CHAPTER VII A TRIUMVIRATE AGAINST PROHIBITION

 HOW many Americans know that on August 6, 1833, Abraham Lincoln, with two other men, took out a license¹ to sell liquor? Through the kindness of my friend, William L. Fish, I am permitted to reproduce it (see page 84).

 

Times were different then, it is true; but one has the feeling that Abraham Lincoln was not a Prohibitionist². He was temperate⁴ in all things.

liquor license

In his amazingly interesting book, “Talks with T. R.,” Mr. John J. Leary, Jr., includes a chapter wherein Theodore Roosevelt speaks in no uncertain manner about the prospect⁵ of the country going dry.

“Colonel Roosevelt was not of those who favored the Eighteenth Amendment,” Mr. Leary points out. “To his mind Prohibition³ was certain to cause unrest and dissatisfaction; he doubted the fairness of removing the saloon without providing something to take its place in the life of the tenement-dwellers; and he was inclined to think the liquor question was settling itself.

“‘You and I can recall the time,’ he said to me one day, ‘when it was not bad form for substantial men of affairs, for lawyers, doctors—professional men generally—to drink in the middle of the day. It is good form no longer, and85 it’s not now done. It is not so long ago that practically every man in politics drank more or less, when hard drinking, if not the rule, was not the exception. Now the hard drinker, if he exists at all among the higher grade, is a survival of what you might call another day.

“‘Take Tammany. No one holds that up as an organization of model men, yet I am sure that were you to make a canvass⁶ of its district leaders, you would find pretty close to a majority if not an actual majority are teetotallers. Tammany no longer sends men with ability, and a weakness for liquor, to Albany. It may and it probably will send another of Tom Grady’s ability, but it will not send one who drinks as hard.

“‘This, you may rest assured, is not a matter of morals. It is, however, a matter of efficiency. Tammany wants results and it is sufficiently⁷ abreast⁸ of the times to know that drink and efficiency do not go hand in hand in these days of card indexes and adding machines.

“‘It is the same in your profession. Not long ago most of the boys were fairly competent drinking men; some I knew were rated as extra competent by admiring, perhaps envious⁹, colleagues. Now the drinking man, at least the man who drinks enough to show the effects, is rare. The reason: your editors won’t stand for it. As Jack¹⁰ Slaght put it the other day—I think it was Jack—a reporter in the old days was expected to have “a birthday” about so often and nothing was thought of it. Now, as Slaght puts it, he is allowed but two. The first time, still quoting your friend Slaght, who at times is inclined to use plain language, he gets hell; the next time he gets fired. That is so, is it not?’

“I assured him that Slaght was substantially correct.

“‘It’s not a matter of morals there, though’ (with a laugh). ‘I will admit you boys do not lack morals. As86 with Tammany, it is a question of getting results, exactly as it is with the doctor, the lawyer, and the judge.

“‘Drinking declined once it became an economic question, or at least as soon as it was recognized as an economic factor. It then began to be unfashionable—at least to overdrink—and the man who never drank at all ceased to be unusual in any trade or calling.

“‘I am, however, sorry that they are pressing Prohibition so hard at this time. It is, I think, all right, desirable, in fact, to limit or perhaps prohibit the so-called hard liquors, but it is a mistake, I think, to stop or try to stop the use of beers and the lighter¹¹ wines.

“‘If this thing goes through, where does the social side of life come in? We both know that a “dry” dinner is apt to be a sad sort of affair. It will make dining a lost art.

“‘Likewise, I do not know how the working-classes will take to the change. You and I have no need of the saloon. We have other places to go. But you and I know that the saloon fits into a very definite place in the life of the tenement-dweller. I do not know what he will do without it; what substitutes the reformers will think they can give him for it. I do not believe they have thought of that, or that they care much.

“‘Frankly, I do not know what will be the outcome. Prohibition, if it comes, will cause ill-feeling and unrest—it will be a disturbing factor—but I do not look for anything serious, for after all is said and done, the fact remains¹² that the American workman is a law-abiding individual.

“‘When it comes, Prohibition may or may not be permanent. You may, however, be sure of one thing—it will be extremely difficult to repeal¹³, once it becomes part of the Constitution.’

“Responsibility for Prohibition Colonel Roosevelt placed87 squarely upon the shoulders of the liquor dealers¹⁴ good and bad.

“‘Some liquor dealers I have known,’ said he, ‘were good, well-meaning citizens, who kept decent places. Take the Oakeses, father and son, who own the Oyster¹⁵ Bay Inn. I should be very sorry to see them lose their license. Theirs is a clean, respectable place. Again, there is John Brosnan’s place in New York. No one ever heard a complaint against John. His place has been no more offensive than if he sold dry goods.

“‘I shall take no part in the contest one way or the other. It must be settled without me. I shall not allow it or anything else to swerve¹⁶ me from the work we’re now in.’

“The ‘work we’re now in’ was the effort to speed up the war by arousing the American people to the necessity of winning a ‘peace with victory.’”

Thus Theodore Roosevelt.

Woodrow Wilson vetoed the Volstead Act. He saw at once its undemocratic features, its danger to the country.

As to following Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson—do you prefer their leadership, or that of Mr. Volstead and the fanatics¹⁷?

1 license   

n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许

参考例句：

• The foreign guest has a license on the person.这个外国客人随身携带执照。
• The driver was arrested for having false license plates on his car.司机由于使用假车牌而被捕。

2 Prohibitionist   

禁酒主义者

参考例句：

3 prohibition   

n.禁止；禁令，禁律

参考例句：

• The prohibition against drunken driving will save many lives.禁止酒后开车将会减少许多死亡事故。
• They voted in favour of the prohibition of smoking in public areas.他们投票赞成禁止在公共场所吸烟。

4 temperate   

adj.温和的，温带的，自我克制的，不过分的

参考例句：

• Asia extends across the frigid,temperate and tropical zones.亚洲地跨寒、温、热三带。
• Great Britain has a temperate climate.英国气候温和。

5 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

6 canvass   

v.招徕顾客，兜售；游说；详细检查，讨论

参考例句：

• Mr. Airey Neave volunteered to set up an organisation to canvass votes.艾雷·尼夫先生自告奋勇建立了一个拉票组织。
• I will canvass the floors before I start painting the walls.开始粉刷墙壁之前，我会详细检查地板。

7 sufficiently   

adv.足够地，充分地

参考例句：

• It turned out he had not insured the house sufficiently.原来他没有给房屋投足保险。
• The new policy was sufficiently elastic to accommodate both views.新政策充分灵活地适用两种观点。

8 abreast   

adv.并排地；跟上(时代)的步伐，与…并进地

参考例句：

• She kept abreast with the flood of communications that had poured in.她及时回复如雪片般飞来的大批信件。
• We can't keep abreast of the developing situation unless we study harder.我们如果不加强学习，就会跟不上形势。

9 envious   

adj.嫉妒的，羡慕的

参考例句：

• I don't think I'm envious of your success.我想我并不嫉妒你的成功。
• She is envious of Jane's good looks and covetous of her car.她既忌妒简的美貌又垂涎她的汽车。

10 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

11 lighter   

n.打火机，点火器；驳船；v.用驳船运送；light的比较级

参考例句：

• The portrait was touched up so as to make it lighter.这张画经过润色，色调明朗了一些。
• The lighter works off the car battery.引燃器利用汽车蓄电池打火。

12 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

13 repeal   

n.废止，撤消；v.废止，撤消

参考例句：

• He plans to repeal a number of current policies.他计划废除一些当前的政策。
• He has made out a strong case for the repeal of the law.他提出强有力的理由，赞成废除该法令。

14 dealers   

n.商人( dealer的名词复数 )；贩毒者；毒品贩子；发牌者

参考例句：

• There was fast bidding between private collectors and dealers. 私人收藏家和交易商急速竞相喊价。
• The police were corrupt and were operating in collusion with the drug dealers. 警察腐败，与那伙毒品贩子内外勾结。

15 oyster   

n.牡蛎；沉默寡言的人

参考例句：

• I enjoy eating oyster; it's really delicious.我喜欢吃牡蛎，它味道真美。
• I find I fairly like eating when he finally persuades me to taste the oyster.当他最后说服我尝尝牡蛎时，我发现我相当喜欢吃。

16 swerve   

v.突然转向，背离；n．转向，弯曲，背离

参考例句：

• Nothing will swerve him from his aims.什么也不能使他改变目标。
• Her car swerved off the road into a 6ft high brick wall.她的车突然转向冲出了马路，撞向6英尺高的一面砖墙。

17 fanatics   

狂热者，入迷者( fanatic的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The heathen temple was torn down by a crowd of religions fanatics. 异教徒的神殿被一群宗教狂热分子拆除了。
• Placing nukes in the hands of baby-faced fanatics? 把核弹交给一些宗教狂热者手里？