The Washington herald., 1915-08-28

1.-THE economic phase of prohibition
is SO rarely considered by the
people who advocate a dry"
territory 1t is interesting to
note what it would mean if prohibi-
| ton was imposed on the District of
Columbia. Were one to estimate how
many people would be thrown out of
| employment. how many business
places would be made vacant, how
! many residences would he vacated,
and how many hundreds of thousands
\ of dollars would be lost in salaries
and wages, not to mention the i'm
mense loss of revenue to the District
as well as the Federal government, if
the 300 saloons We're closed. the figures
Ian respect to the economic phase of the
proposition would be astounding.
Not considering the proposition from
the standpoint of the saloons, how
ever. but considering the effect of
prohibition if the five breweries doing
| business in the District were COM
PEELED to shut down. the figures even
in that particular sufficiently
| startling to make the taxpayer pause,
| if no one else, for it is the taxpayer
who must pay the price of prohibition.
| The loss in revenue must be made up
| by an increase in taXes-that is a
self evident faCt-and if the taxpayer
| thinks his taxes are high enough I'M
| think if they were increased at least
| 20 per cent through the effect of pro-
| hibition? He would undoubtedly do
| some loud thinking and strong pro-
| testing but it wouldn't be any use to
protest after prohibition came to
Washington. The thing would be
done and the burden imposed. that's
all there would be to it.
Vast Properties Involved.
There are four leading breweries in
Washington and one at Rosslyn, Va.
whose chief trade is in the District
These breweries are the AbnerDrury
! Brewing Company. the Heurich Brew
ing Company. the National Capital
Brewing Company. which are located
within the District, and the Arlington
Brewing Company at Rosslyn, Va.
These five breweries represent in
property and real estate values an in
vestment of s4.S62.S24.73. This i'm
mense Investment is divided as fol-
lows:
National Capital Brewery. $500. 000.0 90
Heurich Brewing Co....... 1,616,743.02
Washington Brewery CO.. 420.OOO.O0
Abner-Drury Co........... S7o,l22S,
Arlington Brewing Co... 455,95S.S9
Do you grasp those amazing figures-I
s4.s62.S24.73? And do you realize that
if prohibition came to Washington all
this property investment, representing
practically $1,000 900. would be, abso- |
lutely wiped out and the owners |
ruined?
1t should be borne in mind that a |
brewery plant cannot be used for any |
other business except that of a brew
q
for any other purpose and large part |
of the mechanical equipment cannot |
be used for any other purpose. En- |
cept for the real estate, therefore, :
the property values would vanish, and 7
the real estate would be useless I'M
less the buildings were destroyed.
Immense Taxes Paid.
OF course. the loss of this property
would affect no one particularly ex-
Cept the owners. The prohibitionist |
wouldn't care anything about that
But suppose he happened to be a tax
payer and his taxes increased through |
th. loss of revenue paid to the Dis
Irirt and the Federal governmental
what then?
In the last eighteen years. this
period covering the time that the five
hrewerics have been in operation, they |
have paid to the District and to the
Federal government the vast sum of
si,S66,9OO in revenues. This is an
average of S324.4GO annually which
the breweries pay in revenues and |
which the taxpayer would have to
make good If they were put out of
business
The revenues paid the District and
Federal governments by these brew
cries during the past eighteen years
was divided as follows:
Heurich Brewery .......S1.>17.s26
National Capital Co....... 1.2jI,520
Arlington Brewing Co.. 100000
Washington Brewing Co. 592. 33,
Abner-Drury Brewery S41,762
Total ............... Si.S66.90O
These figures are as accurate as
pOSSibleN and are not far from being
Il absolutely correct What source of
revenue has The prohibitionist to pro-
vide to save the taxpayer from the
loss of this immense revenue? II
would be necessary to provide the
revenue. every one must admit that.
and in some way or another the tax
payer would eventually have to foot
the bill.
Immcnse Loss in Salaries.
Looking At the proposition from the
standpoint Of those employed in the
hrewrrieS. let US see how much they
would lose in salaries and wages. and
how much would. in consequence. be
taken out of circulation, if only the
breweries. not to mention the saloons.
were closed
The Washington Brewery employs
fifty persons and pays them annually
SOS. 900 Il
The Heurich Brewery employs 169
persons and pays them annually S15S,-
500
The National Capital Brewing Com
pany employs seventy-fve persons and
pays them annually $4,000.
The Abncr- Drury Company employs
persons and pays them an ;
nually S51.671.
The Arlington Brewing Company
employs thirty-eight persons and pays
them annually $4,000. :
To save the reader trouble. ii may
be stated that tSe totals of the figures =
rank among the imports. practically ali
articles ara into |