The Detroit times., 1917-05-19
The Interest of the Booze
Crowd in Our COuntry's
Babies-And a New Book

drink"
That is the cry that is being raised by
the booze interests, to save the makers
of beer-and the makers of whisky.
II is cunuingly conceived cry, i'm
tended to give the impression Of deeply
seated interest in the people Of the
nation.
This is their argument:
National prohibition of the manufac-
ture Of Intoxicating liquors would leave
large quantities of whisky, already man
ufactured. in the warehouses but would
mean The immediate elimination of beer
which. because Of its small percentage
Of alcohol viii not keep for any length
of time.
1T would mean that there would be
nothing for the people 20 drink bat
whisky
Suddenly the booze interests are
found TO be the great defenders of the
American child. with the claim that If
il were not for brewers grains. milk
could not be sent TO our big towns
But there has come to the United
States. at quite the psychological time
to meet this silly claim, book published
by the Strength of Britain Movement,
London, and called Defeat or Victory"
The book leaps almost Immediately.
and with the ferociousness of tiger at
this pretense Of the booze interests that
they are lying awake nights worrying
about the children Of the men who spend
their earnings in the saloons.
Under the subtitle "The Destruction
Of Food, the publication that has been
reprinted in this country to help dry it
up, that il may fight sober, says, answer
ing the brewers sobs:
The amazing statement has been made by NJ
r. r. Prothero of the board OF agriculture. that
but for brewers grains could not send milk
10 our bic towns as we do. II is obvious and
utter rubbish. with the profound respect due
10 our board Of agriculture. it is hard 70 write
without contempt OF ignorance like this We
may despair Of our business government indeed.
n We are TO listen 10 much of this treason Of
knowledge 10 is as II We should take ine food
from a table and claim the gratitude OF the
hungry children for leaving them the sUilitub.
The drink trade does not make cattle food it
destroys cattle food The trade does not make
milk: n destroys r. The brewer takes good
barley destroys the best OF IL. and leaves fhe
worst for cattle and PIGS He takes 100 pounds
OF barley and leaves 30 pounds OF cattle food.
chiefly husk and woody fiber; tho rest goes
into drink and what has happened Is not thai
we have gained go pounds Of poor cattle food
but that We have lost ~ pounds Of good cattle
food and spoiled 30 pounds more Out Of 100
pounds OF good food We have 80 pounds OF bad
There are figures in this book 10 amaze
figures that do not lie and figures that
should have the effect of getting hurried
action from our government
No better answer could be made to
the booze interests that have appointed
themselves the guardian of American
children, than the figures given ina let
ter to the London Times and reproduced
in Victory or Defeat"
They show that 10 year IN Great Britain, the
drink trade destroyed $4,000 600 bushels of grain.
or this amount e4700000 bushels were
changed into alcohol carbon.diOXide poisonous
drug and poisonous gas), yeast and sediment
There were washed away turned into gas on
evaporated as water 100000 bushels.
Barley husks and malt culms accounted for
10 600 600 bushels-deteriorated resdues useful
as cattle food, but for that purpose. inferior 70
equal measures of barley,
There remained I'm intoxicating liquor IN
dccomposed and putrefying condition II lo5o0oo
bushels
Do those figures show that the liquor
traders have made any cattle food, or
do they show that they took 65,000000
bushels Of cattle food and reduced it to
19550.000 bushels in addition to impair
ing the quality as feeding article?
Where they have not impaired they
have destroyed
If the United States has pledged itself
TO a service to Great Britain by entering
the war as an ally. this book offers a
service in return that would help 70
make our countrys' part a great deal
easier and surer were it disposed to
profit by Great Britain's experience with
booze in the war
Defeat or Victory was written for
England as a part of the "Win-the-war"
campaign for prohibition
It speaks regretfully Of what prohib-
tion Of the drink trade would have meant
during the war
u would have saved. iu drink expenditure and
Il results. S5o00O0oo00
IL would have added hundred dave t0 Ife