Publisher of the influential newspaper, The Record , Martin Drake, supports Prohibition because of his own secret battle with alcohol. Ned Medford, a powerful politician who represents the liquor interests, is infatuated with Martin's wife Esther, and when Martin enters the room as Medford is seizing her in his arms, he mistakenly believes that she is being unfaithful to him and goes on a drinking spree. One of Medford's henchmen kidnaps Martin to prevent him from publishing information that would implicate Medford in a plot to destroy the publisher. Reporter Tip O'Neill rescues Martin and writes up the story, while Martin goes to Medford's apartment, just as Medford is attacking Esther, who had gone there to plead her husband's case. After a vicious fight in which Medford is defeated, Esther explains everything to her husband, and his shadows of doubt are banished.