermont and West Virginia.
The voters of Florida will vote on States Prohibition in November, 1910, and, if carried, the new law will take effect in 1911.
There are 375 Prohibition cities in the United States, of 5000 population and over; ninety of 10,000 and over; while fifty-three leading industrial centers in fourteen different States 20,000 population and over, with an aggregate of 2,000,000 population, are included: fourteen State capitals are now under State or local Prohibition law.
The remarkable results of the spread of Prohibition territory throughout the nation are shown in the decreased liquor production in the past two years, aggregating more than $166,000,000 in value, during which time some 10,000,000 people have adopted Prohibition by legislation or popular vote; and an overwhelming mass of data and statistics, showing greater business prosperity and remarkable decrease in crime and lawlessness, on file, which has come from every section of the country where Prohibition has gone into effect.
WOULD YOU THROTTLE THE PROGRESS OF NEBRASKA?
October 30, 1916That’s exactly what you will do if you vote to abolish the existing local-option law and establish in its stead state-wide prohibition.
Nebraska is a license state. It is well-governed. It is wealthy. It has prospered in every line of endeavor. No prohibition state has prospered as Nebraska has prospered.
In the 20-yr. census period the value of Nebraska farm property increased 306.4 per cent, as against an increase of only 188.6 per cent in Kansas, a prohibition state. The average value per acre of farm lands with improvements is $76 per acre in Nebraska, and only $58 per acre in Kansas, according to figures furnished by the United States Department of Agriculture.
In the year 1915 the assets of Building and Loan Associations in Nebraska were over 37 million dollars, as against a little over 18 million dollars in prohibition Kansas. In these figures is found a splendid tribute to the frugal habits of our citizens.
Nebraska leads, in all the things that make for prosperity.
Kansas (a prohibition state) leads…
in the matter of business failures;
in the number of convicted felons;
in juvenile delinquents;
in divorce;
in insanity;
in pauperism;Kansas leads in these things because it adopted the “alley-joint” when it adopted state-wide prohibition.
Let’s profit by the experience of Kansas.
RUM’S FOES TO FIGHT FOR DRY WASHINGTON
Prohibition Gains Will Force Congress To Act, Says Anti Saloon Chief
November 20, 1916WASHINGTON, Nov. 20.–– “With twenty-five States having declared for prohibition, with more than sixty per cent of the population of the United States living in dry territory, Congress cannot longer deny the American people their right to pass upon the question of amending their constitution.”
That declaration was made today by Edwin C. Dinwiddle, superintendent of the Anti-Saloon League of America, who is planning the drive on Congress for nation-wide prohibition.
The fact that William Jennings Bryan has announced his intention to work for a nation-wide prohibition plank in the next Democratic platform has given the dry forces great hopes.
“Congress should pass at the approaching short session the resolution to submit the amendment for national prohibition,” Dinwiddle continued, “Longer delay would be disloyal to the principles of the Government which Congress serves.”
It is apparent that the “curtain raiser” battle which the prohibitionists intend to fight in Congress will be for a “dry” District of Columbia. It has been realized for several years that Congress would vote the District dry if it was brought face to face with the issue. A “rider” on the last District of Columbia appropriation bill which would have made the capital dry was removed in the last session on a technicality.
WOULD BE DISGRACEFUL
“The nation’s capital,” said Superintendent Dinwiddle, “should be the model city of the world and should express the highest and best governmental policy in promoting human welfare. To allow it to remain in its moral standard below the average of the nation would be inexcusable and disgraceful. More than half the States and a majority of the people have adopted prohibition as their governmental policy. Congress should pass at once the District of Columbia prohibition bill.”
60,000,000 AMERICANS UNDER PROHIBITION, BUT LIQUOR PRODUCTION IS INCREASING
December 4, 1916U.S. PROHIBITION BY COUNTIES
Dry counties…………….2,208
Wet counties………………335
Total…………………...2,543Washington, Dec. 4. — Sixty million people in the U.S. are living under prohibition; more than 85 per cent of the area of the U.S., not counting Alaska, is dry! and at the same time production of distilled liquors is on the increase.
Wm. H. Osborn, collector of internal revenue, in his annual report just made public, declares also that though production of fermented liquor decreased in the first few months of the year, a steady increase followed.
Bootlegging, Com’r Osborne’s report says, continues unabated, and will continue until there is more hearty co-operation of local officers in the various states.
Figures on the spread of prohibition are obtained from the Anti-Saloon league. They show that exactly 86.3 per cent of the nation (in area) is dry and 13.7 per cent wet.
On the basis of the census of 1910, the last federal census, the dry territory contains 59.1 per cent of the people and the wet territory 40.9 per cent.
This compilation includes as dry the four states––Michigan, Montana, Nebraska and South Dakota — voted dry at the November election.
Detroit, with 800,000 people, will be dry when the Michigan prohibition law goes into effect. The largest city already dry is Seattle, with 310,000. The biggest dry city in a state that is not under state-wide prohibition is Cambridge, Mass., with 125,000.
There are many other dry cities in wet states, including Berkeley, Cal.; Rockford, Decatur, Elgin and Galesburg, Ill.; Sheveport, La.; Brockton and Somerville, Mass., and Flint, Kalamazoo, Lansing, and Battle Creek, Mich., which went dry in advance of the rest of the state.
In three states — Indiana, Florida and Utah — legislatures have been elected which are expected to adopt prohibition legislation in 1917. Florida already is already 90 per cent dry, Indiana 65 per cent dry and Utah 55 per cent dry, reckoning by population.
Other states where the battle lines will be drawn shortly are Kentucky, now 80 per cent dry, and Minnesota, 60 per cent dry.
Rhode Island represents the hardest problem for the Anti-Saloon leagues, only 3 per cent of the people of that state having voted themselves free from the saloons, though the state has had a local option law since 1838.
Five per cent of the people of New Jersey and 7 per cent of New York state are dry. In Illinois 42 per cent of the population has no saloons. California and Missouri, which defeated prohibition at the last election, have 26 and 50 per cent of their people in dry territory respectively.
The battle for national prohibition, through an amendment to the federal constitution, is depended upon by the anti-saloon forces to force liquor out of the states that oppose prohibition.
WAR PROHIBITION JULY 1, 1919; BEER GOES DEC. 1, 1918
September 1, 1918President Wilson, the United States senate and the various administration war boards combined to make September 6, 1918, a bad day for liquor and the liquor interests.
September 6, the Senate passed the emergency agricultural bill, carrying an appropriation of $12,000,000, with its rider for national prohibition from July 1 next until the American armies are demobilized after the war.
Almost simultaneously the food administration announced that, after a conference between the President and representatives of the Food, Fuel, and Railroad administrations and the War Industries board, it had been decided to prohibit the manufacture of beer in the United States after December 1 next. This, the announcement said, had been decided as a necessary war measure.
The Senate, on August 30, adopted the Shepard substitute for the Jones prohibition amendment to the agricultural appropriation bill without a roll call. The main provisions of the Shepard substitute, which may be found in another column, are:
Prohibition of the manufacture of beer and wine after May, 1919; prohibition of the sale of alcoholic beverages of all kinds after June 30, 1919; authority to the President to prescribe prohibition zones around coal mines and munitions plants immediately.
…
Prohibition leaders say they confidently expect the passage of the bill by both Senate and House means national prohibition for all time to come. They declare that, while the measure as it goes to the House provides for prohibition only after the demobilization of our armies that it will probably require two years after peace to affect this. By that time, they declared, the necessary number of states will have ratified an amendment to the constitution calling for nation-wide prohibition.
BREWERIES TO CLOSE DECEMBER 1, 1918
A Washington dispatch, dated September 7, follows: All breweries must close on December 1, and beer and other malted drinks will disappear from the market as soon as the stock on hand is exhausted.
A decree to that effect was issued Friday night by the food administration, with the approval of President Wilson. Manufacturers of other drinks, including mineral waters, were also warned that the demand for labor, transportation and coal by war industries, probably would result in a further radical curtailment of their output. As far as possible the plants of the manufacturers’ thus affected would be used for war purposes.
LIQUOR FORBIDDEN ON RAILROADS
By order of Administrator McAdoo, the sale of liquor on trains or in railroad stations is forbidden in a recent order. The “General Order №39” follows:
“Washington, August 12, 1918––The sale of liquors and intoxicants of every character in dining cars, restaurants, and railroad stations under Federal control shall be discontinued immediately. W.G. McADOO, Director General of Railroads.”NEW ORDER BY SECRETARY DANIELS
Secretary Daniels has gone a step further in his efforts to increase the efficiency of the men of the United States navy. He has just issued a new general order against the serving or selling of intoxicating liquors to officers and enlisted men of the navy.
TEN THOUSAND
We have not the means of verifying the estimate of the brewers that 10,000 saloons in this city will go out of business next month because of the Executive ban on beer, but the figure is round and fascinating and suggestive. Ten thousand bartenders would be welcome in essential industry, if not in the army. Ten thousand hardwood bars could be turned into gun stocks, ship’s furniture and peace conference tables.
AMENDMENT GOES IN EFFECT IN YEAR; WAR BILL JULY 1
Prohibition Amendment Is 18th Added to Constitution of U.S.
June 8, 1920WASHINGTON, Jan. 16. — Prohibition became part of the basic law of the United States today. Ratification of the federal amendment by the Nebraska legislature makes that measure the eighteenth amendment to the federal constitution.
All but a half dozen of the 48 states are expected to adopt the amendment in the next few weeks, but the action of Nebraska today gives the ratification of three-fourths of the states, the number necessary to administer “John Barleycorn” the knockout punch.
Effective in Year
One year from today every saloon, brewery, distillery and wine press in the land must close its doors unless, as now seems likely, they are already closed at that time by war prohibition which goes into effect next July 1, and stays until completion of demobilization.
While the federal amendment will not go into effect for a year, the country may be dry from July 1, 1919, on.
On that day, the war prohibition measure is to go into effect. That law provides that it is to stay in effect until demobilization of the American forces.
Demobilization is not expected to be completed till after the federal amendment goes in force. Thus, unless congress now repeals the war measure, the country will be dry permanently, beginning July 1.
