Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1921-04-08


liquor in the South.
This has spread to some little eX-
tent in the North. OF course 1t was
always problem in the South but 1T
is somewhat more difficult To handle now
! than before. because Of the fact that the
| illicit distilhnr can make such cnor-
/ ,nous profits out Of the business. Be
! fore prohibition. all he saved was the
tax. now he makes ten twelve or fifteen
dollars a quart out of his product. This
is a prohlcrn which will remain with us
for some, little time to come, although
II really is innnitcsmal when compared
with the liquor which was manuiac-
turrd and sold during prc-prohibitton
days
Another problem is that arising from
The sale, Of patent patented and pro-
prictary medicines In this connection
We made a mistake in the beginning of
our work. We issued in the first place
TOO many permits. and in the second
place our standard for medicinal prep
arations was not high enough TO rem
dor th,ni unit TOR use for beverage
PURPOSES This problem can easily he
met and is being met now. in the way
of taking many medicinal preparations
on the market entirely and compelling
othcrS To bc more highly mediCatcd IN
order to render them unfit for use for
beverage purposes
Another problem arises In connection
with the manufacture of alcohol. AlCo-
hol. as YOU know. IS used extensively IN
uui. industries. This will continue to IL
a. ana the Act itself provides that the
i!~,, of alcohol shall he encouraged, but
mo very article that is being manu-
: fa,tured for industrial purposes and
which must hc encouraged, can he made
+, a portable liquor by adding a little water
! and brown sugar. This can, To a great
,xtent be overcome and WI arc over
; coming il bN refusing permits TO all
persons who handle the same ulegiu-
mately and by providing for the dena-
turing OF the alcohol as far as possible
: before il leaves the distiilery We are
making very good progress along this
line.
; Another problem which has faced us
during the past year is that IN connec-
tion with The manufacture of cereal
. beverages In producing the beverage.
the manufacturer has the right To, and
indeed must raise the product 70 an
alcoholic content Of three or four per
cent The alcohol IS then removed SO
e that III, finished produCt has an alco-
hol content of less than one-hah Of
one per cent But some brcw"r.os place
: upon the market some OF their product
e without deaIcoholizing il. is is a
matter which can be rcmedIed and We
are. in the main. getting the same under
:. control. and this through the assess
: ment o1 iaAcs and through the permit
. system. without the necessity OF golus
into I'll; courts TO any great extent.
:, Another problem is that OF Home
Brew. so-called. T-erc is no question
g,r.1 ~
= families have been manufacturing
IS Home Brew. This. 10 my mind. is q
4 lad. an adventure. Many who engaged
\ in it have already ceased. and il wu
,r as l view H. die out from its own re-
W suits We haven't devoted SO mucf
rs attention to this question. In fact. W,
e are somewhat afraid to do SO. lest We
or might thereby create reaction agains
is the law. TO invade a mans home is I
n serious matter especially in those com
is munities in which the sentiment fol
n prohibition IS not al this time strong
- Uncertainty a. to Law.
Another thing which has worke'
IN against US 10 some extent during TIT
AZ past year Is the uncertainty as I,
whether the law would remain as il i
or whether there might not be som
to provision made whereby certain liquor
X could be manufactured and sold Brew
Jn cries tor instance, have been runninj
al during the past year at an abSolut
81 loss hoping that the time might com
1d when they could manufacture beer @
IS q somewhat high alcoholic content Re
10. tail liquor dealers have continued j.
h. business presumably as soft drink estab
10 lishments. yet shipping out stron
ID drinks on the side. hoping that the tim
- might come when they would be per
IL mitted 70 dispense some kind of in
- toxicating liquors 1t was quite a lon
~ time before the courts finally passe
rs upon some of these questions and set
~ tied them definitely OF course som
"a OF them are not as yet settled.
In view Of all these conditions an
- circumstances. l would like 10 sug
a. gest that ] believe we have made re
10 markable progress during the year c
ne more in which the National Pro
nc hibition Act has been in existence. w
ny still have much work To do. and as
'u- view it, will have for some years
ll- come You can't turn the current
'er history overnight. Anything that ha
no fastened itself upon the pohtica
'rk economic and personal history of OF
in country as has the liquor traffic fC
De beverage purposes cannot be remove
-ge in a day or a year
- Perplexing Questions.
raj We have had a number of perple1
ire ing questions raised in connectic
no with our work. and a number of thes
~, are now in the courts. Quite a nun
Der Of the courts are holding that u
old Internal Revenue laws were r.
pealed by the National Prohibition Ac
he and this Notwithstanding what seen
in 70 be the plain intention of Congre
I'VE in the enactment Of the National Pr
ng hibition act. Further. the question
da, to what powers our agents have und
,ar he Va afinral Prohibition Act has beg