THE PASSING OF JOHN BARLEY. CORN

Whether or not we like prohibition, it is now very rapidly coming into its own. The passing of the National Amendment through the Massachusetts legislature has shown conclusively that there is little hope for the "wets." Massachusetts is the eleventh state to ratify and more significant, the fifth wet state. New York alone, of all the states that have been so far called upon to face this problem, has refused to pass the amendment: It has been successful even in such strongholds of the liquor interests as Kentucky and Maryland.

To make the proposed amendment a part of the Constitution is now only a question of time, and a short time at that. There are twenty-one more dry states that have not yet passed it, but their favorable decision is a foregone conclusion. It only needs the affirmative vote of four out of 16 wet states remaining to get the required two-thirds. If Massachusetts had followed New York and temporized, the wet forces might have stood some chance, but the example of the conservative Bay State will be of overwhelming value to the "drys". John Barleycorn's reign will soon be over, but at least it has been long and merry.