“There are all kinds and forms of rum-selling going on and the men engaged in it make big and easy money. I understand that a certain party here in New York bought several yachts and is sailing them between New York and nearby English possessions, engaged in the bootlegging business. His yachts keep outside of the three mile limit where the rum-runners meet them with hard cash. He is making a lot of money and is running no risk. Once the stuff is on land there is no lack of buyers. And some way is always found to supply their wants. In fact a friend of mine told me that in one of our boroughs whisky is distributed from oil delivery wagons in the conventional oil cans. These wagons have regular routes, calling on their established customers once a week.” “Look here,” said Carl, “you are a good writer; why don’t you write a story about these pirates, the double dealing crooks and dishonest dry agents. It would make corking good reading and the people would see that our country, after all, is not as dry as the Sahara.” “No, thank you. I don’t want to be a ‘marked man.’ You know they would get me in the long run, even if they had to ‘frame me’ and ‘frame me’ they would. You, as every one else who wishes to, know too well the custom in this respect. And if they did ‘frame me,’ they would have so very little respect for decency and honor that they would call me a liar, even if I had made a sworn statement in advance that such would be the case.” “Yes, thinking it over,” said Carl, “it seems best that we raise no objection to their crooked business and simply pretend that we know nothing about it.” “But it is a fine state of affairs when a law, such as the dry law, causes untold evils. It not only makes law and home breakers, but it makes liars and hypocrites. It causes children to disrespect their parents; it causes divorces and as the records show, it fills the jails more than ever. Doctors are against it, as it undermines health and in many a case death has been the result of the lack of alcoholic stimulant. Besides it costs the people more in the way of taxation to make up the losses in revenue which were formerly derived from breweries, saloons and distilleries. Now the balance has to be struck by taxing the dear public. “While home-brew is much in vogue, most of the stuff would kill an elephant. We are surely getting ourselves into a nice mess, even to the extent of getting into difficulties with foreign diplomats and their countries. And what is probably worst of all is the frightful use of deadly drugs and its disastrous consequences. “There is no getting away from it. It undermines the morals and health, and how many murders have already been committed on account of it.”