It seems that more interesting than the fate of the world, which is being weighed by the Peace Conference now going on in Paris, is the problem of prohibition among the so-called "wets." Will they close the saloons or not?

The majority of hot liquor dealers are men corrupted by prosperity. They have forgotten about principles and honor. Their personal interest is every - thing under the sun to them.

We do not wish to be misunderstood because we openly declare that in our opinion prohibition in its present form, as it is proposed "bone dry," shall not and cannot stand the test; on the other hand, on account of that propaganda, the madness of the egotistic wet element is so strong that it is hard to solve the question.

As we stated in the beginning, the fate of the world and the Peace Conference are nothing to the liquor interests and professional reformers, in comparison 2to prohibition.

To the professional reformers, prohibition is everything under the sun, but to the "wets" the prohibition is the end of the world. In our opinion the "bone dry" law is a freak law, a monstrosity that cannot hold out, but on the other hand the drinking dens conducted according to the old style are a disgrace to society, and their end will come sooner or later. "Your personal liberty is in danger," is the appeal of the dealers of intoxicating drinks. What an irony! What do they care about the personal liberty of their neighbors? What they fear is the shrinking of their fat and always insatiable pocketbooks. The consumption is attacking their pocketbooks already. This is an undisputed fact.

Let us leave the moral issue on the side and look into the logical side of possible consequences of the prohibition question. How does the problem present itself and what is its future?

In order to get more information, we asked one of the Senators who was visiting one section of the city, what he thought of the whole problem of prohibition.

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He presented his opinion in more or less the following words: "The saloon keepers placed the rope around their necks themselves and that will be their end. No one wants to prohibit drinking. The political powers want to do away with saloon keepers, that is all. What shall happen later on does not matter. Politics run and control this magnificent country. One politician defends this or that proposition. Every vital question has both followers and opposition. Every element has friends and enemies. The saloon keepers have no friends - they have either indifferent or relentless foes."

"Experience teaches us that every politician, with the exception of a saloon keeper himself, if he happens to hold a political office, feels hatred in his heart towards the saloon keeper. I am not guessing. I speak from my own experience. For instance, if I were among the legislators from the so-called wet district, perhaps I would vote against prohibition but I would not agitate against it among my colleagues."

"Every politician knows the moral value of that element. We remember how he used to skin us at the bars during the political campaigns. And usually we 4were skinned by those who had very little influence over voting or sometimes their own votes were questionable. It is not true that the political forces are waiting for the death of the intoxicating drinks - in their hearts they do not like the "bone dry" law - but it is the only way of getting rid of the saloon keepers; what happens later is a small matter. There were, and there are, laws regulating the saloons but they are cleverly evaded. Prohibition probably will not stand the test, but the present system of the saloon business is buried forever, because all politicians desire it. Saloon keepers fight for their personal interests and now is the time for politicians to fight for theirs - and save their pocketbooks during political campaigns."

Those are the reasons for prohibition.