The Whiskey War continues in Ohio and Indiana, but the
force of the movement would appear to be on the wane. The agitators are already advising each other to rely more on legal means, and the publicans have hit on a plan of defence which seems likely to be successful. They form themselves into associations, and the moment the praying bands appear in any town, close and depart for a holiday. In the absence of any opposition it is found that the enthusiasm cools down, that the prayers become purposeless, and that the habits of ordinary life begin to resume their sway. The men, we see, begin to inter- vene more and more; but then they do it in a reasonable way, by setting the law in motion through organised societies, created to see that it is not broken. There is no objection to that, and that will probably be the ultimate result of the movement,—the creation of societies with paid secretaries, who will watch the carrying-out of any law the State can be induced to pass.
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