News

Harvard Alumni Email Forwarding Services to Remain Unchanged Despite Student Protest

News

Democracy Center to Close, Leaving Progressive Cambridge Groups Scrambling

News

Harvard Student Government Approves PSC Petition for Referendum on Israel Divestment

News

Cambridge City Manager Yi-An Huang ’05 Elected Co-Chair of Metropolitan Mayors Coalition

News

Cambridge Residents Slam Council Proposal to Delay Bike Lane Construction

CARVER WRITES BOOKLET ON "BABY VOLSTEAD" ACT

STATES SIGNIFICANT FIGURES TO SHOW POINTS

NO WRITER ATTRIBUTED

"We have to choose between no enforcement of prohibition at all, or some form of check like the Massachusetts 'Baby Volstead' law, and I prefer to have the law", said Thomas Nixon Carver, professor of Political Economy in a recent interview.

Professor Carver is one of the campaign leaders against the repeal of the Massachusetts Dry Enforcement law, commonly called the "Baby Volstead" law, and has just written a pamphlet expressing his views on the subject.

Continuing, Professor Carver stated, "The dangers of repeal are very great. For instance, the wets are found of quoting figures showing an increase in the arrests for drunkenness since 1920. They refrain from saying that 1920 was a prohibition year, that we had had war-time prohibition since 1919, and constitutional prohibition since January, 1920.

"To compare one prohibition year with another is not the way to measure the effects of prohibition. The only way is to compare prohibition years with pre-prohibition years.

"Another important fact which the wets refrain from mentioning is that the increase in arrests for drunkenness in this state all came before the so-called 'Baby Volstead' law. The entire increase came between 1920 and 1924.

"It is very significant that the enforcement law which they call the 'Baby Volstead' law did not become operative until December, 1924. Since this law became operative there has been no further increase but a slight decrease in arrests for drunkenness."

Want to keep up with breaking news? Subscribe to our email newsletter.

Tags