The American issue. [volume] (Westerville, Ohio) 1912-19??, 1923-11-30
HILL THROWING BOOMERANG
TO HIS Wine BEER SCHEME
Wet Propaganda Not So Much to
Find out Law as to Beat 1t
HIS CLAIM HELD ABSURD
No Discrimination Between the
Brewer and Housewife in
Law, Declares Wheeler

Congressman John Philip Hill is
throwing the boomerang that will
knock out his beer and wine program
as thoroughly as did Senator Reed,
when he attempted to discredit pro-
hibition by his so-called bone dry
amendment" said Wayne B. Wheeler,
general counsel of the Anti Saloon
League, in an address at the Friends
Yearly meeting at Baltimore. In
stead of getting more liberal tr3t-
ment of beer through his attack on
the margin granted makers of fruit
I Juices, he may succeed in having the
fruit-juice loophole in the law better
safeguarded.
! Congressman Hill Il. not fighting
the Volstead Act alone but the Eight
zenith Amendment which forbids max
ing Intoxicating beverages in home
or any where else. Neither the Vol
stead Act nor any other law can legal
ize the manufacture of beverage liq-
uors prohibited by the Constitution.
The claim that the fruit juice is not
Intoxicating when made and that any
amount of alcoholic content produced
by nature can be added is both indie
! feasible in law and unsound from the.
standpoint of common sense. Time is
| Of the essence in the development of
any fermented Intoxicating liquor.
Every one is responsible for the nat
ural results of his own acts unless an
exception is made of the Baltimore
Congressman. As we'll might the in
cendary attempt to disclaim respon-
sibility when he mixes two harmless
chemical elements certain to cause
combustion through the processes of
nature and fires building.
at is true that the law does not
prohibit the making of non-intoxicat-
ing cider and fruit juices for exclusive
use in the home. This does not mean,
however, that you can beat the law
and produce Intoxicating liquor by the
subterfuge outlined by Mr.. Hill.
"Mr. Hills last declaration that he
will introduce into Congress a bill to
give beer makers the same privilege
as is accorded to those who make nom
Intoxicating cider and fruit juices pre-
sents nothing new. Congress did make
a discrimination between the brewer
and the housewife who makes fruit
juices and has no mechanical device
to determine just when the alcoholic
content reaches one-half Of per cent
The beer business has been in bad
repute during the whole fight for pro-
hbition and Congress and the people
were in no frame of mind to take any
chances on it. The brewing industry
was proved to be the most corrupt,
vicious, begiving, unpatriotic in
dustry in the whole gamut of the
liquor trade. Instead of granting
more freedom to the brewers Mr. Hill
may find the law on fruit juices
strengthened by his action.
How to Beat Law
Congressman Hills wet propagan-
da in his home liquor industry simply
proves that he is not so much trying
to find out what the law is but how to
beat the law. This incident shows
anew the wisdom of having a definite
standard fixed in the Volstead Act for
determining what is Intoxicating 1iq-
uor. The exception, which is giving
Mr.. Hill so much distress as to its I'M
certainty, shows that law enforcement
would be still more difficult if the
term were not specifically defined, so
far as the commercialized trade is
concerned This propaganda will
eventually result in tightening the
provisions of the exceptions rather
than in liberalizing the general prohi-
bition. The elections for the last two
years have shown that the people are
beginning to understand that this agi-
taton against the one-half of l per
cent is simply brewers propaganda.
mo one ever claimed that one-half
Of per cent of alcohol in liquid is
Intoxicating. That provision was put
in the law because experience in
the thirty-three dry states before ma
tional prohibition went into effect
proved that it was necessary in order
to secure law enforcement. Our OPP
ponents can show no place where their
program was ever adopted and re-
tanned as law enforcement standard.
AS long as two thirds of the states on
their own initiative maintain the one
half of l per cent standard, Congress
is more than justified in legislating for
the overwhelming majority of the
people rather than brewery minor
ity." ~