The Booker T. Washington Papers, Vol.11, page 352, Oct. 1911, U. of Illinois Press

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The BOOKER T. WASHINGTON Papers greatly interested in it and have watched closely its effect upon the Negro. My own observations and the best information that I can obtain convinces me that prohibition is a good thing for the Negro;. Under prohibition he generally drinks less whiskey than he does when he has access to licensed saloons. I am reliably informed that since 'tine restriction of the sale of liquor in South Carolina drinking has visibly decreased among the Negroes. In Alabama since prohibition went into effect the amount of liquor consumed by the colored people has been greatly reduced. This ~ have observed to be especially true in my own County. Another thing that prohibition does is to enable the Negroes to' save more of their money. In a single court in Atlanta since prohibition has gone into effect the fines imposed upon Negroes have decreased ' fifty per cent. annually. This means that these 'same Negroes will have that much more money to spend for food, for clothing and to invest' In property. Another thing that prohibition has done has been to reduce crime. I find that it is true that wherever there is prohibition crime among the colored people has decreased. Chief Justice Walter Clarke of the Supreme Court of North Carolina says that since the state wide prohibition law has gone into effect in that state crime has been reduced fifty per cent; murder in the first degree in North Carolina decreased thirty-two per cent; burglary twenty per cent; attacks with deadly weapons thirty per cent; larceny thirty-two per cent; manslaughter twentyfive per cent; murder in the second degree thirty-five per cent. In some instances according to Chief Justice Clark crimes have decreased more than sixty per cent since prohibition. ~ find that in Columbus, Georgia, Negro arrests after prohibition went into effect decreased twenty-six per cent. ~ recently made an investigation of the effects of prohibition upon crime in Alabama. ~ sent out inquiries to sheriffs, chiefs of police and recorders of police courts asking their opinion as to the chief causes of Negro crime and the effects of prohibition upon Negro crime. The majority of these replies show that strong drink is the chief cause of crime among the Negroes of the state. These statements were corroborated by the report of the State Attorney Genera] which shows that fifty-three per cent of all murders in the state were due to strong drink. 352