Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1922-08-24
WASHINGTON
DAY BY DAY
Especial to The Ga9ette)
(By Isaac Gregg

(By Isaac Gregg
Washington, Aug. 24.-Contribut-
ing to the intra-administratlon dis
pute on wine and beer is James j.
Davis. Secretary of Labor, who, in an
autobiography entitled "The Iron
Puddler" recently published, comes
out strongly for beer for the working
men.
Although it is well known to the
friends of Secretary Davis in Wash
ington that he rarely, if ever, accepts
a drink of intoxicants. including peer,
his book has several references to the
Volstead act and makes it quite clear
that the secretary believes the work
ingmen, at least those employed IN
steel and tin plate mills, should be per-
mitted to have their beer. BY infer
ence. at least, Mr.. Davis advocates
beer for those who like to drink 1t and
denounces those refo-mers who do not
ike others to have beer because they
themselves do not like it.
''In summer" SAYS Mr.. Davis, the
temperature in the tin mills is very
high. 1t is as hot as the Fourth of
July i'm Abyssinia. Outsiders began
coming into the mills and giving US
workers a chill by telling US that the
heat was killing us. The men used
TO cool themselves down with a glass
Of beer at the close of the day. The
social Investigators told US that alco-
hol taken into the system at such
time would cause sunstroke. Ii beer
was fatal. most of US figured that we
had been dead for years and didn't
know it. The effect of constant COM
plants was to demoralize us and make
our work harder"
Secretary Davis is the second of the
members of President Harding's cab
met to advocate a change IN the Vol
stead law. Secretary of War Weeks
has done so on several occasions. Also
Il is well known that Secretary Of the
Treasury Mellon has always been
against the Volstead law and Attor-
nev General Daugherty, though ne
feels that his position as legal adviser
TO the President precludes him from
saving so. is an advocate OF the re-
vision of the Volstead law.
Apposed to these men Is Prohibition
Commissioner Haynes who. in a state
ment last Monday that has been much
criticised. advocated the election OF
wen who stand for law and order, he
constituting the law and order to mean
onposition to changes in the Nolstead
law bv virtue of which he holds his
position.
Tho whole controversy has aroused
opcb interest. inaSmuch as the Repub-
I;can PARTY has usually included in its
list \ vast majority of prohibition ad-
vocates The "wet" forces here are
constituting the recent announcement
If Cabinet members as an indication
of q tide running out from the Vol
eteod act. while the "dry" forces point
70 the denomination of an overwhelm~
ING list of prohibition congressman
as evidence that there has been no
reversion of popular sentiment on the
Nolstead law.
In one charter of what many ways
might be called his remarkable book
Secretary Davis devotes much space
IN the beer question under the chapter
title "An Uplift Ruled by Envy" The
Jrplifter, working among the tlnplate
EMPLOYEES at Elwood, Ind. where
Davis was then employed objected to
the workme ndrinking beer from tin
nails. Then followed a conversation
between Davis and the Uplifter which
established that the Uplifter objected
to others drinking beer because ne dld
not like il himself. Il made HIM pll-
ious and weak and dizzy. >,
"Wen. I'll tell YOU something then,
said Mr.. Davis, summing up ms ar
euments. Water doesn't always agree
with the stomach as we'll as beer does
You never worked at terrific muscu>
nal exertion handling white hot iron
in mill like this You haven't got
the muscle To do it, and | doubt II
vou've got the heart. You cannot
know the condition a man is IN when
he hits his hardest lick here. But they
know. and | know. Some or the men
feel thcv can't drink water at that
time. Nv nal tells me that his stom-
ach repels it: his throat seems to col
lapse as he gulps it. But beer he can
drink and it eases him. The alcohol
in beer is a blessing at that time. 1t
soothes his laboring stomach until the
water can get into hfp system ana
ouench the mans thirst. Iron work
ers in the old world have used malt
beverages for generations. Why take
away the other mans pleasure II II
doesn't injure you. If it was deadly
we would have been weakened IN Ihe
! course of generations. But look at the
workers body. 1t is four times as
strong as yours.
Entirely outside his views on beer,
! Secretary Davis has written rather