31 MAY 1930, Page 3

Prohibition The final figures of the " straw vote "

organized by the Literary Digest on Prohibition in the United States were published on Friday, May 23rd. Out of a total of 4,806,464 votes those in favour of enforcement of the present law were only 1,464,098, or just over 30 per cent. Those in favour of permitting the sale of beer and light wines rather than of repealing the present legislation, polled rather less than those for enforcement ; but those for repeal were about 500,000 more. These figures are not, of course, conclusive, but they imply a wide conviction that the great Prohibition experiment has failed. Such a conviction, however, may bring a solution no nearer, for there does not seem to be enough support for any of the proposed alternatives to the present law.

* * *