Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-02-14
BY GILBERT VIVIAN SELDEs


noted is that beer corresponds in England
and in other parts OF the Kingdom to the
Hight wine of the Frenchman and the Italian
and to the beer Of Germany. Also, merely
as matter Of human problems, il must be
remembered that here, as in the United
states, the selling of beer is ineNtricably
bound up with the selling of distilled spirits
So while the prohibitionists are hammering
away at distilled liquors. the antis "a great
many of whom have nothing to do with the
liquor interests) are beating a large drum
In favor Of beer.
what the Governments G.iberal. Coali-
tion and War) have done so far has been to
restrict, not to prohibit Drinking any
strong thing Is limited to a couple of hours
at noon and a couple at night After $50
p m the end has como for that As a re-
suit there is a great deal of forced drinking
IN the permitted hours. Naturally, since
the saloons are closed most of the day or
open for tho sale of n very unpa latable
liquid called nonalcoholic beer, they are
crowded during the permitted hours. Also,
tricks are learned and practiced. A man was
exposed recently for buying whisky in mid
week when he stll had money pawning the
bottle, and redeeming it after hours on
Saturday night.
Britons Still Drink
The war has dr IN home the colossal
waste of human energy and Of valuable
W III Nut uIlIlN lTdllt, w me lilt 'Iu'-
nary householder has to SO down on her
knees to the grocer-a woman told me re-
Gently that she did her own marketing in
the vain hope of wheedling an extra half
pound Of sugar from her dealer--the brew
ers use up quantities. Nor does the lavish
expenditure Of money on expensive wines
impress the average man and woman as
desirable, even If an officer home on leave
does the spending at the Savoy or the Carl
ton.
These things are felt. But to say that the
war has made Britain anything like nom
drinking nation would hardly square with
the facts. The same people who protest
against the waste of distlling will inquire
whether you prefer brandy or whisky and
soda. 1t has been their habit for years.
And the workers who are shaving away
under a great strain on the Clyde or in
muniton factories want the beer to which
they are accustomed. The Government cam
teens which offer anything but beer are not
overpOpular.
out of each Of those two facts has
sprung a movement. The party which is
naturally appalled, by drunkenness sloven-
liness poverty and filth, and sees the added
danger to the country in war time. Is for
out-and-out prohibition. Those who are
jealous of the rights Of the workers, and
the workers themselves, and the brewers
and dstillers, and the personal---very."
element. are equally violent in their opposi-
tiou even to further restriction.
The Government has been compelled to
take certain steps, chiefly to prevent waste.
The brew of barley which Britons have
drunk for centuries is officially ordered di-
luted to a great extent. Distilleries have
been largely taken over. even after the
first great Communicating, because they can
be employed ION work of national i'm
portance." But the fight on the principle
remains.
An astonishing campaign has been car
ried on for many months now by the
Strength of Britain Movement" Full-page
advertisements which indicate the hand of
an American publicity agent have appeared
in London and provincial papers, full Of
crushing figures and stunning phrases. One
advertisement cries out, LET us send this
poison over to the enemy's lines in the
shape of shells" and quotes Mr. Lloyd
Georges smashing remark: I'VE are fight
ing Germany Austria and Drink and as
far as | can see the greatest of these deadly
foes is drink" The effect of drink produc-
tion on the prices and supply of coal wheat
and sugar is shown in one column. In the
other the effect of drink consumption, where
Admiral Jellcoe NOV First Sea Lord de-
clares that drink causes thirty per cent
inefiicienCy in shooting and Sir Victor Hors-
ley, a victim of the Mesopotamia expedi-
ton put himself on record even against
the rum ration of the army. Drink is called
"the big leak" in the Governments armor
and the movement has progressed so far
that il has placed n scheme for wartime
prohibition, without injury to the trade"
in the hands of the Prime Minister.
Danger in Overzealous Enthusiasm
The prohibitonists are working on the
basis that the British Government does not
act, even if it can, much in advance Of a
strong popular demand. They are trying to
create that demand
They are hindered in this by overzealous
enthusiasts. In the case Of the shipbuilders
little good was done by accusing all the
workers of being drunkards and slackers
Also, when the movement touches the army
and asks for the abolition of the rum ration
when men leave the front-line trenches il
comes up against a snag The journals
which bid for the soldiers support are very
bitter against the whole movement on this
account. Gilbert X. Chesterton and the
brilliant group which writes for the New
Witness oppose the whole thing on prin-
ciple They insist that the British worker
Is not a drunkard and can only be made
one by prohibiting his drink. But, natur-
ally, the great opposition is from the brew
ers and distillers.
They, too, have been compelled to come
into the open and advertise. They have IN
certain amount of popular sympathy and
their war-cry is, We've won on beer be-
fore, and Wen win on beer again." But
they have been driven to the wall and their
figures are apologetic. They offer in their
behalf that certain alcoholic products are
used in the manufacture of munitions and
that the brewers by-products go TO feed
cattle as well as the obvious fact that the
more their output is curtailed the more the
poor man will have TO pay for his glass
The emphasis for the defense is on beer
A recent advertisement threw on spirits the
blame for drunkenness at the munition town
of Carlisle, As it is, about half of the beer
brewed in England goes to the army and a
large part of the rest to munition workers
In the welter of argument It is very hard
to predict. but the general tendencies would
show this: That the dstillers will be hit
hardest and may go, but they will be rec
ompensed by the astonishingly great de-
mands for commercial alcohol And, sec
.ond, the beer drinkers will he protected for
some time 10 come. Prominent men are
demanding total wartime prohibition. But
the statesmen who govern and the poll
ticlans who are In office are conscious of
the vast numbers who would resent this
last infringement Of their liberties. A great
many OF the unexpressive majority are In