Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1917-05-31
BEER AND THE WAR

| BEER AND THE WAR
ITHERE are signs that whiskeS
makers and manufacturers oi
beers and light wines are al
the parting of the ways on national
prohibition during the war. The lat
| ter are asserting that to forbid the
| brewing of beers or the fermenta-
ton of light wines, with millions of
gallons of whisky stored away, would
be to turn loose on drinking people
the stronger beverages that are Vio-
lent IN their effects on the system.
This may be true, but the fact still
remains that nobody who now finds
solace in beer need take whisky if
beer is no longer to be had, and it
cannot be questioned that great guam
titles of grain are going into beer
that should be used for foodstuffs.
For the United States to fight
any war other than a completely
victorious war would be an intoler-
able degradation of it's place and
spirit. And victory in this war de-
pends upon preventing the exhaus-
ton of Great Britain, France and our
other allies. We must eliminate
waste Immediately and reach the ul-
innate of efficiency in the production
of shipping and the use of money.
This is necessary because France
faces a deficiency of $4,000, 900
bushels of grain. England is actually
beleaguered and is resting in the
shadow of the bread ticket. The
allied nations and neutral countries
confront a grain shortage of 200,-
100000 bushels. We ourselves are
short 100000 bushels on our win
ter wheat crop.
Last year the liquor traffic in the
United States destroyed approximate
y1S5, 100000 bushels of grain, nearly
the amount of the worlds deficit. In
the manufacture of whisky, 39,74S,-
S92 bushels were changed from food
to poison. The exact amount of
grain used in making beer is not
known, but is nearly 100000, 900
bushels.
This grain, if made into bread,
would have supplied every man, wo-
man and child throughout the nation
with substantial meal every day
during the year. Billions of pounds
of bread far worse than wasted!
In the shamble fields of France
young men by the millions are plung-
ing through barbed wire and burst
ing shells for the cause we have
taken as our own. They are giving
their lives for us. emptying their
veins freely of life's blood. Are we
them? Are we so little in earnest
that the thought of the fishes suck
ing the flesh from the bones of Am
erican women and babies will not
nerve us to the sacrifice of beverage
which cannot even be classed so high
as luxury?
| Think of the billions wasted, with
war loans to be subscribed! Think
of the ship tonnage, of the car space,
of the misapplied labor!
| Only God knows how serious is the
situation which faces us. Russia
may go to pieces. The western lines
may crack under the strain of the
armies which could then be with
drawn from the East. We may find
our freedom and the worlds safety
dependent upon our own arms unless
the British and French are supplied
with grain sufficient to solve their
pressing food problems and release
their men for individual and military
purposes. Victory in this war may
depend upon the last million bushels
of grain rather than the last million
of men.
Under these circumstances, the
waste of food in the making of beer
and whisky both should stop and
stop NOW! There should be no dis
elimination. With regard for the
use of strong drink instead of the
lighter brews, let the guilt rest on
the head of him who declines to re-
sist the temptation to drink.