The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-05-09
LIQUOR DEALERS HEAD~ATTACKS
 ANTI-SALOON LEAGUE OF AMERICA
Samuel WooIner, Addressing Convention Says It Is Opposed to Both Regulation and Compensation. Criticises Former Secretary of State Bryan

1
 Saloon League was attacked and for criticised today by Samuel Woolner, 1 of Peoria, Ill., president of the Ma tiona1 Association of Wholesale Li- quor Dealers of America, in an ad-
 dress before the twenty-f1rst annual convention of the association MT. Woolner said the attacks made on the liquor trade by the Anti-Sa,Ioon league were unwarranted and he put forth the intimation that MT. Bryan's attt-
 tude toward public questions was an- inated more by self-interest than by |philanthrophy or patriotism. His ad- dress was in part as follows:
 The Anti-SaIoon league is opposed to both regulation and compensation as either would put them out of bus
 mess. They oppose regulation on the ground that it would neither tend to
 era dicate or minimize drunkenness or
 any of the evils they complain Of
 JAS 8 refutation of this statement,
 want to offer in evidence a state
 ment by Lord .D'Abernon, chairman of the Central Board of Control of the Liquor Traffic of England. He says:
 My belief is that under a really intel ligent system of regulation three
 fourths of the drunkenness which pre- vailed would never exist again.
 It might be made almost impos-
 s1ble,' he says, for the habitual drunk ard to obtain more than was good for him and the occasional drunkard could
 be largely eliminated, if checked in time on cura tive lines. Very little is done for the drunkard today-I think he has a real grievance. These are results which might flow from the suppression of unnecessary houses and foolish expenditures. Intoxicating li- quor needs no artificial pushing to command steady sale and a lucra- tive trade
 Now, here you have the testimony of a man who is in 9 position to speak authoritatfvely, who is chairman of the board of a country whose drink bill is one hundred and eighty-six mill lion pounds annually or nine hundred and thirty million. dollars, who says regulation and limitation, not elini- nation, will cure all the ills com iplatned of, and, with the cooperation of the liquor dealers, bring about all the necessary reforms of an enIight- ened, intelligent, and progressive peo- pie.
 s'In 1914. when the French govern ment prohibited the manufacture of absinthe, provision was made for com pensation, and on February f9, 1915. in the midst of a great war, the Cham Der of Deputies passed 8 measure ap- propriating 4,800, GOO francs as indem- nity to the absinfhe distillers and dealers
 Tn Switzerland a federal decree provided for the payment of indenl- mites, not only to the manufacturers, but to the employees. in carrying out the federal law of June A. 1910, on prohibition of absinthe. The decree provided, first, indemnifying the ten ants 6armers) of land on which ab- sinthe Is cultivated for the purpose of distilIation., Second, the owners and lease holders of absinthe facto- ries. Third,( the paid hands who are employed by the cu1tivators as well as the employees and 1aborers of the manufacturers.
 'fIn 1911, the government of Portu- gal in prohibiting the manufacture of rum in Portuguese West Africa pro- yided g plan whereby the planters who made rum were compensated-th indemnity was fixed at $270,OO0.
 Are the American people less scru--e pulous, less just, less honest. than the. people of England, or of France, or of Switzerland, or of Portugal? I think not. In the final analysis this ques- ton of compensation is one of com mon everyday honesty. Therefore, L have firm faith when the issue iS fairly raised and squarely met, the legislators, judges, and citizens of our country will act in the right spirit and will agree to pay and will pay. for what they take
 As between regulation or cofnpen- Saton, 1t will depend on whether the American people feel that they re- quire a conservator, either self-ap- pointed or by law or whether they feel they can control themselves and that each man is able to regulate his own conduct in matters of eating and z
 Critfcising former Secretary of State Bryan, MT. Woolner said that MT Bryan was Strong for reform but strong for reform for revenue only'' He quoted MT. Bryan as having said that Alcohol is a poison which i'm pairs the strength of the body and vigo9 of mind and menaces the nor aIs of men, Commenting on this MT. said:
 That alcohol is not a poison in this sense is a, fact that has been suppora- ed by many of the highest medical au- thorities. Indeed one authority has empha tica1ly declared that the whole scientific basis of the prohibition has been found worthless. we do not have to go to medical authorities for any answers to this question, as doctors, including the ab1est, are ever at variance The real answer lies in the innunnerable generations which have used alcohol In one form or another since the ear Hest times.
 ''The whole system of sumptuary legislation is based upon the wrong
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