New Britain herald., 1917-01-31
STILL GOING ON.
Will wonders never cease?

In the midst of the greatest cam
paiEn ever waged in this country
against old John Barleycorn it is now
learned that instead of a falling off
in consumption of wines and liquors,
and even the plebian beer, the
opposite state of affairs holds true.
The figures are from the tax rec ords
of the United States Treasury Depart
ment, and, unlike some figures, do
not lie. They show a heavy increase
in the consumption of whiskey and
beer during the past year, as COM
pared with what took place the year
previous. Something like 22,00O,O 900
gallons of strong liquors were dis
posed of last year over and above the
amount that disappeared the year be-
fore. To be absolutely right. the
figures for 1915 show 124 100000
gallons Of strong liquors consumed in
the United States. In 1916 the num-
Der of gallons, for some reason or
other, jumped to 100000. There
were in the neighborhood of four
million more barrels of beer drained
in 1916 than went to appease thirst in
the year previous.
This, indeed, is a strange state Of
affairs,-an increase in drinking with
a decrease in ''wet' territory. It is
paradoxicaI. It is beyond belief. 1t
is something unlocked for. 1t is not
in keeping with the new order OF
things. 1t Is sad commentary on
present day life in America. There is,
of course one explanation. 1t Is to
the effect that 1.-The government is at
present collecting taxes on all the
whiskey produced in the country,
whereas. because of extensive frauds,
such was not the case few years
ago." In this way 1t is proposed to
show that more whiskey was present
and accounted for" in 1916 than in
1915. But the mere fact that the in
crease in revenue from whiskey alone
rose to the magnificent heights of
$24, 10000 in 1916 over its mark in
1915 projects the finger of doubt. All
that whiskey could not have escaped
detection. The biggest find Of illicit
stills, and the biggest fraud ever per-
petrated on the Government was dis
covered last yeear in Fort Smith, Ar
kansas. Over a period Of eight years |
these men had been selling moon |
shine" on a gigantic scale, and their
total withholdings for the entire |
period did not approximate in any |
degree $24,0OO.000. OF course, there |
were, and are, others who carry on |
operations in the hills of Tennessee, |
Virginia, Alabama and other states; |
but it is doubtful if the sum total of
all their evasions would show such q
of whiskey is $1.10. .....-. ....
There must be some other cause
found for the apparent increase in the
consumption of alcoholic liquors. 1t
may be that the Increase in prosperity
has something to do with it, or the
great influx Of men from the open
country, the farm lands, into the
cities. Whereas, it may seem strange
that 1916 shows more complete
consumption of whiskey and beer than
1915 in spite of the fact that 1916 saw
more states go dry than any other
year, it might be we'll to consider this:
The states that put the brackets on
John Barleycorn were, for the most
part wild and bleak deserts as COM
pared to the thickly inhabited COM
monwealths where John now holds
forth. There are more drinking
places in some cities Of the East than
there were in entire states in the
West. Therein is a difference. and
mayhap solution Of the problem.