986 



REVIEW OF REVIEWS. 



Deci-tiihrr 1, 1913, 



been driven from more than 80 per cent, 

 of the territor)- and from 85 per cent, 

 of the popuhition by local option. Ar- 

 kansas, angered at the defeat of prohi- 

 bition by the coloured voters, recently 

 passed a law making it necessary to 

 have a majority vote of white people, 

 men and women, of a certain precinct, 

 before a liquor license can be issued, and 

 it is said that the provisions will make 

 it impossible to open a single drinking 

 place in the State. There have been 

 some reactions in favour of the saloon 

 in Indiana, Ohio, and some other States, 

 while in others there has been advanced 

 temperance legislation and a wider ter- 

 ritory made " dry." 

 THE PEOPLE WHO CHOOSE TO BE " DRY.'" 



It will be noticed that the prohibition 

 States contain largely rural populations. 

 Of the nine " dry " States, Georgia, with 

 one, and Tennessee, with two, are the 

 only ones that contain cities of 100,000 

 population or over. 



The following are the States in which 

 from 50 to 85 per cent, of the inhabitants 

 live under no-license: — Alabama, Ar- 

 kansas, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Indi- 

 ana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Minne- 

 sota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, South 

 Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Ver 

 mont, and Virginia. There are but nine 

 cities of 100,000 population or over in 

 these seventeen States, which are 50 per 

 cent, or more " dry." 



UNCLE SAM TAKES A HAND. 



One of the things that called a halt in 

 the nation's crusade against the drink 

 traffic between 1907 and 191 2 was the 

 partial nullification of the State prohibi- 

 tory laws b\- the misuse of the Interstate 

 Commerce law in taking liquors illegall\- 

 from " wet " into " dry " territory. By 

 this law, the Federal Government made 

 it impossible properly to enforce the 

 State prohibitory laws. For several 

 years the temperance people made un- 

 successful attempts to secure relief from 

 this Federal interference. A little over 

 a year ago a conference was held in 

 Washington, composed of Senators, 

 Congressmen, Governors, judges, and 

 other distinguished leaders, representing 

 various temperance organisations, for 

 the purpose of drafting a bill that could 

 be passed and that would also stand the 



tests of the courts, and the Sheppard- 

 Kenyon bill was the result. 



President Taft, towards the closing 

 hours of the session of Congress, re- 

 turned the bill with his veto, giving as 

 his reason for doing so his belief that it 

 was unconstitutional, but the bill was 

 promptly passed over his veto by the 

 Senate and House of Representatives by 

 the required two-thirds majority. It is 

 understood that a test case will be in- 

 stituted which will be carried at once to 

 the highest court, where the question of 

 the constitutionality of the law will be 

 determined. The publications of the 

 liquor dealers declare that this law, if 

 held valid, will destroy at one stroke 

 one-third of all their business in the 

 country. The enactment of the inter- 

 state commerce amendment marks the 

 impotency of the saloon in American 

 national politics. 



The overwhelming temperance senti- 

 ment of Congress was manifested again 

 in the passage of the Jones- Works Ex- 

 cise Bill for the District of Columbia, 

 which, by the first day of November, 

 191 4, is to abolish one-half of all the 

 drinking places of Washington City. 

 Some of its features are : — The creation 

 of a new excise board to be appointed 

 by the President ; no bar-room license to 

 be granted to any hotel having less than 

 fifty bedrooms ; not more than three 

 saloons, other than hotels or clubs, to be 

 permitted on one side of the block, nor 

 more than four on both sides of the 

 block ; no saloon shall be allowed with- 

 in 400 feet of a public school, o: of 

 a college or university, nor within 

 400 feet of a house of religious wor- 

 ship ; liquor in residence sections may 

 be sold only in sealed packages ; no 

 saloon shall exist within 1000 feet of the 

 Marine Barracks, Navy yard. War Col- 

 lege, or Engineer Barracks ; all saloons 

 shall be closed on Inauguration Day ; 

 the total number of saloons, including 

 bars in hotels and clubs, must be re- 

 duced b)' November i, 191 4. There are 

 more than 600 at present. For a vear 

 the liquor men of Washington City have 

 fought this measure bitterly. 



The al)olition of all saloons from the 

 Panama Canal Zone after luly i has 

 been decreed. The Isthmian Canal 



