Evening star., 1921-03-29

Editorial Digest
What Is Beer?

WnaL Is Deer.
There is profound question now
| troubling the nation" the Akron
Beacon-Journal (republican) dis
covers. The national debt. our for
eien policy. the tariff, all fade as a
mere rush light taper before the ris-
ing sun In it. presence" That ques-
, ton. or series of questions. has to do
with whether or not beer is medi-
cine. II it is. can and should its
medicinal use be unrestricted. and, in
brief. does the Palmer ruling 'prac-
ticalIy nullify the prohibition amend
ment and the Volstead law" as the
Fargo Courier News tNon Partisan
League) declares? These questions
are answered in a number of ways in
editorial columns, from comment
marked by 4 Righteousness suggestive
of inward jubila,ion on the part of
the writer's, to very serious protests
against "a ruling which is regarded by
many papers AS Il vital bloW at ma
| tionai prohibition.
"One of the greatest mysteries
about the Volstead act" to the In
ldianapofis News fndependent is
why there should be amy mystery
| about it The paper feels that 1T
should be possible to enact u law that
says plainly what it means and is not
susceptible of change every time
some one clothed with legal author
| ity takes a fresh look at it. l'ut to
| its neighbor, the Fort Wayne Jour
to look as though the prohibition
question. like the tariff question, is
| to be with US always.
| Such an Interpretation of the eight
eenth amendment as that given IN the
Palmer ruling has the practical fleet.
| in he, ,,piDiln of the ASDlrN Park Press
| Gndependent democratic). of multiplying
| the amendment" because 1t makes
"evasion of the law possible through the
simple -Xpedieut of getting doctors
prescription Thus the physician, says
The Anaconda Standard tdtmocratc),
| ''beconcs :, highly important factor in
the community. holding the key TO the
situation" Despite what 1t regards as
the QueStiona BILE value Of beer as medi-
cine the New Bedford Standard (repub-
lican) finds that "a good many doctors
seem to think that the race cannot be
kept well without this sovereign rem
edy"
The Providence Tribune independently
says: at is putting low estimate on
the character of the medical profession
to assume that physicians will generally
| connive with the brewers in turning Il
food of beer over the land.
The Nebraska state Journal Gincoln,
! independent republican, recalls that "a
strong movemet got under way last year
to urge wine and beer planks in the ma
tional conventions The effort was
dropped without accomplishing any
thing, and the Journal wants to know
il cit is possible that the beer states
men were piacated by promise that tHe
thing they asked for by direct action
would he arranged for indirectly-for
instance by opening the door to the
brewers by ths prescription route as
has now been done.
The Christian Science Monitor (Bos-
ton. independently points out that.
while the distiilereS have remained
prosperous through the activities of
the bootleggers, the brewery has not
received it's share of the gains. No
self-respecting bootlegger would
think for moment of loading HIM
self down with beer in bottles or in
kegs 1t would be hazardous and un-
profe ssionaI." Therefore "a way had
to be provided by which the breweries
could get their share SO Dr.. Palmer
was called in to write the needed
prescription.
writers. however. the Palmer ruling
is entirely defensible under the plain
terms of the law. 1t merely gives
beer a status for medicinal uses. the
Colorado Springs Telegraph trepubli-
CAM says, which is plainly not de-
MED it by the eighteenth amendment.
And. so far as the Volstead law is
concerned. nowhere in it. the Ell Paso
Times (democraD asserts, is there
single word which can be construed
as authorizing the prohibition en-
forcement department, or any one else,
to restrict in any manner the number
| of prescriptions to be issued by ply
sician, or setting forth whether they
shall be for whisky. beer, wine or any
thing else"
AS a means of testing the legality
of the Volstead act" the Elmira star
Gazette independently is inclined to
welcome the new ruling. because "a
prohibition act with loopholes in 1t SO
big that it fails to prohibit is no good
and ought to be replaced by sounder
one" The Canton tOhio) News dem
ocraD thinks that lit should be an
easy matter to learn what the Su-
preme Court thinks of the Palmer in
terpretation." and until such deci-
sion is made "Comms ssioner Kramer
should disregard the opinion alto
gether." Even if the Palmer ruling
were sustained. the Springfield repub-
lican independently points out that
the hole made in prohibition enforce.
ment can easily be plugged up by an
amendment of the Volstead act
BY reason of which, the Anaconda
Standard (democratic) remarks. with
an almost audible sigh, Life is not
+: yet all beer and skittles.'