The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-04-25
Literal Enforcement of
 War-Time Prohibition Is
 Plan of the Government
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 fey to prosecute the brewers, Judge Hand said he thought MT. Coffey should be eliminated as defendant MT. Guthrie argued for a determination by the court of the question of whetheS a district attorney might be enjoined from conducting prosecutions in viola tion of criminal laws whose validity was in doubt, and declined to withdraw the district attorneys name from the complaint. In view of published state ments of the internal revenue depart ment indicating intention to bring seizure and forfeiture proceedings against offending brewers, there was no suggestion of withdrawing the com plaint as against the collector.
 Supplementing MT. Guthrie's admis- sion, District Attorney Caffey an- nounced that he had never threatened to begin prosecutions under the emer. gency prohibition act. He added that he did not propose any action along this line until the court had been given time to consider the litigation in prog ress. Should there be any change in his attitude, he said, he would advise the court and the brewers counsel
 ERROR ADMITTED
 The litigation was discontinued as at- fecting threats of the internal revenue de- partment to prosecute manufacturers of "A per cent beer up to April 90, when the government counsel admitted that Con- missioner Roper had erred in ruling under the food conservation laws that beer O. one-half of per cent or greater alcoholic content was intoxicating, and so could not be manufactured under the President S proclamation permitting production of near beer''
 None but a court had authority to pro- nOnncp a haVerq Q jptnyiratinp n orr ha op- posite, MT. Fitts said, and cited the con- missioner's recent order permitting brew ing of the 234 per cent beverage as a con- fession of his mistake. Until last month, when New York brewers questioned the validity of the ruling, none but the F per cent brew had been sent out to the trade, except that made before December , 1 last, when the President prohibited all brewing as a conservation measure, fol- lowing his decree effective Il months earlier, limiting the alcoholic content to 2% per cent.
 Arguing for the constitutionality of the wartime prohibition act, MT, Pitts de- clared that Congress, in providing funds with which the Secretary of Agriculture was to-carry out food conservation meas ures, said to him.
 And while you are doing it. don't waste any grain making beer or any fruit making wine."
 All beers and wines were included in the prohibition, he contended, to prevent opening of blind tigers" and operation of "boot-leggers," through which intox- icants would be sold to soldiers and sail ors under the guise of notwithstanding drinks.
 The government counsel charged the brewers. mo matter how respectable the companS they bring here with them, with trying to obtain "assuranc> from the court that they would be safe in violat- ing the law"
 Though the advancing march of civil.- zation has turned it's back on their busi- ness" he asserted, 'the brewers want to keep on and we hear much about the ruin of trade which they admit is profitable"
 Stating his desire to give an early de- cision in the case, Judge Hand arranged for submission of briefs before the end of next week. Former Senator Root An- nounced that, whatever the determina tion, the issue should be carried" to the supreme court.