Los Angeles herald., 1909-06-11
THE BREWERS AWAKENING

The brewers of the country appear 70
/ be waking up. One marvels at the
| strange fight they have so long Waged
against the prohibition movement, says
the Woman's National Daily. Why they
| should have ever thought it necessary
to recognize the fact that such institu-
lions existed as those that are engaged
in war against the liquor traffic al
most passes understanding Beyoni
/ any question the result of their attacks
on prohibition has been to aid that
movement. Now they are beginning to
see the folloy of their ways and to give
| evidence of intention to reform. And
with the reform will come the hardest
battle of the war that the prohibition
element has thus far waged.
The brewers new battle cry was
sounded at their recent convention IN
New York city. Percy Andrae of Gin
cinnati, in suggesting the future policy
of the association, thus expressed the
idea: "In Ohio there are already
enough laws to place the saloon upon
a plane of purity, the contemplation
of which would almost put the Sunday
schools to blush. And there you have
the knot of the problem-statutes
everywhere without number, but no en-
forcement The remedy of the condi-
ton we are facing today lies not in
combating what is known as the pro-
! HlDlllOI movement Dul iclbACl III IL
moving the cause which is giving that
movement such widespread public sup
| port"
Public opinion is the foundation stone
upon which the Prohibitionists are
! building. Where the foundation does
not exist they set about eXcavating for
| it, They find plenty of material, both
for foundation and superstructure, in
| the communities where liquor is sold.
In their fight on the saloon the saloon
J has been their best friend. Tt has kept
| them constantly supplied with nails
and lumber and hammers and what
ever else they have needed.
Compromisers with the liquor ques-
| tion have long advocated saloon regu-
latiOn as the solution of the drink
| problem. In public the liquor inter-
ests have made a pretense of support
ing this policy; in actual practice, how
ever they have manifested a DISPOSE
ton to surrender as little as possible of
! the present power of the saloon. The
result has been that the public has
generally had no more confidence in
it's ability to obtain the enforcement
! of saloon regulation laws than it has
had in it's ability to obtain the en-
forcement of prohibitory laws. 1t is
generally conceded that without the aid
| of the manufacturers of liquor saloon
regulation could never be entirely sue
cessful. Failure of the saloons to
obey the law has made many advocates
of the cause of prohibition. Now,
however, we find the brewers them
selves advocating the strict enforce
ment of saloon laws. If they carry
this policy to the point of actually aid
ing in the passage of laws that will
really have the effect of greatly re-
straining the saloon and forestalling
some of it's most pcrnicious activities,
there can be no doubt that this half
reform will have material effect in in
huencing public opinion. A class
of prohibitionists who are prohibition
| lists only because they believe thar
the saloon should be wiped out, and
not because they believe in the sup
preston of the liquor traffic, are GER
tain to be won. over to the opposition
if they can be shown that the saloon
has been deprived of what they con-
slider the poison of it's sting. There can
be no question that the brewers actual
co-operation with the state in the strict
regulation of saloons will have ten
dency to delay the coming of the day
when national prohibition will be IN
effect