Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1916-02-17
Very truly yours,
RICHARD n. WALDO.

Very truly yours,
RICHARD II. WALDO.
The Indianapolis News and the
Scranton Republican are two other
great newspapers which have recent
~ taken this step.
Thus is the demand for new drink
ers reduced.
When, in the light Of progress i:
becomes a punishable crime to ad-
vertise or promote by display or
sophistry any evil and immoral BUSH
ness. then the personal liberty" of
decent citizens will attain its alti
tude.
Slowly but surely the moral forces
of great and advancing people are
rnclasping the greedy fingers of COM
mercial evil. Business offices of
newspapers are gradually perceiving
that the dollars they receive for pro-
noting the dope and booze and allied
businesses are filthy and bloody. One
after another they are seeing the
light and are dissolving partnership
with the devil.
The booze boomers see the end of
their rope, and they are desperate.
America has seldom seen such a
sentation as that now being carried
forward by the brewers and disullers
to mislead the people in regard to the
liquor traffic and>-Ns prohibition.
Take as typical an advertisement in
the Wiliamsport (Pa.) Sun. January
s. 1916, entitled Facts versus Fall
lacies'
The advertisement is signed by the
Pennsylvania State Brewers Associa-
ton. They display ignorance or some
thing worse at the start, when they
say: "Prohibtionists now claim to
have ii states of the As in this coun-
try that have laws against the manu-
facture and sale of stimulating bev-
erages."
The actual number of prohibition
states on January s, 1916, was not
Il. but IS.
If the Pennsylvania State Brewers
Association cannot employ men of
sufficient intelligence to ascertain the
rumber. of prohibition states. how can
they be expected to unearth many
facts" in regard to anything else?
The advertisement further says:
Yet in spite of this ban upon in
toxicating liquors, official government
records show steady and rapid in
crease in the production of alcoholic
drinks in this country
The last report of the commissioner
of internal revenue showed a de>
crease of 14,171.427.6 gallons in with
drawals of whisky for consumption.
and decrease in the production of
fermented liquor-beer, etc-amount-
ing to 63S1,256 barrels. The decrease
in the production of whisky was very
much larger than the decrease in the
withdrawals for consumption"
Ii the brewers of Pennsylvania
haven't intelligence enough to know
these facts. the probability is that
they are still being dressed by their
nurses. If they do know. why do they
lie about it?
Concluding, the advertisement in the
Sun quotes the hash Mr.. Royal
E. Cabell. ex-commissioner of internal
revenue. to the effect that "prohibi-
ton don't prohibit" The present
commissioner of revenue is Mr.. Os-
borne. Why not quote his opinion :?
Here it is:
The decrease here noted occurred
principally in beverage spirits-whis
Ky. rum and gin-and the falling off
in this class Of spirits is doubtless
attributable in a large measure to
the prohibition laws enacted in many
of the states" Again he says: "A
gradual decrease in annual receipts
from this source. in consequence Of
the state prohibition laws. may. 7
think, be safely predicted"