Prohibition, as established by the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, is now the center both of attack and of defense. The Wets in Congress feel compelled to enact legislation in harmony with the Democratic platform adopted at the Chicago National Convention. Many who voted for the Democratic candidates did so, not to get liquor, but because of the financial depression. They are against the repeal of the Eighteenth Amendment, and have been all the time. It is not intoxicating beverages they want, but a different financial condition for the country as a whole.
Legislation is being rushed through Congress to legalize beer containing approximately 4 per cent of alcohol by volume. This means that such beer would contain one part in twenty-five of pure alcohol. Now this per cent of alcohol is sufficient to disqualify some people completely for safely handling dangerous machinery. Small amounts of alcohol blur the vision and retard the co-ordination of brain and muscle. This is especially true of the lower portion of the body. Thus a man may have taken only a small amount of alcohol, but his feet and legs are slowed down in responding to the will. This makes the driving of an auto on the highway in this highly mechanized age a menace to life, even when driven by those who have had the smallest amount of alcohol. Scientists tell us that one tenth of one per cent of alcohol, operating upon the brain or spinal cord, is sufficient to produce a state of intoxication. This does not, of course, mean that the individual becomes drunk, but that he is not normal, his brain and muscles do not function normally.
That our ministers may have statements which may be useful in constructing sermons and lectures on temperance, we append quotations from scientists and specialists concerning alcohol as a beverage. Others will be given next month. The full and accurate references from which these extracts are taken are given so that if any statement should be challenged, the citation can be substantiated.
These extracts will be useful in educating both the public and our own people, as well as for use in articles for the public press. Some will have certain of these statements, or others equally good. Others may not have access to books and sources of information to gather such data. We hope our ministry will preserve these extracts for use in this time of agitation. We are in a crisis. We cannot close our eyes to this fact. If ever we needed to be alert to meet a great issue, it is now.
I. H. E.