Timberlake (1963) Claims That Political Corruption by the Alcohol Industry Was the Major Reason for Establishing Prohibition

The control of corruption is of vital interest in any free and democratic society. An important goal of prohibition is the reduction of corruption. Timberlake (1963) claims that political corruption by the alcohol industry was the major reason for establishing Prohibition: "Like many other businesses, the liquor industry sought to influence or control all levels of government in order to promote its interests and to protect itself against unfavorable legislation. But unlike most businesses, it had a special reason to engage in politics: no other enterprise paid such high taxes or contributed such large sums to government" (106). Prohibition seeks to reduce corruption in both the specific sense of the bribery of public officials and in the general sense of maintaining individual integrity, virtue, and moral principles. Experience, however, shows that, on the contrary, the corruption of public officials increases. As Mises notes, "Unfortunately the office-holders and their staffs are not angelic. They learn very soon that their decisions mean for the businessmen either considerable losses or—sometimes—considerable gains. Certainly there are also bureaucrats who do not take bribes; but there are others who are anxious to take advantage of any 'safe' opportunity of'sharing with those whom their decisions favor' " (1949, 734). This corruption, in the case of prohibition, represents a failure to achieve the goals of prohibition and a major impediment to the enforcement of prohibition.

--Mark Thornton, The Economics of Prohibition (Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1991), 126-127.