The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-10-05

l
 officially also.
 It was my purpose and hope to se- 1 cure from you. as leader of prohibi- ton in Alabama, brief or argument against the disposition of cereal bev-
 erages as strong as such paper could
 be written. either prepared by you by some one efse selected by you, or | by a committee of the Saloon ' league. It is not too late now, so ask you, as president of tho Anti Saloon league of Alabama, to furnish
 me with reasons why the league op
 poses the manufacture, sale or other ] disposition of non-alcoholic cereal
 drinks in the state.
 I think I have made it clear to | you that I want the very strongest and most convincing argument against the proposal to allow the use
 of these drinks that can be produced and l trust that you will send 1t to ] me with as little delay as possible. Very truly yoursa
 (Signed) THOMAS F. KILBY,
 Governor.
 BRIEF OF VICTOR H. HANSON
 A brief favorins the enactment ot a cereal beverag ge law by the Ala 1 bama legislature.
 The national prohibition enforce 1 nent law, more popularly known as l the Volstead act, declares that the | phrase Intoxicating Liquor shall not | extend to dealcoholized wine nor to | any beverage or liquid produced by
 the process by which beer, ale, DOT ter or wine is produced If it contains less than 12 of l percentum ot al cohol by volume and is made as pre- scribed in Section 37 of this title and | t,aa ad q hnRr ale or porter and is contained and sold in or from such sealed and la beled bottles, casks or containers as i the commissioner may by regulau n l prescribe.
 | (See Title II, Section 1.) The law specifically authorizes the manufacture of cereal beverages either by the standardization pro-
 cess or by the arrested fermentation l process. Under this act they shall
 not contain as much as one-half of l one per cent of alcohol by volume , and are therefore declared to be non- l intoxicating beverages and classified 4 as soft drinks.
 Almost every state in the union 1 has passed prohibition enforcement ! laws conforming to and in most in- 1 stances containing the exact Ian | guage of the national law.
 The law authorizes the establish ment of de-alcoholization plants and provides that every manufacturer | who establishes such plants shall be placed under heavy bond to the gov 1 ernment for the faithful compliance with the law.
 Under Federal Supervision ! Cereal beverages are manufac- l tured under strict government super vision and manufacturers are re- l qured to keep daily record and summary of each months transac- 1 tions, showing the quantity of ma terials used and the amount O. bev- ! erages produced.
 The manufacture, transportation and sale of cereal beverages made in ! conformity to the Volstead act are surrounded, bound and restricted by elaborate government rules and regulations.
 l The fears of some that beer might l be transported into the state of Ala | bama through the permission | granted for the sale of cereal bev- | erages is unfounded and impossible | of performances.
 The Volstead act makes it unlaw- full for any consignee to accept or receive any package containing ! liquor upon which appears state i ment known to him to be false, or l for any carrier or person to con sign, ship, transport or deliver any such package knowing such state ment to be false. This act also pro- | vides that no transportation com 1 pany or common carrier may law fully transport intoxicating liquor without first obtaining permit from the government. The transpor- tation provisions of the act are so 1 stringent that it would be impossible | to ship beer into the state under the ] guise of cereal beverages. Beer is ! never boot-legged on account of the
 fact that it is too bulky.
 1t is popular knowledge that the original draft of the Volstead act was written under the guidance or 1 the legal representative of the Ma tional Anti-Saloon league, and all amendments thereto adopted by Congress were first closely scruti- nized by the legislative representa- | tives of the league. The fact that 1 de- alcoholized beverages were au- 1 thorized by this act ought to be con- 1 elusive proof to the officials and leg l islature of Alabama that the Na- tional Anti-Saloon league and the superIntendents of the several state | leagues were not opposed to the manufacture and sale of cereal bev- erages.
 | The superintendents of the Anti Saloon league in some states have co-operated with the representative es | of cereal beverage manufacturers to promote legislation for the protec- tion of this industry, holding that the cereal beverage business is an actual and positive aid to the en- | torcement of the national and state 1 prohibitory laws.
 De-AIcRhnHxQf Anth The national prohibition act also 1 specifically authorizes the de-alco- | holization of wine. Such de-alco- l holized wines are sold throughout the state of Ala bama without any effort being made by the Anti Sa- loon league of this state to pre- vent 1t.
 The Alabama Anti Saloon league has directed its efforts to preven, which are de-alcoholized by practi cally the same process as the de alcoholized wines that are sold in 1 this state.
 The sale of grape juice and de- alcoholized wines Is legal in Ala | bama. They contain as much alco- hol as cereal beverages. Grape juice and e-alcoholized wines are the fruits of the vine. Cereal beverages are the 1uice or the grain. What logical reason, therefore. can be as- signed to the discrimination against the juice of the grain and the fa- voritism shown to the juice of the grape? Grape juice, by manipula- | ton. can be made the base of wine Cereal beverages, de-alcoholized and ! pasteurized, are not self-alcoholic in creasing and therefore remain non- 1 intoxicating because there Is nc known process by which cereal bev- erages can be made into alcoholic | beer.
 Alabama Is the only state In the
 union which has a law prohibiting | the use of cereal beverages These