Prohibition
...years." Secretary Daniels followed Bryan to the pulpit to prophesy, "No man living will ever see a Congress that will lessen the enforcement of that law. The saloon is as dead as slavery!" (Ardent Spirits The Rise and Fall of Prohibition, John Kobler) The country was allowed to drink intoxicating liquor in their own homes under certain conditions: either over a relative's house or if it were prescribed, but a pint could be bought only every ten days at the most. They could not carry a pocket flask. Liquor could not be given as a gift nor taken out to hotels or restaurants or drinking in the public dining rooms. Earlier campaigns had focused on persuading individuals to give up drinking. Alcoholism contributed to domestic abuse, various public health problems, and other social pathologies. The issue was: how to control the problems brought on by alcohol abuse, which included ruined careers, ruined marriages, and untold numbers of ruined lives. It was believed that saloons were bad places. Men drank excessively, but also lost their weekly earnings at gambling, and met prostitutes from whom they contracted venereal disease. There were a lot of setbacks during Prohibition. One of them were the lost of control over the locations of the saloons. Prohibitionists used taxes licensing laws and local option laws to prevent the sale of alcohol in the inner city, such as churches and schools on Sundays, election days, and in their neighborhoods. Taxes eliminated political tools and led to the birth of speakeasies in business districts and middle class neighborhoods. Since prisons were over packed, they needed more room to hold prisoners, but, of course, they were to need money. Taxes paid-off the expenses of court and prison costs, and were put towards poorhouses. A large share of Americans' money went toward the public good. The prosperous national economy was raising living standards, health standards, and educational standards. Saloons carried around all the diseases you could name. Men would pick-up prostitutes and then come back home to their wives. When you're in a stage of being not sober, you tend to do whatever is convenient at the time. They did not ca...