Evening star., 1925-11-09
CHARGES FOREIGN
PLOT ON DRY LAW
"Pussyfoot" Johnson Tells
Anti-SaIoon League Move
Will Be Launched Here.
BY the Associated Press.

BY the Associated Press
CHICAGO, November 9.-William
z. PussyfooO Johnson, international
temperance lecturer. says European
plot against the American prohibition
law Is forming to be launched at a
gathering of wet advocates at Wash
ington next January 16. Mr.. John
sbn's information was given out to-
day by DIR. Ernest II. Cherrington,
secretary of the World League
Against Alcoholism, one of the prin
cipal speakers at the Anti-Saloon
League convention in session here.
The report Of Pussyfoot Johnson
follows:
THE American AUTHORIZATION
demonstration announced for Wash
ington, d. C. January 16, will be en-
gineered from Europe and finances
for it will be provided chiefly by Eu-
ropean distillers and brewers.
Says Group is Desperate.
made desperate by inroads, the
new American service for the elimi-
nation of rum row have made on Eu.
ropean bootleggtng enterprises. Ger
man brewery and distillery interests,
fianked by the liquor interests in Bel
gium, France and CzeChoSlovakia, are
preparing to launch a far-reaching eff
fort to break down and discredit the
American prohibition law. This move
ment is being led by the Internation-
aler Verein Zur Hebung Der Frein
Alcohol ErZcugung international So
ciety for the Liberty to Make Alcohol
in Every Country.
"This drive was launched on Sep
tember % in a general meeting of the
society held in the parlors Of the
Weissen Schwan Hotel at Dortmund,
Germany. The meeting was presided
over by Frederic Garnot, a wealthy
distiller Of Brussels, and there prepa-
rations were made to launch an anti
prohibition demonstration in the city
of Washington January 16, 1926.
This Washington gathering will be
held oStensibly under the direction Of
American organizations opposed to
prohibition. but the real movement
will be engineered from Europe and
the finances will be provided chiefly
by European distillers and brewers.
Says Fund Is Being Raised.
"A finance committee is now at
work gathering funds for this pur-
pose. The committee is made up of
Wilhelm Rosenkranz. Franz Braun
and Wilhelm kieseche of Berlin, but
the liquor dealers of all of the centra
European countries will combine their
funds for this great drive into Amer
lea.
1.-The leading brewery interests be-
hind the scenes are centered around
the Schultheiss brewery concern in Ber-
lin. Fritz Schultheiss, director of the
concern, and his nephew, Otto, have
engineered several bootlegging enter
pr1SeS in America. some of which have
come to grief recently.
otto has made frequent trips to
America recently, but never gets far.
ther than the Atlantic coast, though
his real disposing agents are chiefly In
st. Paul and Minneapolis.
His goods have been mostly landed
along the Delaware Bay, and thence
sent to Minnesota. While he speaks
English, French and German fluently
in America he pretends to know
nothing of the German language.
Meeting Is Fourth.
"The Dortmund meeting is the
fourth general gathering of the Inter.
nationaler Ferein. In opening the
meeting, Chairman Garnot launched a
protest against the dry laws of Amer
fca and Iceland.
HE declared that these countries
were all the time talking about liber-
ty when there was no liberty. A reso-
will be a shame if America does not
enjoy its freedom in a short time,
and all aid was pledged to help in this
effort
The progress of Hawaii under pro-
hibition and prosperity was pictured
for delegates to the convention by
George H. de Kay, league superin-
tendent there. There are some liquor
violations there, he said, but fewer
than on the main land. and high sugar
prices, good crops and sober workmen
have in the last five years increa sed
the islands prosperity tremendously
The population of Hawaii has in
creased % per cent since 1917, but the
number of criminal cases in Hawaiian
courts has decreased % per cent, and
2S per cent of the total population of
Hawaii have savings accounts
The advocates of return of beer
and light wine without the old-time
saloon had better look up the Govern.
ment figures, which show that 80 per
cent of the old saloons business was
beer"