Evening journal., 1908-06-11
TO COMBAT WAVE
OF PROHIBITION
President Lehman Of the
Brewers Discusses the
Question

MILWAUKEE,, June lin veiw Of
the recent activities OF the Prohibitions
lists. the recent cutlawing of the traffic
in spurious LIQUORS in several Southern
States. and the serious injury to it in
nearly every auarter of the country,
the convention of the United States
Brewers Association in session here,
is regarded as the most important ever
held by the organization. The brewers
in executive session formulated plons
TO meet and stem the tidal wave OF
prohibition. Tho attack on the anti
saloon forces viii be in the main edu-
cational. but VIII also include efforts
at the regulation of the saloons by
statute. with the idea of taking them
out Of politics. thereby elevating them
so that the liquor traffic viii be recog-
nized as a legitimate, respectable busi-
ness. and not as something outside of
social and ethical recognition.
Brewers Must Reform Them.
'The problem Of the saloon" saia
President Julius Lehman, in his annual
address. lis one of regulation by statu-
tory authority; of administration by
the trade From either standpoint It
is a complex problem, which cannot be
settled in the off-hand fashion that
seems SO easy to superficial observers.
"The point which / want to empha-
size. in considering this question Of
saloon administration. IS that saloon
reform cannot be brought about by the
brewers Individually, but the brewers
as an organization can accomplish "A
great deal. though their organized
power has not set been fully tested
The regulation of The saloon has
been needlessly complicated by expert
mental legislation, rartly politics.
police corruption and snehiciency. Fixed
ana arbitrary limitations imposed upon
communities by the State without re-
gard TO local conditions have only in
! creased the difficulty. TO KEEP the
saloon out OF politics It must first be
taken out Of politics. And the best
way TO keep il I'm politics is to provide
by local-oDtion laws for the constant
agitation Of the license question. with
/ the element OF harassing uncertainty
which this involves. OF recent years
/ the saloon has been growing to be less
and less political factor. To-day it
/ threatens to become She biggest politi-
cal issue in our history.
"With a situation of this character
confronting us. and with our property
interests involved. with the millions
and millions of dollars invested under
the sanction of the law. can anyone
expect to remain idle while this prop
erty Is being connscated?"
The Brewers Association, at its
/ closing sessi-n. adopted a platform Of
principles in which il pledges itself to
the abolition of the immoral saloon
, and to the cause Of temperate use OF
| intoxicants.
After defining temperance as the
temperate use-neither abuse nor dis
use Of intoxicants-ths resolutions de-
clare: 4
''The brewer IS charged with being
/ in politics and using political power
/ for the purpose of influencing legis-
lation. paralyzing executive action ana
protecting the disorderly saloon. Such
statements are grossly exaggerated.
Rather II is true that the existence Of
disorderly saloons is IN many cases
j the work of a certain class Of politi.
clans who keep them alive for their
own purposes and in opposition to the
wishes OF the brewers. With suitable
laws properly enforced and backed by
public sentiment. such disorderly
saloons could be exterminated. and not
only the community purified Of objec-
tionablc places. but the brewing trade
freed Of an incubus which a is now
struggling TO shake off without such
assistance. No enc would hail such q
consummation with greater satisfaction
/ than the brewer"