The Free Lance, June-October 1915

In this final volume of H. L. Mencken's "Free Lance" column in the Baltimore Evening Sun, the war in Europe is an ever-present reality. He denigrates English and Russian victories over Germany and vigorously opposes the United States' entry into the war on the side of the Allies, condemning the "bogus neutrality" whereby the U. S. clearly sides with England but refuses to admit it openly. But Mencken also devotes time to attacking the restrictive "Blue Laws" that ban all manner of harmless activities on Sundays, and he continues to combat the increasing push toward prohibition of the sale and consumption of alcohol. In his second-to-last column, he presents an updated "chart of the uplift," outlining the many movements for moral or social reform that he believes will amount to nothing. But it was Mencken's relentless support of Germany in the war-a highly unpopular stance in Baltimore-that led to the abrupt termination of his column on October 23. In this final volume of H. L. Mencken's "Free Lance" column in the Baltimore Evening Sun, the war in Europe is an ever-present reality. He denigrates English and Russian victories over Germany and vigorously opposes the United States' entry into the war on the side of the Allies, condemning the "bogus neutrality" whereby the U. S. clearly sides with England but refuses to admit it openly. But Mencken also devotes time to attacking the restrictive "Blue Laws" that ban all manner of harmless activities on Sundays, and he continues to combat the increasing push toward prohibition of the sale and consumption of alcohol. In his second-to-last column, he presents an updated "chart of the uplift," outlining the many movements for moral or social reform that he believes will amount to nothing. But it was Mencken's relentless support of Germany in the war-a highly unpopular stance in Baltimore-that led to the abrupt termination of his column on October 23.