The American issue. [volume] (Westerville, Ohio) 1912-19??, 1921-07-01

der the gu1se oil medicine, he doubt
less felt that he had delivered deadly
blow at enforcement OF the Prohibit
ton law But he really accomplished
fatal disservice TO the law-brealling
brewery interests he undertook TO
serve, nd made inevitable the enact
ment of regulations that will cffec-
tually shut off the beer spigot he
opened. The brewers openly pre-
dicted that the Palmer action would
! not be revoked by his successor; and
that their confidence was not mis-
placed has been shown by Attorney
General Daughcrty's tacit approval of
the ruling.
The most reprehensible feature of
the Palmer device was its design to
nulify by an arbitrary official inter
probation an act of Congress, the in
tent OF which was clearly understood
and had been generally accepted. In
furthering this purpose he had tho
effrontery. without consulting those
concerned, TO designate the drug
stores OF the country as distributing
plants in place OF the saloons; and
physicians and pharmacists to take
over the functions OF bartenders.
/ There is small wonder that his high
handed action brought indignant pro-
tests from many doctors, the drug
trade and the pharmaceutical probes
| sion
When it became evident that At
torney-General Daugherty would do
nothing to counterfeit his predeces-
sor's outrageous interference with
law enforcement, the brewing inter
ests and the forces unfolding the law
| both took definite action. The brew
crs. even those who had conscien-
tiously obcyed the Prohibition stat
utes. FASTENED to apply for permits TO
resume the manufacture OF the old
time hieh-voltage beer, and began to
put their plants i'll shape to meet the
expected demand for the medic ne
Meanwhile the Anti-Ssloon League.
with its customary efficiency took di-
rect measures to repair the breach in
| the law Deeming it waste OF time
to seek an official ruling overturning
that OF Palmer. the League moved for
an amendment to the Nolstead Act
that would completely outlaw the
Palmer brand OF beer. Accordingly
there was introduced bill specifically
prohibiting the vending OF beer by
prescription; the measure is based
upon overwhelming evidence that beer
has no necessary or useful place III
medication and upon the demon
strated fact that the effect OF the
Palmer ruling would be largely to
nullify the Eighteenth Amendment.
Representatives OF both the brew
ing interests and the Prohibition
forces were heard by the House Jul
dietary Committee. with full oppor-
tunity for the presentation OF expert
testimony on each side in respect to
the main point in dispute. The re-
port on the bill says:
The evidence presented to the
committee to the effect that beer
has never been recognized as a
m d Ct ne was overwhelming.
The United States Pharmaco-
poea has never listed it as med
cine One hundred and four OF
the leading physicians and scien-
| fists i'll the nation signed the fol-
lowing statement:
"The undersigned physicians OF
the United States desire to place
on record their conviction that
the manufacture and sale OF beer
and other malt liquors for me-
dicina, purposes should not be
permitted Malt liquors never
have been listed i'll the United
.DldltS ndl iidNopCNit d. oiiNio'
medicinal remedies. They serve
no medical purpose which can
not be satisfactorily met in other
ways, and that without the dam
ger OF cultivating the beverage
use of an alcoholic liquor"
Several thousand other physi
clans signed the above or SINH
lar statement and presented it to
the committee. There was only
one doctor who appeared before
the committee N favor OF beer
as medicine, and the New York
County Medical Association de-
MED that he spoke for them in ia
voring beer for medicinal pur-
poses.
The virtually unanimous medical
judgment against beer as a useful
agency in practice received unex-
pected and powerful reinforcement
from another source of authority
the spokesman for Anheuser-Busch,
the largest brewery in the world, who