Prohibition At Atlanta

The conditions under which prohibltion was tried in Atlanta, are essentially different from those existing in any other place or locality wbere It ha8 been attempted. In th"e flrst place, the class of people fiiVDring it at the start was nut one corresponding with that usually tiijrajied In inauguratlng such movements. It was not the exceptional religious enthuslasts, the emoüonal women,and the sensational preuchers who gave prohibition its flrst inception here, hut the leading business men, the bealthy, successful, politicians, the society women, and the most conservative of the clergy. No movement coulii have had less of a sensitional orlgin. The Young Men's Christian Assoclalion, which compriees the cream of the social influence of the city, was tor prohibitlon from the surt. lts most eloquent advocate in the press and on the hustings, was Henry W. Grady, the now fainous editor of the Constitution. The staid and conservative EpUcopalian cliurch went into the work as zealously as the warmer .Methodist denoniinatinn, and stern Presbyterianisin vied with the more advanced Congregationalists in pqahtng at the car, while the mighty Baptist church swung lts powerful englnes all into line to bear upon the in'renehnients that were to be MMtnltad. There was, in fact, no respectable moral or religious organization that was not positively and aggressively for probibitton. In the norihern cnnimunities there wlll ulways be found certain independent or lilic-r.-il sections of public sentiment which take pride in standing out against any reforinatory raovement which is engineered by the evangellcal element; here there is scarcely any such element. It niay be said that theologie] or religious liberallun has no recognized existence here. I'i its most overt phases it would not be tolerated in any public denionstratlon. Ingersoll, for instance, would have no hearing; and whoever would promúlgate anything tsavoring of skepticism or agnosticlsm, must do it under some sort of Christian guise. From this it will be plain that when the cliurches here took hold of prohibiti)n as a political measure success was asured in ad vanee. Thefight was not hard, ftud the victory came as easily as converts oome after 8am Jones's preacliing to n Georgia audience. To speak of "the great ttrujrgle" that was had over the question is to ,'deal in hyperbole. As well mlght one speak of "the great struggle" that was had over getting Georgia to wheel into the secession moveuient. The best of society and the brains of the business communlty had but to speak the word, and t was done. For, to repeat somewliat, social influence, business interest, and evangélica! sentiment cover the sume Held here, and a moveinent that has sanction of 011e muy coiiMt upon the support of all. Now, what bas been the operation of prohibition in Atlanta? One good - cali it a lower rood if fint will - bas been effected. The saloon nuisance has been abated. Nor has anything at all cognate taken its place. The barroom loafers, the room noise, the uar-room tone, have disappeared. The evil effect of the wine-rooms are not underrated, but they are nothing like the open bar-rooms. To a certain class they present a great danger - greater, perhaps, than the saloons did : this class, however, isa liinited oue. Those young men are referred to who were ashamed to be seen n the open saloons. But the city council is so hedglng the wine rooms about with penal restrictions that their influence for evil will soon be to a large extent neutralized. But now we come to a more serious phase of the question - to-wit: The "jug business." Within easy distance of Atlanta excellent quallties of corn whisky are made and brought here in gallon jugs by the train load. Anyone can obtaiu whisky in this way who wants it, and who has the small modictim of inoncy necessiiry to purchase a jugful. This jug business has not produced the dire eft'ects thus far that have been portraycd by some sensational correspondents; It has not substituted a worse evil thiin the saloon system ; it has not "Ulied the city with drunkards." But still the jug business is an unpleasant reality staring every good citlzen in the face. There is another class tliiin those namcil that is to be coii9idered in connection with the jug business. In some shape it meets you evervwhere. "A drink of liquor! O, nol" Youcouldn't ifet a drink of liquor for money if your ips were pmched llkc those of the wayworn pilgrim on the gret Sahara ; but for friendship, you can get it anywhere. It comes to you, as it were, on unseen wings. It beckons to you from the rear ot the drug store; it peeps out at you from the coat pocket of a casual acqiiaintance; it looks down benignantly upon you from the shelves of the family zrocer; It lurks behind the counter of the dry go-xls merchant, moistenlng a fat bill of goods you have purclmsed ; it ogles you tlnough the eyes of the hotel clerk; it snugglcs cosilj' in the side dravveis of the lawyer; and in brief, it is everywhere, In store, io counting-room, in warehouse, in otBce, in the privnte# room, In the siicied precincts of the family, and whoever can claim a freind can claim a drink. You meet an aequalntanco upon the Street. He says: "You don't look well." "So," you answer, "1 don't ; my liver is out of order, I belleve" "No doubt; come with me and I will contribute to your relief." And together you enter the nearest drug store, or perhaps the noarest friendly office, and there Is a bottle of Georgia corn-juict', or possibly of Kentucky's "vintage - you urely will not have to traverse more than a bloek under any circnmstiincee. Now, what is the result of this condi:lon of things? More drunkenness than belbre prohibitlon was tdpptedf No; assuredly no. The man Isa slanderer who says so. Hut what will in thu future be the result ? This is the qurstion u hicli the thought'iil are asking. And those who do not tloat with thu tlde, and look beneath the surlun' of things, are thinking somethiug like this: "All this ease with which u mil is obtained, notwitstanding the sweeping mcasuie of prohibltou we havo paased, deinonstrutescouclusively that it is u impossibilityto prevent people from ob talningintoxlciitlng liquor todriuk. Now if we maki' it expensive will t not lessen the abuse 1! In other words, if we adopt a Rtringent system of high license, will we nut effect gomcihing like the Improvemt'iit we now have upou the old order of things (for it is an luiprovement), and at tlie Hiiiiic time insure us a.-iiu.-t a iu.-.sble di8a8trou8 0iitconie of the ju; business, if contlnued? Will not high lic.ense give us better regulated saloons, and do away with the saloon loaftrr and the saloon bumraer? The prohlbitionist says : "We have laws against thcli, murder, aruon, etc, and yet these crimes are constpntly occurring." This is answered by the more thoujflitful cla8g in Ihis way: ''True, those laws do not entirely prohibit these crimes; Imt such laws are passed witli absolutcly do dlssenting voice in the community, while here is a veiy respecUble and constantly growing minority convinced of the impmctioability or injustice of the ordlnance of prohibition, and tio law was ever made effective witli such a minority Hgiiii'.st it." The minority here rwferred to is not noisy, nor at present active. It biiies its time. It ia not a rowdj miuorilj. In due time It will expres Ittelf. Undoubtedly among its constituent paits are some of the bad elements of the community. It setjtns to be poorly orgwnised. Whether it will effect anything reuiains to be seen.