The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-10-08
i WHY LIQUOR MEN FIGHT.
Many Reasons for Opposing the
 Doctrines of Prohibition.

A prominent writer on the staff of a famous Eastern newspaper recently made some editorial comments the subject of diminished internal revenue
 receipts, ascribing them to prohibi- ton.
 The following reply, showing that
 this curtailment, of Federal Revenue 1 was due chiefly to hard times and not to prohibition, and answering the ar gument of the editorial writer: If Prohibition does not prohibit, why do the liquor men fight it?'' was pre- pared and sent in by one intimately acquainted with every phase of the 1 liquor trade.
 The reply sent to this Eastern news paper was as follows:
 Why Prohibition Is Fought. ttYou fall into very usual error | quite frequent among gentlemen of your profession when you say that ''It would seem useless from a busi-
 ness standpoint for the National | Wholesale Liquor Dealers Association or the Local Liquor Dealers Associa- ton to fight prohibition, if there is as much liquor used in a state after it 1 goes dry as before.
 "You entirely overlook the fact that l the men engaged in the distilling and l marketing of liquor regard their bus 1 mess as legitimate as the newspaper business or any other calling. ''In this connection, I am enclosing 1 a copy of the decision of the Supreme l Court of the United States in. the 1 famous Warehouse Receipt cases de- i cided January 26, 1914, in which the court used the following language | when speaking of the liquor business: l Supreme Courts Opinion! But we know of no ground for 1 thus condemning honest transactions
 which grow out of the recognized ne i cessities of a lawful business 1 wholesale i Iiduor dealer, with his many millions
 of invested capital resents having a
 business in itself legitimate, outlawed 1 by legislative enactments in spots. s"The distilIer and liquor dealer de-
 sires to defend the legal status Of his calling and does not want to sell goods 1 illegally. ' 'sTherefore, he fights prohibition
 which as you we'll know, enacted | in states and in towns, never unani-
 mously and usually by very scant ma l jorities.
 CT make this explanation because | am sure this fact has never been i called to your attention before. 1 stBootIegging'' Opposed.
 There is another feature to this l question When a state is voted dry,
 as in the famous state of Kansas by
 about 1000 majority, as in the state 1 of Maine at the last election by only 1 758 majority, in North Dakota by only k1,159 majority. you can readily see 1 fhat the demand for liquors in such
 states does not cease but the demand 1 for the higher, better, purer and con seouently the more profitable grades of liquors, such as are used when sold in legitimate channels, ceases and the demand begins for the bootlegger, i speak easy trash, the selling of which we regard as detrimental to our pusl-
 ness in every way
 ~sThis explains to you why we care more for the manner in which liquor is sold than for the quantity sold As proof of the fairness of editor l ials and newspaper men, this reply was printed on the editorial page of fris Eastern newspaper and letter was received thanking the writer for the information and en1ightenings de tails furnished.