The American issue. [volume] (Westerville, Ohio) 1912-19??, 1919-09-12
Distillers Want to Dispose of
Liquor Stocks
Sanity Praise for John Barley
corn Miscarries
1 Purpose Revealed of Wanting to
- Unload Heavy Stocks of Liquor
Which Were Manufactured in
Face of Prohibition

Q. Fl. Wathen, who is the head o
kentucky's largest whisky manufac
turing plant, is of the opinion tina
eventually whisky will come back tc
is own in the United States, but he
hastcns to explain that he represent.
he whisky fraternity in declaring thai
here is no desire on their part for the
OF the saloon. He wants tc
place booze ON tic market on al
equality with other commodities.
In other words, he is voicing ths
age-old dream of booze makers tc
make intoxicants respectable and have
hem taken from under police regula.
tion. He is quoted in United Pres.
New York dispatch as saying:
We do not want saloons. We
would have liquor take its place
as commodity to be disposed of
i'll the grocery and department
stores. We have no patience with
the saloons. They got us into all
our trouble. A man used to drop
into a saloon. begin consuming
whisky and walk out a staggering
drunk. He went home and an
noyed his wife. The neighbors
saw him and pitied him. The
drys used him as a horrible ex-
ample, and whisky took all the
blame.
We believe whisky can be han
died right in this country and we
are going to make fight to that
end. Abolish the saloon and let
z the householder buy his whisky
and take it home. That is what
we want to happen and we want
to do away with the bad whisky
that made physical wrecks of peo-
pie. Good whisky won't hurt
anyone unless he makes pig of
himself.
That is fairly strong indictment
gainst the poisonous drug which Mr..
Nathen has been manufacturing. One
aturally wonders whether Mr.. Wa
hen would have painted this vivid
'icturc Of the drugs deadly work had
IL been going we'll with the whisky
PRODUCERS as in the days of license.
He does not show good sportsman
hip in his attempt to fix the blame
or the ruin wrough by whisky upon
he agencies that distributed the stuff.
Does he expect an intelligent public
o believe that it was the environment
II the bar-room and not the poisonous
rug that sent the man home a stag
.ering drunk" to annoy his family ?
md does he expect the public to be-
ieve that the man who makes pig
i himself" in bar-room will be any
ess piggish in his home with an un-
United supply at hand'
Unfortunately he does. not explain
ow all possibility of the sale OF bad"
Whisky will be eliminated by merely
losing the saloons.
The leading wet spelbinders and
he leading liquor journals insist that
he sure guarantee against the distri-
ution of bad" whisky is tie open sa-
Don.
Anyway it is gratifying to note that
Ar. Wa:hen recognizes and announces
he fact that his product has been the
ause of wrecking homes and running
ives. The only disquieting element in
he confession is that there are no evil
ences of repentance.
The real cause of Mr.. Wathens de-
ire to put whisky n the market on an
quality with other commodities is re-
called in his further statement. He
stimates that there are 100000
n whisky tied up in government ware
louses. The government agents hold
he key to this stock, and the disti1-
ers want chance to get rid Of it,
md are hoping that Congress will in
ONE way declare war Prohibition at
N end in time to help them dispose of
his stock. He says:
If Congress will allow us to
start in September to get rid of
our stock, we will come near dis
posing of it by the time that Ma
tional Prohibition will go into eff
feet. We think we are entitled 10
some consideration. We can't get
insurance on stock unless the poll
cies had been issued before Pro-
hibition went into effect. Insur-
ance companies fear the destruc-
ton of liquor by some fanatic.
So that we are facing more than
merely loss through conhscation.
If fire were started in some of
these places, il would wipe out the
men who are holding the stock.
Mr.. Wathen talks like the govern