The Guthrie daily leader. [volume] (Guthrie, Okla.) 1893-1996, 1903-06-04
A JagIess Beer to be
Offered for Sale


for sale throughout Indian territory a
substitute for beer without its intox
icating qualities. This Is similar 20
selling a man a mule for a COW. what
the .hirsty inhabitant yearns for is
something that will make the wheels
go round, but an artificial rose Is bet.
ter than no rose at ell. and the substi-
tu;e will be made to resemble The real
thing as nearly as possible. The first
requirement is that the beverages shall
not contain more than 2 per cent OF
alcohol. This. however, has not al
ways been protection William Mel.
lette, United sta. es district attorney
for tho western district, IN which Mus
kogee is situated, forbade the sale Of
such concoctions as "tin top ana
"Slmco's mead" in his district last fan
Since That time, brewing companies
have been feeling their way to resume
business in the sale Of "non-intox'.
lcants." The indications are that one
company has reached a point Of sup
posed safety, as It has established is
local agencies. Federal officers un-
doubtedIy will lose no time in carry
ing the matter into court, where a Test
case will be tried. and the venture nip
ped in It's infancy or permitted to run
without further molestation, accord
ing to the power of the beverage to
produce a mild feeling Of ecstacy, or
10 mix heaven and earth in an inex.
tricable tumble of whirls and whiz-
zes in the mind Of the consumer.
Between Indian and Whisky.
For more than half century the
federal government has stood between
the tribal citizens and the liquor deal
ers. the Indian ever ready 20 buy whis.
ky at any price and tho dealers anx-
ious to sell to him, but the latter were
forbidden even to introduce intoxi-
cants into Indian territory. That con
gress has refused to yield to the solc.
iations of the distillers and brewers
or to be trapped into amending its
lprohibitiye law may be considered 1t
tie less than marvellous when the vast
influence OF the liquor interests is con
sidered. 1t is true that this prohibi.
tion was provided for in the tribal
treaties, but the federal government
more than once has violated On Indian
treaty.
II is a question whether public sen
timent in Indian territory is In favor
Of prohibition. The white man in In.
dian territory as rule, likes his tod
dy, and generally gets 1t. He argues
that an American citizen should be
free to drink when and what he pleas
es, so long as he does not Interfere
with the rights Of others. and that the
government should not prevent his
keeping liquor in his own home for
his individual use. This theory has
been sanctioned recently by many fed.
eral officials when it appeared that
the white man was respectable and
lebly would not dispose Of his Iiq
uor TO Indians The law itself makes
no distinction, and the private tippler,
caught with whisky oil his person. is
in as much danger in court as the
'bootlegger' Secretary Noble seem
ed to take the liberal view. AT the
battle Wounded Knee the hospital
corps had no liquor. There wore many
wounded soldiers in need of stimu-
liant. A commanding officer directed
the Indian agent at Pine Ridge to ord
er quantity OF whisky. The whisky
was brought into che reservation,
which was violation of the strict let
ter of the law, as it would be in In
dian territory. Charges were prefer
red against the agent. who defended
himself by alleging that lie acted und-
er military orders Secretary Noble
dismissed the charges and said that
the law did not Contemplate forbidding
respectable white men in en- indian
reservation having whisky in their
possession for personal use. but was
intended solely to punish those who
sold intoxioants to the Indians, the
wards of the government.
Beer Once Sold TO White Men.
Once in the history Of Indian terri
tory, about ten years ago. beer was
introduced and sold openly to white
men. Tho saloons were conducted as
they were in Missouri or Illinois. This
was true especially in the Chickasaw
nation, where beer flowed freely for
nearly year An agent OF a Kansas
City brewery learned from United
States commissioner that ne prohib
itory law. enacted IN TIE early '8os
spoke only OF spirituous and yinous
intoxlcants, not mentioning malt
which then was scarcely a conner
cial commodity IN the west He con
suited mis- employer. who Laughed al