The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1921-01-21

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Barleycorn, q you may possibly
have .noticed, i not yet entirely
dead In this country, but he ii
dwindling in bulk day By day like
= hunger striker. And the tragic
part Of it is that the very ones who
love him best are doing the most
to make his shadow small. Some
little nourishment they manage te
bring him once in q while, but fol
the most part it is with him q case
of much going out. and little coming
In.
This is confirmed by some faeti
and figures We just got exclusively
from the internal revenue depart.
ment. The revenue department rec
ognizes four chief resources BY
which John Barleycorn Is kept
alive in this country. The first oil
these is the liquor, mostly whisky
held In bonded warehouses In thil
country: the second is the pure
ethyl alcohol which is manufac'
tured in large quantities ostensibly
for industrial purposes; the third IL
the importation Of liquor across the
Canadian and Mexican borders. and
At SeaDorts; and the fourth is the
making Of various kinds of alco.
holic beverages in the homes Of
citizens.
With this latter phase of the
problem most Of those entrusted
with the enforcement of the Law
seem to think they have nothing te
do.
Homebrewing Not Attacked.
THE lay never intended US to en-.
ter q mans home" said one lawyer
connected With the enforcement Of
prohibition. This was not an Off.
cial statement, nor one made fol-
quotation. but it SENS to repre-.
sent the view taken by most of the
government lawyers. They con-
slider that the law is designed to
prevent. the commercial traffic in
alcoholic beverages, and its manu-.
facture for use in that traffic. 1t il
to the enforcement of this and that
they are bending their energies.
Take first the case Of the whisky
in bonded warehouses. In 1916
there were about 232,000,OOO gal.
Ions of distilled spirits other than
fruit brandies in our bonded ware
houses. The end of 1920 sees but
$4,000, 000\ gallons left in the ware
houses. Furthermore, during 1920
there were 23,000.0 900 gallons of tax
paid Withdrawals is, that
amount was withdrawn for use in
this country. During the same year
s., 10000 gallons were Withdrawn
for export. At that rate. another
year would see all of the whisky in
bonLed warehouses either distrib-
uted in this country or exported. II
is evident that this residue OF
whisky will not long be with US.
1t will be with us longer than
the 1920 withdrawal figures would
INDICATE, however. The striking
thing about hose figure; Is that
p, 100000 gallons were, drawnS for
consumption in this country. That
is nearly 100000 gallons a month
1t is about fourth as much
whisky as we were consumins be.
for prohibition went into effect. OF
course, it was all used on doctors
prescriptions. There certainly was
a lot of sickness last year.
But that easy flow OF whisky
from bonded warehouses has met
with a check. 1t has been checked
by the simple method of a ruling
from the internal revenue depart.
ment that transfers of liquors from
one wholesaler to another will nc
longer be approved. The whole
saler must now dispose Of his
liquor direct to the druggist, or
other authorized retailer or user