The New York herald., 1922-01-09

ness in which, as may be recalled, la
the pendulum has swung the other "
against prohibition, nor Is there any
from special correspondents that tn
in their own localities blame prohi
or other unfortunate economic condi
On the other hand the reports
cluding postal saving banks, mutual S
do not seem to justify the claim $
that vast sums of money are being
operation Of the prohibition law. Il
banking conditions is so great that
must be little if any relation between
the country as whole. Industrial
and local conditions specifically, ap-
pear to be responsible for the move
ment of bank deposits upward OF
downward.
There are some economic develop
ments in the country, however, in
which the influence Of prohibition IS
more or less clearly traceable.
There were in this country before
war time prohibition "a distilleries. 663
breweries and approximately 177790
saloons. The figures are those Of the
Anti-Saloon League. Nearly all these
properties lost their character as a
result of prohibition. Ostensibly, at
least, property of great value was
wiped out"
Much Property Absorbed.
There IS nothing obtainable, how
ever. to show there was any great
property loss. The Anti-Saloon League
has gathered some facts that seem to
prove the contrary and there Is no
evidence in refutation. Specifically
the a. S. l.. mentions thirteen distii-
leries in Peoria, H.. which were at
once taken over by Il largo food COR
poration and transformed with the
result that about 1000 persons were
employed where 1000 men had worked
before.
In dealing with the question of what
happened to the breweries the A. S. L.
quotes tho Beverage Journal. publ
cation once issued in the interest of
brewing concerns, which made a sur
vey to ascertain how former brewer
les were being used. The result was
as follows:
Manufacturing soft" drinks. ...... 6s7
Making beverages other than near
beer ......................... f31
Making drink syrups. lis
Making malt syrup and extract..... ss
Making Ice. NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.. lso
Used as cold storage warehouses. 50
Il.
The fact that this total is far in ex-
cess of the total number of brewcries
accounted for is due to duplication.
but the table indicates that there has
not been n substantial property loss
through the transformation of the
breweries.
Regarding saloon properties. the
analysis is more difficult. New York
city. which abounded in saloons in the
old days. perhaps furnishes as good
key to the situation as can be found.
Saloons have been changed into cigar
stores, lunchrooms. drug stores, soda
water places. The Anti-Saloon League
has a list, but It is not necessary to 20
10 that source for information: the
well informed inhabltant OF the city
knows as well as any one that there
can have been no really substantial
property loss. generally, because Of the
disappearance of the saloon.
Little Actual Destruction.
Unduestionably there has been loss.
Individual loss and company loss, be-
cause the business of making and SELL
ing alcoholic liquors was an extremely
profitable one. But, as one dry advo-
cate recalls. there was also n substan-
tial property loss when slavery was
abolished. The point sought to be made
is: Economically there has been no
great, general property destruction
because of the abandonment or trans
formation OF properties previously
used for purposes prohibited by the
prohibition law.
In explanation of this it may be well
10 recall a recent utterance OF Ernest
RI. Cherrington, general secretary OF
the World League Against Alcoholism.
recently made:
$50 far as moro than iolf Of the
states arc concerned, II would he quite
ir.5ossihle to give any comprehensive
analysis Of what has become OF the
former establishments for alcohol pro-
duction and sale. The change which
took place I'm these States was so grad
ual that statisticlans and Government
reports took very slight note Of the
transformation. Two generations have
passed In some states since the alcohol
establishments we're outlawed. Only
the Oldest citizens in such states could
now even remember the location Of
properties formerly used by the liquor
traffic"
Turning 10 the constructive side
and considering one Of the things
most frequently mentioned as an ar
gument for prohibition, the increase"
In bank deposits. one finds an absence
OF fact to warrant the assertion that
these prove tho benefit of prohibition
Take the case OF the postal savings
banks Following Is nm extract from
dispatch from THE New York
TrrnALD's Washington correspondent;
"A continuous decline In tho busi-
ness Of postal savings banks. coin
Continued on Page Eighteen.