Evening star., 1923-09-28
HILL DEHES j. s.
| WITH Z PCT. WINE
Representative Challenges
i Arrest After Government
Test of Grape Juice.
special Dispatch to The Star.

Special Dispatch to The Star
i BALTIMORE, Md, September 2S.-
Representative John Phillip Hill Is
determined to obtain an official rul-
ing on what constitutes intoxicating
fruit Juice, even if he has to be ar
rested to do SO, he declared this
morning when interviewed at ms
home here.
II am going to carry this thlhs
through to a showdown, declared
Mr.. Hill, and TO that end am
sending a letter to Roy A. Haynes
prohibition commissioner, demanding
a ruling from the Attorney General
of the United States as to what con-
stitutes intoxicating fruit juice. |
am going to force government officials
to decide whether my making and pos
sessing the fruit juices is in violation
of the Volstead law. l cannot con-
ceive of being asked to obey law
which has two standards OF alcohollc
content, one for the city man and an
other for the farmer; one for the
malt man, which Is beer, and one Ior
the fruit-juice maker. One thing is
certain, if we are to obey the law we
must know beyond a shadow OF
doubt what the law is. l am sending
a letter to Mr.. Haynes today demand
ing that he ask the Secretary ot the
Treasury to obtain an official ruling
from the Attorney General
The letter which Mr.. Hill mailed
this morning is as follows:
Text of the Letter.
Yesterday. at my home. two of
your chemists, with the use of an
ebulliome eter, tested the fruit juices,
the ingredients of which l assembled
on September Z, in accordance with
notice to you. Their tests showed
that the fruit juices from Anne Arun-
die county grapes. sugar and water,
had In nineteen days developed an
alcoholic content of lis per cent,
while the same grapes, without sugar.
had developed in the same time an
alcoholic content of 3.2I per cent,
there being, however, no prohibition
contained either in the Volstead act
or in your regulations against the
use of sugar in making homemade
fruit juices. At the same time the
keg of fruit juice purchased by me.
and from which the bung was re-
moved, showed an alcoholic content
of 1854 per cent.
"All the above fruit juices. in ac-
cordance with your ruling, are entire
ly legal. it being the purpose OF the
Volstead act to exempt the plall
farmer from its operation as TO sach
juices.
According to your ruling. II per
cent fruit Juice is legal, whereas one
half of l per cent of hop juice, or peer,
is illegal. l suggest that you propose
to the conference of governors which
is soon TO be held on the subject OF
prohibition the question of whether
law enforcement will not be greatly
facilitated if the Volstead act is so
modified as to give to the plain me
chanic the privileges enjoyed bS the
plain farmer.
Doubtful OF Interpretation.
II am, however, doubtful of the le-
gality of your Interpretation of sec
tion 20 of the Volstead act. l cannon
conceive that Congress intended that
there should be more than one deflnl-
ton of Intoxicating. l therefore ask
that you request the Secretary of the
Treasury to obtain from the Attorney
General an opinion as TO the meanins
Of section 20, title 2, of the Volstead
act, in order that you may have the
! opinion of the highest authority to
submit to the impending congress OF
governors on this subject.
II am sending a copy of this letter
to the governors of the several states
together with copy of your letter to
me of September I and my reply
thereto"
Government recipe.
Mr. Hill declared that he was MAX
Ing his grape juice from a formula
sent out by the United States De-
partment of Agriculture, being Farm
ers' Bulletin No. 1855, entitled I'm
fermented Grape Juice and How to
Make it in the Home" Mr. Hill said
he had $4,000 copies of this publica-
tion in his office. which he intended
to send to the governors and state
enforcement officers throughout the
country.