A LESSON FROM CALIFORNIA.
[TO THE EDITOR OF TER "SPECTATOR."] Pm—Looking over your valuable paper, I am reminded by its patriotic attitude on the liquor question that just a decade ago a startling arraign- ment against drink was furnished by historical events in this State. As every one knows, the earthquake and fire of April 18th, 1906, laid a large part of San Francisco in ruins (now, happily, built up, better than before). What perhaps is not so generally known is the fact that, for several months after the fire, the city was under military rule, and all importation and sale of liquor were absolutely prohibited in the city and county. During this " dry " period, in spite of so many people being penniless and homeless, the city was aptly described as " crirneless." San Franciscans formed one big, kind family. Men were brothers and women sisters. Rags generated no suspicion, for millionaires were in the bread-line. Every one believed in the good intentions of his chance neighbours, and the helping hand, invariably extended, amply justified this faith. I believe that, in those " dry " days, theiercine cf Moore's " Rich and Rare were the Gems She Wore " might have walked, unmolested and unafraid, from busy Fillmore Street to the last line of lonely ruins on the water-front.
Some months after the fire the liquor restrictions were removed all at once, and dating from that very day an orgy of crime broke out. To venture into the rains after dark was as much as a man's life was worth. Thugs and highwaymen infested even the thickly settled districts, and brutal hold-ups were of daily and hourly occurrence. Months later this state of things was finally checked, but never again has San Francisco been " crimeless." Californian papers at the time were unanimous in tracing a direct connexion between the wave of crime and the reopening of the saloons with which it was coincident. Editorial writers declared that, whilst the lawless deeds could not all have been directly inspired by drink, the saloons were responsible because of the opportunities they afforded for the foregathering of evil characters. Crimes, which otherwise might never have been planned, were hatched in saloons. Whother these theories were correct or not, the Court records of San Francisco afford eloquent testimony to the fact that crime followed instantaneously in the footsteps of drink.
During the present war in Europe the Californian Press has followed with keen personal interest the various " dry " movements made by the Allis. Sincere regret has been expressed in many quarters that England has not made a longer and a stronger pull toward efficiency in this respect. Although California is a wine-growing State, the " dry " movement is steadily gaining strength hero. Contrary to general expectation, the granting of tho franchise to women did not add very greatly to the momentum of this movement. Its force lies in the constantly increasing demand for " efficiency." The keen stress of industrial competition is causing employers to demand the " best " workers available. The men behind the pay-rolls are coming more and more to realize that each glass of liquor consumed by the workman means a proportionate amount of carelessness, irresponsibility, and inefficiency. In fact, in this race for " efficiency " the man who drinks even moderately is finding it more and more hard to obtain work. Can you wonder that in the California of to-day, where the watchwor 1 is "Efficiency," the saloon is becoming more and more associated in the public mind with human derelicts ? This is so true that many large corporations, employing thousands of toilers, have their men on the pay-roll more or less under observation. In the offices of these companies, both for present and would-be employees, an unwritten dictum hangs over the entrance of every saloon : " Abandon hope all ye who enter here."—I am, Sir, &c., M. E. C. Los Angeles, California, U.S.A., Apra 16th.
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