PRESENT DAY

On January 16, 1920 the 18th amendment to the U.S. Constitution went into effect. The sale or use of alcohol was now illegal. America was entering the era of prohibition. Frederick Lewis Allen wrote about this era in his book "Only Yesterday" this book was written in 1931 about the 1920s. It was not a very long look back. Mr. Allen spoke of how easily the amendment was passed seemingly without much opposition. He also said it was taken for granted that this law would be followed and easily enforced.It turned out the law was not easily enforced as alcohol became quite prevalent and easily available. Alcohol was being made illegally all over the country as well as being shipped in from Canada and other countries. perhaps the most famous or infamous character from this time was Alphonse Capone more commonly known as simply Al Capone. Al Capone was a gangster from Chicago who made the majority of his money from bootlegging. That is the nickname given for the illegal sale of alcohol. It is estimated that Capone's gang made around 60 million dollars a year most of that profit came from bootlegging. Mr. Allen states that prohibition was a big reason for the rise of organized crime in America.

"To say that prohibition-or if you prefer, the refusal of the public to

abide by Prohibition-caused the rise of the gangs to lawless power would be

altogether too easy an explanation. There were other causes: the

automobile which made escape easy, as the officers of robbed banks had

discovered; the adaptation to peace-time use of a new arsenal of handy and

deadly weapons; the murderous traditions of the Mafia, imported by Sicilian

gangsters; the inclination of a wet community to wink at the by-products of a

trade which provided them with beer and gin; the sheer size and unwieldiness of

the modern metropolitan community, which prevented the focusing of public

opinion upon any depredation which did not immediately concern the average

citizen; and, of course the easy-going political apathy of the times. But

the immediate occasion of the rise of gangs was was undoubtedly

prohibition"

I agree with Mr. Allen in his contention that prohibition was a silly law which was enacted way too easily without much thought. I also feel that a similar situation is occurring now with the war on drugs. The government is spending billions of dollars to fight drugs rather than legalizing them, which when taxed would make the government billions of dollars in profit. Drugs are part of society weather we like it or not, we might as well make some money off of them rather than put all that money in the hands of the drug kingpin's who continue to blaze the path that Al Capone paved for them.

George W. Norris was born in Sandusky, Ohio on July 11, 1861. George W. Norris was a law graduate from of Valparaiso University in 1883. George Norris started out his career as the county attorney of Furnas County for three terms, then became district judge of the fourteenth district from 1895-1902. Norris was a Representative and a Senator for Nebraska. Norris spent most of his political career in the Senate. Norris spent his years in the Senate as a Republican from 1912-1936 and when re elected in 1936, he was a member of the Independent Party.


In George Norris' "Speech Against Declaration of War," he thought it was in America's best interest to stay neutral in World War I. His speech acted as the voice of Americans who opposed the United States from entering the war. He felt that the reason why America entering the war would be for its own profit, not for principles. In his point of view, America had the 'technical right' to declare itself as a neutral nation and stayed out of the English warzone and "disregarded the German war zone."


Norris has no quarrel against citizens for the war, but he feels they have been some what hypnotized by the ads by newspapers and ads. He felt the only person who would prosper from America's entry to the war would be from Wall street, but not the soldiers who have to fight on the battlefield against the Germans.

In 1917, during the St. Louis Convention, members of the Socialist Party gathered together, condemning the United States involvement in World War I.
The party's leader Eugene V. Debs thought that the capitalist and imperialist nations were consumed with greed and only wanted war to gain power and domination of the world markets, therefore they stated that the United States was making a mistake by entering into the war.
The Socialist Party felt that "wars bring wealth and power to the ruling classes, and suffering, death and demoralization to the workers".
During the convention speakers painted a picture about the ugliness of war and plead to the masses, the workers of all countries, to refuse to support the war in Europe. The speaker wanted the working masses to realize that the government and "national groups of capitalists" had no concern for the working people. The speaker goes on to say that the masses are being misled to believe that the United States was entering the war to defend democracy, when in fact the United States is turning into the imperialist and militarist government just like the Europeans. Within the speech, the speaker explains many reasons why the war would not accomplish anything.
The speaker also points out that even thought the German's U-Boat attack was ruthless, "it was not an invasion of the rights of the American people", and attempts to validate the argument against United States involvement in the war by stating the following:

"...Militarism can never be abolished by militarism", "...Democracy can never be imposed upon any country by a foreign power by force of arms", and "...if we send an armed force into the battlefields of Europe, its cannons will mow down the masses of the German people and not the Imperial German Government".