The Washington herald., 1916-02-04
BY Henry Barrett Ch.mber,in.

The innocent bystander in the wet
and dry fight Is troubled because
both sides seize upon the same sets of
facts and proclaim them as evidence of
victory. The innocent bystander is in
terested only in so far as wanting to
90 Whatever is best for the country,
He wants to know whether our present
saloon Is decreasing the amount of
liquor consumed or whether IL is mere
ly cutting down taxed and licensed
manufacture and sale in order to build
up Illicit manufacture and sale.
Ihe report of the United States Com
missioner OF Internal Revenue, William
Hamilton Osborne, for the fiscal year
ending June 80, 1915. is the latest doc
ument to be pounced upon by both
vets and ''drys" as proof of their
claims. The report unquestionably
I SHOWS a heavy decrease in consump-
tion of liquor manufactured under
government revenue supervision. But
IL also shows, quite as unquestions bly,.
heavy Increase in consumption of
liquor manufactured without govern
ment supervision or consent-the
moonshine variety.
Means Change of Standard,
The innocent bystander, after listen
ing TO the arguments of both factions
ana studying the report. viii proba b ly
N'ias ht Is JusllHtO IN
that our saloon closing crusade il in
ouring the big distillers and brewers,
put is opening up an excellent business
opportunity for the Illicit manufac-
furer. This decision. in its more i'm
mediate aspects, is hardly reassuring.
IL means change from the present
standard-liquors which have at least
these advantages. that the government
forces their retention In casks for
several years. and that the manufsc-
turer mas an advertised brand which
ne must maintain at quality. In place
OF THESE would come the ANONYMOUS
and uncertain red pup" and white
dog, fresh from the still As to whether
these moonshine beverages would. later
on. pass away before genuine pro-
hioltlon. remains to be seen. 1t has
been contended that the Illicit traffic
Just as the jamboree of varnish-yod
drinking that followed the Russian pro-
hibition edict-owcs its existence to
the fact that habituaI heavy drinkers
have been suddenly cut OFF from Iegiti-
mate sources of supply. These drink
ers. II is admitted. suffer through the
chanSe-as shown by the Russian de-
lirium tremens death record-but later
results, for the race in general more
than justify this loss.
According to tho 1915 internal reve-
nue. report. ordinary receipts. excluding e
emergency revenue. compared with
1914. show decrease for distilled
spirits OF s16.sei,16S.47. and from fer
mented liquors of s6466.245.6l. the
combined loss being s25,906.2915S OF
spirits produced from materials other
than fruits 121.49s,325 gallons were re-
moved from bonded Warehouse, a de-
crease of 14.77l.427.6 gallons. The fs-
cal year closed with 249 grain distil-
lers. twenty-three molasses distillers,
and 1863 fruit distillers operating under
revenue supervision. a decrease from
1914 of los.
saloon Closing and Hard Times.
These facts cannot but be viewed as
a testimonial to the effectiveness of
broadcast saloon closing in decres sin &
the consumption OF liquors made and
distilled through the present legalized
agencies. Hard times. continuing &
throughout this fiscal year. cut into the
consumption OF nearly every other