The Brunswick news. [volume] (Brunswick, Ga.) 1906-2016, 1908-08-06
PLEA FOR CONSERVATISM.

tic legislation, and sooner or later We
. have got to get right down to that
old time state of conservatism that
made US the empire state of the south
Here is what Editor Mcintosh says:
Are not the temperance people OF
Georgia, more particularly the prohi.
bitionists, making a mistake-a tacti
cal mistake, let us say--in the inaug
uratlon and prosecution of a relent-
less warfare on the soft drinks now
commonly denomlnated near beer,
which have been introduced since the
advent of statewide prohibition?
"All the various brands and brews
of these near beers have been sub
jected TO chemical analysis, and not
one Of them has been found to obtain
sufficient alcohol to produce intoxica-
ton even when taken in frequent and
,:sost liberal potations, Apa if these
soft drinks are rot Intoxicating, why
not let those who have fqpmed the So
clai drink habit enjoy Fem as a sub
stitute for the stropgE drink now de-
MED them by the ptohibition law?
Put somebody may say that these
near beers. or some Of them, do in
toxicate. This claim is emphatically
contradicted by analysis and the
scientific tests usually applied to IL
guilds, however, and the brewers them
selves dare not manufacture or sell
beer that would, even when subject
ed to analysis by those unfriendly to
them, be found to contain sufficient
alcohol to intoxicate or to amount 10
violation Of the state law. 1t is
true that in the police courts we some
times near Of DRINKS due To IiheraI
potations of near beer" but if the
real truth were known in all such
cases it would probably be found that
N'bNi anu Sti OllSSi beverages Hdu
been taken. II is fact established by
experimentation limited only by the
capacity CT the human tank that no
Ihabitue Ct the drink that cheers
can hold enough Of either or all of
those near beers to produce drunken
ness If the near beers are not in
ltoxlcating, then why should the tenn
perance people make war on them ?
lit has not been shown, ana has not
been claimed by any reputable autho
rity, so far as We have seen. that these
light malt drinks are deleterious tc
health. On the contrary, It is Claimed
for them that they are healDful ant
invigorating We are making no sucf
claim for. them, but@,if uese drink,
are found to be haImNN1et them be
condemned under the pure food law
If they do not intoxicate, even though
they may be unwholesome. there is NJ
more reason why the prohibitionist.
should feel called upon TO make wa
on them than upon spurious vinegar
or any other liquid or food that is i'm
pure and deleterious to health.
1T is fact well established by oh
servation and confirmed by statistic:
} that the most temperate people in the
, civilized world are the Europeans thai
5 drink light beers and wines. Drunk
enness IS rare in those countries
where beer and light wines are drunk
at meal time and even between meals
very much as we Americans drink
water. Why. then. as temperance
proposition. make war on the light
Notwithstanding beers that have been
introduced In Georgia as substitute
for the stronger beverages nov pro
hibited by our state Law?
The drink habit in this country IS
, largely social custom, and why not
let Il be INDUCED with near beer
, that does not intoxicate. as freely as
, with saltwater with its irdigestible
syrlps and extracts
THE temperance people. aud espe
dally the chronic agitators IN the
ranks of the prohibitionists. are. in
oar opinion. making mistake in try
ing TO stop the manufacture and sale
of these near beers" The manu-
factue Ct these light and harmless
beverages is all that is left for the
breweries in the state, which repre-.
sent large Investments. To do. and un
I'll il can be proved that the products
are intoxicating or otherwise harm.
full why not let them alone?"
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