A short intermediate level English resource.
A hundred years ago, you could not buy or consume alcoholic drinks in
the United States. It was the age of "prohibition", and a time when
criminals controlled a whole industry. The most famous gangster was Al
Capone.
The "Untouchables" - from a 1950s TV series. They fought to bring the big criminal gangs to justice. They
could not be "bought"
America is the land of Liberty. You can think what you want to think, and you can say
what you want to say; but you cannot always do what you want to do — without
breaking the law.
Today you cannot use hard drugs, because it is against the law. The law has decided
that drugs are dangerous, and most people believe that the law is right. Today, in many
places, you cannot smoke a cigarette in the street. But today, you can sit in a bar and
drink a beer — just as long as you are not below the age limit; a hundred years ago,
you could not. America was dry. Alcohol was illegal. You could neither drink it nor make
it, nor buy it, nor import it, nor sell it.
lf you did, you could go to prison.
Alcohol became illegal in the year 1919; it remained illegal for fourteen years.
However, it never disappeared! Before 1919 alcoholic drinks were very popular in the
United States. There was a big drinks industry, which employed a great number of
people. Suddenly, in 1919, the industry had to stop!
Of course, it could not stop. It stopped officially, but it continued to prosper -
unofficially. In place of big business, there was big crime. The Mafia took control of the
distribution, and the bosses of the Mafia replaced the bosses of the breweries and the
distilleries.
Al Capone, after he was arrested
The biggest gangster of them all was Al Capone, who came from New York and
operated in Chicago. Capone controled a vast empire of crime. He was so powerful
that he could control anyone he wanted to. He could "buy" policemen, he could "buy"
politicians. He was "untouchable". In his fortress at Chicago, he was quite safe,
because he was a friend of the Mayor, "Big" Bill Thompson.
Big Bill liked Capone, because he liked his drink. Bill and his drinking friends in
the authorities made sure that Capone did not have much trouble. Capone had lots of
enemies, but most of his enemies were frightened of him. They knew that Al could kill
them, and would kill them, if they were not careful.
Most policemen were very careful not to get in the way of Al Capone, unless they
had to. Most policemen, but not all. A small group of policemen, known as "the
Untouchables", were determined that Al Capone would not escape from justice for
ever. They took several years to do their work, but in the end they succeeded. Al
Capone was finally sent to prison.
However, he was never accused of killing, nor of selling alcohol. He was too clever
for that. No evidence could incriminate him for that. He was sent to prison for not
paying taxes.
WORD GUIDE
as long as - on condition that - remained: continued to be - to prosper: to do well
- brewery: a place where beer is made (brewed) - have trouble: have difficuty get in
the way of: obstruct - incriminate him: show that he had done something.
