New-York tribune., 1919-12-28
lifting of Wartime Ban
Against Liquor Imports
Into Provinces on Jan. |
Gives Whisky Men Outlet
(mebec Mecca of ''Wets''
Eight Other Districts s'Dry''
bv Law and 1t Will Be
Dominions Distributor

,rayince, under recently enacted Cana
san law. has been burdened with the
ave responsibility of acting as the
,ls oasis for all the Dominion's s
sirstv. and Quebec accepting with
nod grace-has turned to with a Will
..termined to perform the task WELL
While liquor partisans in the eight
,.her provinces of Canada are pleased
nth the resembling of wartime meas
ess. which makes possible the i'm
artation OF alcoholic drinks for fam
IL use" it seems, strangely enough.
mt they are not the people who will
arive the most pleasure from the gov
suments generosity. The American
: sstillers are the real beneficiaries of
: ~ ruling, and if present indications
van anything, the problem confront
sc those distillers-how they are to
1T rid of their surplus stock by Janu-
,r l6. l920-is solved.
Quebec is the only wet" province
The Dominion; wet" in the sense
hat LIQUOR can be sold openly at re-
aa During the war the government
wsscd approximately 900 Orders in
louncil among which was one for
sdd;ng importation of liquor into one
rroyince from another. This, along
nth the other war emergency meas
yres. has been rescinded. so that the
esident Of Manitoba may buy liquor
l,o, hi
] Eight Other Provinces Arid
This puts the question of supply dis
,iuc,v up TO Quebec, and the distil-
Isrjes and warehouses in that province
sre entirely inadequate to meet the
demand. Tic eight other provinces
ere as arid as the Sahara Desert, with
the exception of one or two government
stores in each of the larger cities, or
rauized for thc purpose of dispensing
qaor on prescri iptions of physicians.
The import duty on liquor is not
lsrge enough to balk the thirsty Cana
dian. who. during the War has made
bis of money on whisky there is a
duty OF s. gallon and an ad valorem
war tax of ~ per cent gallon. Que
bee finding itself unable to provide
he liquor. naturally will turn TO the
nearest source OF supply. Therein lies
he ray of sunshine for the distillers
IN the United States.
The resembling Of the Orders in
Council becomes effective ON January
/. Inquiry in Quebec leads one to be-
lsye that tremendous orders have been
Faced with distiIlcrs ~across the bor-
Ter and that shipments will begin
IS early as midnight of December 81.
England Has a Surplus
Millions of gallons Of liquor from
he United States have been shipped to
3ngland according to officials here
md England is believed to have more
en- hand than it needs, but Quebec dis
pensers can see little reason for trans
Atlantic shipments, if it is possible to
obtain tire liquor on this continent.
Aside from the Quebec interests. the
Individual citizens of other provinces
are expected TO deluge American dis
lillqrs with applications for whisky as
,oon as the now law goes into effect
These orders, while individually they
will be small, are expected to total
hundreds of thousands of gallons. Col
lector of Customs i. Journeaux, Of
be large
As far as can see" he said to-day
there VIII be nothing to prevent the
Importation OF liquor from the United
States after the Orders in Council are
rscinded on January l. Such liquor
can De imported only for personal use
in the home of the importer, however
and cannot be rcsold"
Another thing Canadians are count
lnc on is the possibility that the
whisky Will bc imported at marked
decrease N price. They base this be
lief on the fact that American dis
iHers. rather than risk being left witt
ruge stocks on hand on January 16
VIII be glad Of any market. 1t is be
leYcd for this reason that any "rca-
'onabe' offer for the whisky in bulk
viii not be rejected.
Canadian "Drys' Disturbed
Al any rate, there will be "wet'
wave in Canada after January /, and it
mas the prohibition forces of the
Dominion disturbed not a little. They
expected 4 victory over the "wets y
by having their respective legislatures
'aact laws forbidding the importation
Oh liquor, but that program could not
be realized for months, and by that
time the Dominion would be flooded
with liquor.
Taking it by and large, the situation
ln Canada seems to have presented it
self at a propitious time, so far as the
producers across the border are con-
oerncd
It is rot believed that there Is any
foundation for the reports from the
United States that distillcrs from thai
country plan TO invade Canada with
'aelr plants. In the first place, it is
,easonabIy certain that the provincial
legislatures of the Dominion will enact
'Aeir dry laws at an early date
gam leaving Quebec the only province
really "wct,' and it could not alone
support all the distllers.
Editorial Significant
j. The restivcncss with which the anti
lquor faction looks upon the situation
IS found in the following editorial
comment from "The Toronto Globe:
1T is incumbent upon the govern
ments and people Of the eight provinces
mat have prohibited retail sale tC
protect themselves against the delugt
VI liquor that Will begin flowing from
,he Province of Quebec after the New
rear 1t must be remembered that il
very short time national prohibitior
slil come into force in the United
''a'cS. and there Will be no imp6rta-
Hon from the states south Of the
ooorder. save in bond from Grca
britain or other liquor exporting coun
Irlcs. The distillcries and brcwcrlc:
u canada will still produce liquor fol
export and for consumption in Canada
'nt that liquor will be available fol
.onsumers in provinces that have pro
''oitcd the sale of liquor only il
'racred from liquor dealers in some
'ther province, and either shipped il
% such orders or released from the
Narehouses Of the distillers ans