OKLAHOMA: Damp Dry

For the fifth time in 41 years, Oklahoma’s wets did their doggondest to repeal the state prohibition law. Everyone would be far better off, they argued, if whisky were sold legally—and taxed—instead of just sloshing around the state as contraband, making cops greedy and bootleggers rich. This appeal to sweet reason was dramatized by the fact that the repeal group’s leader, Tulsa Attorney Albert G. Kulp (rhymes with gulp), was a bone-dry teetotaler himself.

Nevertheless, the voters went right on liking prohibition anyhow. The state’s church-going United Drys (many of whom fasted and prayed for victory at the polls) were fiercely proud of living in a prohibition state.* So, naturally, were the bootleggers. And many an Oklahoma drinker liked prohibition too—there was plenty of good liquor, prices were reasonable, and instead of going out to buy a bottle he could have one delivered promptly to his door. Last week, by a margin of 55,400 votes, Oklahomans of all persuasions decided once more that prohibition was just too good to give up.

*The only other: Mississippi.