At the time this 1917 magazine article appeared in print, the concept of prohibiting alcohol was in the process of being re-packaged as a thrifty wartime measure made to aid the war industries and Congress had not voted on the matter as yet. The article makes clear that since the earliest days of the European war most of the combatant nations had made some adjustments in regard to alcohol and in the event of war, Congress thought the U.S. had better do the same. The reporter behind this article gathered data from various newspapers that were located in states that were already dry in order to study how the experiment was proceeding and what it might be like nationally.