Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1916-12-16
osturday, December 10, 1919.
"Not Including Cider"

Several readers OF the Herald nave
written to ask aboat recent ai lSs Ms,t t.
prohibitory law. us It true" one asks
that there Is actually discrimination In
favor Of tho favorite beverage Of the
Of those Who o i've in cities?" Here is The
answer. and the words quoted are from
the famous prohibitory amendment tt
the Maine constitution, adopted In 1884:
LIQUORS. not Including cider. and the
sale and keeping for sale OF intoxicat-
ing LIQUORS are and shall be forever
prohibited. Except, however. that the
Mouors for medicinal and mechanical
purposes and the arts. ana the sac
and keeping for sale of cider. may be
permitted under such reguiations as
the Legislature may provide"
Any one who knows Maine political hts
tory knows that without the cider ex-
emption clause the prohibitory amend
ment could never e, have passea the d Mains
by the people at the general election OF
the following year. Without that proVi-
sion the amendment could never have
q few years ago. It is true enough that
a Maine farmer or rural merchant who
sells hard cider freely and openly to all
Corners may be prosecuted for maintain
sance," and such prosecutions are not
unknown. But tho key to the whole SIT
uation lies In the clause that allows the
unrestricted manufacture of cider. The
theory may be that cider is made only
that It may be kept until it Is vinegar.
but Of course that Is a huge Joke. There
IL small need Of buying or selling cider
when any man with an orchard. or WI" {"
the cider mills that operate in every
town and make all the cider he wants to
for his own use or for the entertainment
Of his friends. And If mans supply
thoro Ia the slightest trOus
bic in getting more, and no question IS
asked whether it is to be kept for vine
gar or to give to his hired man more in
terest in the bayfield, or the wood pile.
That is the cider situation in Maine.
OF course there are thousands Of Maine
farmers who do not drink cider or make
It. but all who desire to do so have the
privilege. and their number is legion.
And Of course this is no reflection on
Maine, for tho same is true In other
states as we'll. And 1t Is not to be dis
puted that hard cider is an Intoxicating
rural tragedies. The cider exemption
clause in Names constitutional prohibit
ton has been the basis Of many attacks
as class legislation and as fostering polit;,
cal hypocrisy. Perhaps the State will
some day follow the example of some of
the states more recently added to the pro
hibition column. and become actually
bone dry."-Boston Herald.
II any reader OF the Herald was hon
estly seeking Information to govern his
action In Boston's campaign for a
dry" city, he has acquired little fact
and much transformation in the Her
AIDS reply.
Tho Herald may be right in its as
eertion that without the cider exemp-
ton clause the prohibitory amendment
could never have passed the Maine
Legislature In 1889" At that time the
cider business meant vastly more to
the farmers Of Maine than 1t does to-
day: which proves that prohibitory law
II morally progressive institution.
But the Herald's unfounded claim
that the prohibitory law could not have
survived 're-submission" in 1911 but
for the cider exemption" provision Is
ridiculous assumption Of its own.
In the days when the Maine law
was passed there were not so many
substitutes for pure cider vinegar as
there are today. and good business
was done in furnishing cider vinegar
to grocery concerns by Maine owners
Of apple orchards. And in those days
the splendid business Of today in rails
ing apples for market was not born.
Apples Of tho natural order were
shaken from the trees and raked up,
leaves, wormy fruit and rotten. all
went into the hopper for cider. Much
OF It was drunk by farmers and their
crews but tie greater portion went in
to vinegar for market and for home
consumption. Cider mills were at ev-
cry four corners and almost every
cellar had its barrels Of cider in yari-
Gus stages Of fermentation and sour
ing.
Conditions have changed, thanks to
prohibitory law. native respect for law
and the SOLDERING effect on sensible
people Of the interruptions methods
adopted by the liquor interests and
their tools to discredit the Maine law.
Today the cider mills are beautifully
few and the cellars that contain no
cider in any stage are 'Iegion"-con-
trary to the Herald's silly assertion
based on the oft-repeated rum trust
falsehood that the number of farmers
who have and drink cider il LEGION"
Tho Herald can see nothing but a.
hugo joke" in the supposition that
cider b made only to be kept until it is
vinegar. presumably because that is all
Il wishes to sec and to have its read
ers see. As q matter Of fact the Her
AID probably knows nothing about the
cellars or the cider mills Of Maine, or,
at least. knows as little about them
as It affects to know about Maine law.
Neither. Maine farmers nor rural
merchants sell cider freely or open
"" any moro than the agents Of Bos-
toms wholesale booze houses drum up
trade among. Names law breakers.
freely and openly. OF course there are
men in all callings who have neither
respect for law nor caro- for the suffer-
ings they cost. 60 long as they obtain
the Immediate althy gain. Some Of