Man after man has told me that it was
after some festive night when he had taken more wine than ever before
that he first fell. Unmarried mothers have told me that what happened
on the night that was fatal to them was that they were cajoled into
taking champagne or whisky, and after that could not well remember what
took place.
It is not too much to say that until we have grappled with the drink
evil in our midst we cannot possibly hope to master this greater evil
which follows on the heels of intemperance. This one consideration
alone would make me an enthusiastic prohibitionist. We have tried life
on the present terms and it has beaten us. We have allowed the common
sale of a drug that is the proved enemy of our best life. It has
damaged us physically, industrially, and financially. But its most
deadly damage has been done in connection with our sexual life. It not
only misleads the unmarried, but in many homes it is daily destroying
all possibility of married happiness. No doubt the difficulties of
temperance reform are very great.
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