Chapter 309: Repeal of Prohibition (1/2)

Although William Paley made a solemn promise, it is still unknown whether CBS will really pay for it.

Especially in this era, television recording equipment has not yet appeared. If you want to produce a complete TV series, you can only broadcast it through live broadcast.

This is also the method used by BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) when it produced "The Smoothsayer".

The production of CBS TV series requires a period of preparation.

However, before that, a more important thing attracted the attention of the whole of New York, no, the whole of the United States.

Not long ago, the Capitol in Washington officially discussed the continuation of the 18th Amendment, that is, the prohibition of alcohol. The 14-year-long prohibition will come to an end.

As a latecomer, Colin naturally knew that the abolition of the prohibition was a destined result. Even during the election process, he added this proposition to Roosevelt's campaign platform.

But in this era, the views on "Prohibition" are actually also polarized.

If you explore history, you will find that there is actually a strong religious force behind the birth of the entire Prohibition. The Bible clearly mentions: Don't get drunk, alcohol can make people debauched, but be filled with the Holy Spirit.

As early as 1840, the Wesleyan Church launched a "dry" crusade in various states to promote prohibition, while the German-dominated Protestants on the other hand firmly opposed prohibition. They were called "wet" wet factions. This is also the earliest prototype of Prohibition. Originally, whether it was the "dry faction" that supported prohibition or the "wet faction" that opposed it, it was just a small group of people.

However, with the end of the 19th century, the United States, which was still in the primary stage of capitalism, had a series of problems such as faith, race, and black-hearted factories, and social security had been poor. At this time, the church power dominated by the prohibition faction stood up and pointed all the spearheads at alcohol.

It is believed that it is precisely because of the existence of alcohol that people drink alcohol when they have nothing to do. After drinking, they are prone to alcoholism, domestic violence, fighting, and disrupting social order. Therefore, solving the alcohol problem should be used as the general grasp to solve all problems-prohibition!

Under the leadership of some radical believers, more and more people believe this statement. They call for prohibition, saying that this is for public morality and health.

Even in some textbooks of this era, in order to exaggerate the harm caused by alcohol, the reason that drinking alcohol can easily lead to spontaneous combustion was proposed. Although such a statement seems a bit ridiculous later, it really promoted the development of prohibition.

Of course, in addition to religious reasons, women are also the main driving group of the prohibition movement. Domestic violence caused by alcoholism has prompted women to become the main promoters of prohibition.

In 1874, the Christian Women's Temperance League was formed. In addition to the alcohol problem, they also promoted the suffrage of American women. As women in some states gained the right to vote, voters who supported prohibition were often more likely to sit in the seats of governors or congressmen because of the advantage of women's votes, which made the voice of constitutional amendment to prohibit alcohol begin to appear in the US federal government.

By 1893, the Women's Temperance League and the "dry" church formed the Anti-Saloon League, which, with the influence of religion and the broad support of women, began to set off a prohibition climax across the United States.

Under the overwhelming propaganda, the number of "dry" people increased. In order to get the votes of the "dry", both the Democratic Party and the Republican Party actively wooed and flattered them. Especially in 1917 and 1918 during the First World War, the United States and Germany broke out in a fierce confrontation, and the social problems in the United States increased. The influence of the "dry" party was unprecedentedly high.

In 1919, the Eighteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution stipulated that a nationwide prohibition would be carried out, prohibiting the brewing, transportation and sale of alcoholic beverages, but also allowing wine for religious purposes.

Yes, although religion is the main force driving the "Prohibition", they themselves have a certain degree of exemption from it.

Today, with the development of the Eighteenth Amendment to the 14th year, Prohibition is no longer just a simple amendment, but has derived huge interests behind it.

It is obviously not a simple matter to repeal the law at this time.

Even Morris Shepard, who is known as the "Father of Prohibition", publicly declared in the media: The chance of repealing "Prohibition" is about the same as the probability of a hummingbird flying to Mars with the Washington Monument tied to its tail. In other words, it is impossible...

The reason why the "dry faction" or the prohibition faction is so confident is naturally because "Prohibition" is protected by the "18th Amendment to the Constitution". Before that, there has never been a case in American history where a "Constitutional Amendment" was repealed.

And this kind of "stability" is exactly the original intention of the prohibitionists.

Even in the 1928 presidential election, former President Hoover, who ostensibly supported prohibition, called "Prohibition" "a great social and economic experiment with noble motives and far-reaching influence."

Although the latter went to the Belgian Embassy to drink after saying this.

But it also shows from the side the hardship of repealing the law, but no one had ever thought that there would suddenly be an extra "catalyst" on the road to lifting prohibition - the Great Depression.

And the intensity was even beyond the imagination of "anti-prohibitionists".

It was under its "catalysis" that the "18th Amendment to the Constitution" prohibiting alcohol became the first "constitutional amendment" to be repealed in American history.

As for Hoover, who made the promise, he has already stepped down, so who cares about his opinion? Even Hoover himself might be happy with the repeal of the bill, after all, he doesn't need to sneak to the embassy to drink.

In short, as the news from Capitol Hill leaked out, the repeal of Prohibition became the focus of discussion in the streets and alleys of New York, and even overshadowed the big ships in New York Harbor.

As one of the forces behind the repeal of the bill, Colin would naturally not miss this opportunity.

As soon as the news came out of Washington, the Daily Courier had already reported on the news of Prohibition. In one of the news, Colin even specially asked someone to record the whole process of the birth of the Prohibition Bill in detail, as if he wanted to put an end to this amendment bill that lasted for nearly fourteen years.

In addition to the news reports on the bill, he also did not forget the serialization of "Superman".

In the latest issue of the story, Colin boldly designed the situation of "Prohibition" into the comics.

In the story, the villain Luthor, who is already well-known to the public, appears again. This time, he bribed Congress through some improper means to allow them to promote a bill called "Prohibition of Superheroes". In the comics, the congressmen raised the problem that it was because of the existence of superheroes that so many super villains appeared, causing fights and disrupting social order. It was simply a replica of the reason for promoting "Prohibition".

In the comics, with the emergence of the "Prohibition of Superheroes", Superman was forced to lose his job, and even Batman, who was far away in Gotham City, was implicated.

When readers saw the two "unemployed" superheroes meet in the comics, they felt a little bit of empathy.

The plot in the comics not only linked to the "Prohibition" which has been a hot topic recently, but also implicitly mentioned the topic of unemployment, indirectly believing that "Prohibition" was also one of the causes of the Great Depression.

In fact, promoting the abolition of "Prohibition" is one of the few or only positive effects since the Great Depression.

The introduction of the "Prohibition" not only had an important impact on the daily lives of the people, but also caused a huge loss of tax revenue for the federal government. This loss may not have been obvious before the Great Depression, but it became particularly troublesome as the Great Depression continued. In particular, the government not only lost the tax revenue of alcoholic products due to the "Prohibition", but also had to spend a lot of money to ban alcohol and deal with the various problems caused by "Prohibition".

It can be said that the reason why Roosevelt followed Colin's opinion and promoted the abolition of the 18th Amendment was also closely related to government finances.

Of course, the abolition of laws in comics is naturally not as troublesome as in reality.

With the emergence of the "Superhero Ban", the citizens of Metropolis did not think there was anything at first, but gradually, the crimes that were originally thought to be reduced did not disappear but increased. Many super villains who were hidden because of Superman began to destroy the city, and Luthor, the initiator of everything, exposed his ambition.

It turned out that the purpose of his promotion of the "Superhero Ban" was to prevent Superman from taking action so that he could rule the world.

At the end of the comic, Superman appeared again, wearing the tight suit with the logo, and stopped Luthor's evil plan.

Luthor: "No, Superman, aren't you afraid of the 'ban on superheroes'?"

Superman: "You forgot, Luthor, I'm not from Earth. In fact, I moved to the moon during this period, so your 'ban on superheroes' is of no use to me."

The story ends with a relatively humorous dialogue, and the 'ban on superheroes' was officially abolished in the end, in the judge's announcement.

It seems to express a position from the side.

The 'Prohibition' may also be abolished as in the comics.

Because of the 'Prohibition', the hottest topic at the moment, the sales of this issue of the Daily Courier exceeded one million, and the serialized 'Superman' has become another reason for the public to support the abolition of the 'Prohibition'.

In this era, there are not many people who openly support the abolition of Prohibition. Although the power of the prohibitionists has changed greatly due to the Great Depression, those who remain at this moment are firm supporters of Prohibition, most of whom are extreme religious elements and gangs.

The former because of faith, the latter because of interests.

…

"Mr. Colin Luper, can you tell me your position on the Eighteenth Amendment?"

Early in the morning, in front of the Pulitzer Building in New York.

The waiting reporters saw Colin's figure and immediately swarmed over.

With the previous patent lawsuit with the American Radio Corporation, Colin has gradually become a public figure in people's mouths.

And his clear position has often become the target of media pursuit.

For this, Colin is not disgusted. Everything he does is destined to be noticed by people. In some ways, the collection of [faith] requires a lot of attention.

And from another perspective, since these reporters asked such questions, it at least means that they have at least read the serials in the "Daily Courier", and a little [faith] has been recorded.

"My attitude is very clear." Standing in front of the building, in front of the media reporters, Colin gave a straightforward answer.

Behind him, the Daily Courier also grabbed a camera and inserted into the crowd. Following the direction of the Daily Courier reporter, Colin slightly adjusted the angle to take care of his reporters as much as possible.

"Prohibition is a mistake, and now it's time to end it."

Colin's answer obviously satisfied most of the reporters on the scene. The reason why they stayed here early in the morning was to get such useful information.

"As far as I know, some prohibitionists have publicly stated that they will retaliate against you, Mr. Colin Luper, believing that your serialization in Superman deliberately misinterpreted the content of the "Prohibition" and denigrated the benefits of the "Prohibition". Do you have anything to say about this, Mr. Colin Luper?"

"The benefits of Prohibition? Sorry, I don't know what benefits it has."

Shaking his head, Colin looked at the reporter of the Daily Courier who asked the question and said with his hands spread.

"I only know that people have had enough of not being able to drink and don't want to become criminals because of drinking. The abolition of Prohibition is a foregone conclusion."

Scanning his eyes over the reporter in front of him, Colin curled his lips slightly: "In fact, I'm ready. Once the abolition of Prohibition officially takes effect..."

That's right, the reason why Colin was willing to be interviewed in front of the Pulitzer Building in New York was actually for publicity.

】

Don't forget that long before Roosevelt came to power, he had rented a suitable warehouse at the port near London, specifically for storing the purchased Scotch whiskey and gin, waiting for the repeal of the 18th Amendment to seize the liquor market.

Now that the repeal of the 18th Amendment is already doomed, he naturally needs to seize the initiative.

At that time, as long as Congress passes the repeal, everyone will know where to buy alcohol.

Looking at the reporters in front of him who were concentrating on waiting for him to speak, Colin was about to speak, but suddenly [Super Premonition] gave a reminder. He turned his eyes slightly and saw a sneaky figure squeeze through the crowd. He rushed in front of him and then, in the shocked eyes of everyone, he opened his collar and took out a pistol and pointed it at Colin.

"Go to hell, Colin Luper!"

Bang——