The American issue. [volume] (Westerville, Ohio) 1912-19??, 1919-07-04
bLaw Enforcement and Protective
League of San Francisco Puts
Quietus on Phelan Measure

The State Law Enforcement and
Protective League of San Francisco
sent letter under date of June II and
signed by former State Senator Ed
win E. Grant, to each member of Con-
gress setting forth the true facts with
reference to the wine industry OF Cali
fornia. This letter was received by
each Congressman just before the
vote III the Senate turning down Sena-
tor Phelan's motion ostensibly in
tended to save the wine business of
that state. The protests against Pro-
hbition of the manufacture Of wine
arc not coming so much from the
vineyardists OF the wine producing
counties as from the mahogany vine
yards of San Francisco The follow
ing excerpts from the letter referred
to above, give some interesting facts:
when Senator Phelan introduced
lthe bill for the repeal of wartime
Prohibition to save the vineyards of
California; did he tell you that nearly
all the grape-growing counties of
California voted bone dry in the state
wide Prohibition election last Novcm-
Der and elected members of the Legis-
lature OH platforms OF ratification of
the federal dry amendment?
AT the election in November, 1918.
Fresno county with more than one
third OF the vineyard acreage of the
state-l22,000 acres Of the states total
of 356,645-gave majority of 4,474 in
favor of a bone-dry Prohibition
amendment to the state constitution
to take effect January |, 1910. Under
this measure every winery in the
state, including, of course, the impor-
tant wineriesof Fresno county, would
have been closed the first of this year.
"All the large grapegrowing coun-
lies of tff,--state with the exception OF
Napa, Sonoma and Sacramento coun-
ties, at the same election named Leg
islators who had announced their in
tention to vote for ratification OF the
National Prohibition amendment.
Napa, Sonoma and Sacramento have
a total of Oh 900 acres of vineyards.
These three pro-liquor counties con-
tain less than one-thrd of the vine
yard acreage of the state, while anti
liquor Fresno county contains four
times the vineyard acreage of these
three counties combined.
The California wine is not as re-
spectacle a drink as some. liquor
champions would have you think. It
has long been used in California as a
cloak to shield the saloons and is one
of the most deadly aides to the bust
ness OF commercialized vice. For in
stance, the other night | visited a
vineyard on Kearny street. San Fran
cisco, which displayed larger Ger
man sign in German script, Die
Wolfshluct' The saloonkeeper back
Of the bar told me that the game now
is that if they succeed in knocking out
wartime Prohibition they will then be
able to knock out constitutional Pro-
hibition through the courts. He vol
unteered the information that since
the percentage of beer has been re-
duced, customers have been drinking
more wine and that they have been
getting drunk on wine much quicker
than they formerly got drunk on
whisky. He also stated that he had
ordered new barrel of whisky to be
delivered subject to the outcome of
the new development of the Prohibi-
ton question. He also backed Senator
, Phelan strong in his efforts to save
the Vineyards
"A saloon in Chinatown (near Bar
barry Coast gave me the information
that this wine and beer talk was only
a gag to save the other liquors. He
was positive in his assertion that if
they beat the July Prohibition we
would not go dry in January. This
saloonkeeper was enthusiastic for
OCudlOt l. iiCldii 10 ICpCdl war
time Prohibition. :.
Furthermore, growing grapes for
wine in this state has not on the
whole been paying venture. i
On the other hand, growing of grapes
for table use and for rasins has prov
ed enormously profitable and the in
dustry is getting on frmer basis ev-
cry year. The report of the state
board of viticultural commissioners
covering the 1916 grape crop shows
that $4,000 acres of raisin grapes in
the state that year brought the grow
ers nearly twelve million dollars. This
would be $88 an acre. The same re-
port shows that the table grape from
$1,000 acres brought the growers
$8,lS0.000 f. o. b. California, or $3.50
!, an acre. Page 81 of the commission