The latest sensation is that crime has increased under Prohibition, although it was thought that a decrease in crime would result. It was also thought that Prohibition would bring prosperity to all classes of society. We recall when the preachers and ministers proclaimed from the pulpit that drunkenness was the greatest cause of crime and poverty. And so Prohibition was enacted in order to save society. Of course, one could not expect the millenium immediately after Prohibition was introduced. So we waited. And what did we find we found that a special class of people had arisen that began to make whisky, wine, and beer illegally. Thousands of these parasites became rich. It seems that the Government is unable to cope with this evil. It has been proved that in many places the authorities and the criminals work hand in hand. In this way, Prohibition has created a new kind of crime.

Nobody can deny that drinking has decreased under Prohibition. But has it put an end to misery and crime. Has it helped the poor? Has it benefited 2society not one bit. Misery is at least as widespread today as it was two years ago, and, in fact, distress is growing from day to day. Unemployment is increasing; when the workers spend their savings, they will have to go hungry. Crime is one the increase, too. Criminals are being hung every week in Illinois. New York and San Francisco are experiencing a great crime wave.

How is all this to be explained. Some are of the opinion that every criminal is a mental defective who does not understand the nature and consequences of what he is doing. He will readily risk his life for money. In former years, such individuals cursed their impulses with liquor; drink made them apathetic, and they were not able to commit crimes for lack of courage. Today, these poor people have no whiskey or beer in which to drown their misery and despair; and so today, there is plenty of reckless courage in these people.

In previous years, it was said that very few criminals committed crimes while completely sober. Now they are saying that people become criminals 3because of lack of alcohol. What conclusion can we deduce from all this That alcohol has no effect on crime? No, that would not be true: alcohol does have an effect on crime, but it is not the main cause, nor is it even an important factor. The real cause has been completely untouched by Prohibition and is still with us: We mean the widespread misery, the general chaos in society, the bad working conditions, and the maladjustment and oppression upon which our social system are based. No laws, no restrictions, no prohibitions, no miner reforms introduced by bourgeois nations will help the worker. Crime and poverty will be overcome only by the victorious proletariat, which will abolish private ownership and create a new economic order and a new culture.