Source E is an extract from a letter written in 1932, by John D. Rockefeller Jr., a wealthy industrialist. He had hope for prohibition however tells us of the true results after observing 12 years of it. He tells us that “drinking has generally increased” and that people would simply go to the speakeasy rather than the saloon, ignorant to the fact it was a crime. As well as this he says “a vast army of lawbreakers has appeared; many of our best citizens have openly ignored prohibition; respect for the law has been greatly lessened” and if there is no respect for the law then not one person would obey that law, making its existence pointless.
Source G is a table of statistics showing the activities of federal government agents enforcing prohibition between 1921 to 1929. It shows an increase over the years of the amount of illegal stills seized and the gallons of spirits seized however these figures can not be taken as completely reliable once you bear in mind the amount that went unseen. This shows us that alcohol became more popular over time as more was about. The jump from 414,000 gallons seized to 11,030,000 four years later would also indicate an increase in production, because of these figures it tells us that people did not see the law as an obstacle and merely went around it. In addition it supports source E’s claim that drinking had increased during prohibition.
Source H is another table of statistics, this time published by the City of Philadelphia Police Department, showing the number of arrest for drinking-related offences, 1920-25. It becomes clear that the amount of alcohol consumed must have soared to create such an increase in a short space of time, going from 14,313 arrests to 45,226 arrests in three years.
Source I is a cartoon from the time of prohibition and is titled “The National Gesture”. In the cartoon you see a row of men, facing away with their hands out behind their backs. On the back of the men’s jackets are written certain job titles all involved in the enforcement of prohibition. This cartoon is meant to raise awareness of the backhanders taken by the law enforcers and as it is a “national gesture” we know that this corruption was widespread throughout the states. It backs up the point that prohibition was set to fail as if even the people who were meant to act as the law defied that then there was no hope for any rules truly being set down.
Source J is an anecdote from a policeman talking about Chicago during the 1920s, however this could have been at any period of time in that decade. He mentions how officers were not taken seriously and that bribes were forced upon you. If you were to try and enforce the law properly then “they’d put you in a post where there was nothing but weeds” meaning they would send you to work in a dull post in the countryside where there is no crime to begin with. He mentions that his superior officers were a part of the corruption and without the support from above there would not have been a chance of making a stand.
On the other hand Source C is a poster published in 1910 and shows a man handing over a money bag labelled “week’s wages” to a cheerful saloon owner. In the bottom right corner of the poster there is a picture of a woman holding her head on a table and a young child holding an empty bowl, presumably these are the mans family waiting for his return with the wages he has earned. Below the image is a caption “Slaves of the Saloon” showing the addiction that was rife with the regular saloon goers who eventually poured their entire belongings to feed their alcoholism leaving their families living in poverty. This poster would have been put up in favour of prohibition as it shows the alcohol leads to poverty and neglect and the artist most likely hoped it would make an impact and help people to give up alcohol.
Source D is another poster published in 1915 and shows a boy and a girl waiting outside the saloon doors. I feel these are meant to be the children of someone inside as the poster is headed with “Daddy’s in there”. Along side the poster is “and our shoes and stockings and food are in the saloon too, and they’ll never come out” it again forwards the message that alcohol leads to poverty and neglect as items which are detrimental to living and supporting a family are unattainable as money is wasted on alcohol in the saloon, following the fathers addiction.
Source F is an anecdote again however from John F. Kramer, the first prohibition commissioner from 1920. He believes that prohibition will be strictly obeyed throughout the country and has the greatest intentions to make sure that happens although John F. Kramer was not lying this source was written too early on in prohibition for him to see the true results of prohibition, that being not a lot. This source may be misleading to those who have not heard of the consequences of prohibition as John F. Kramer was dead set on the law being followed and had all hopes of its success.
In conclusion I believe these sources weigh more towards the view that prohibition was bound to fail as they bring light to the fact that crime had risen throughout the country. Another reason brought up is the lack of law enforcement and corruption throughout the law, without a firm hand there to control the country then all sense would be lost.