Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-05-05
BY CASTOR NERVAL.
fAuthority on Latin American Anal

fAu,hority on Latin American Ahairs)
-s~WO Latin American republics
seem inclined to follow the eX-
ample of the United States in
i trying to suppress alcoholism
Mexico, the nOrthernmoSt nation
IF Spanish America, and Chile. at the
other extreme of the continent, have
begun to take measures to control the
use of alcohol. Prohibition thus ac-
1uireS international standing. The
United States will no longer be the
only nation opposing the wet inclinations
of it's citizens, for Mexico and Chile
have come forward to enlist with the
United States for the war on Bacchus.
/ However, the steps taken by Mexico
and Chile are not so radical as the
prohibition policy of this country, nor
does their enforcement have the char
: acter which the fight against alcoholism
has taken on in this country. Their
measures are rather experimental, a
! tryout of legislation directed toward a
methodical decrease in the use of alco-
/ holic beverages among their people
/ Chile and Mexico want to get rid OF
alcohol, but are trying to avoid the
| dangers of violence entailed by sudden
| absolute prohibition. In time Chile and
, Mexico may come to have dry law
! but they want to achieve it gradually
, step by step, without haste.
President PorteS Gil is making the
! campaign against alcoholism the prin-
cipal feature of his administration in
| Mexico. Ever since he took Office in
| December PorteS Gil has frankly en-
| phaSized his intention to follow an anti
alcohol policy during the year Of his
term as provisional president. Since
| December the Mexican Government has
IF
| the manufacture and sale of intoxi-
| eating beverages.
Carries Out Obregon's Ideals.
In this Portes Gil is carrying out one
| of the ideals of the late Mexican leader,
! Gen. Obregon, whose assassination, a
| few days before he was to take office,
made necessary the provisional presi-
| dency of Portes Gil. One of the most
conspicuous planks Of the platform on
| which Obregan ran for the presidency
was the repression of alcoholism, and to
this plan the former chieftain devoted
many important speeches in his cam
paign. The American press commented
at the time on these addresses, as
showing the intentions of the next
ruler of Mexico. When about year
| ago the fanatic, Toral, put an end to
7 the career of Obregon, then president
; elect, the question was asked: What
will become of Obregon'S plans for pro-
| hibition? Would they be forgotten, the
usual fate of the principles of Mexican
leaders who have gone from the stage?
That was not the case this time.
/ Portes Gil, on becoming chief magis-
trate. is devoting all his efforts to car
! rying out that ideal of his old leader,
| and, declaring that he wants to leave
anti-alcoholic legislation as the monu-
ment to his short term of Office, he is
! speeding up this reform movement.
| The latest step in this direction is a
decree of the secretary of the treasury OF
Mexico again increasing the taxes al
ready imposed upon alcoholic drinks
Of alcohol in beer.
Maguey Plant Is Menace.
These restrictive measures, however
will not bring about complete solu-
ton of the problem. There is a graveI
danger than that of imported liquors
! in Mexico, i. e., the existence of the
maguey plant, growing wild in many
sections of the country, from the fer
mented sap of which Is produced the
national drink. pulque.
Pulque has an extremely high alco-
holic content and a great amount OF
! Preventative matter, which make II
! highly injurious to health. To STAMP
out the use of this national drink is
! the present aim of the Mexican gov
| eminent. To this end, efforts are be-
| ing made to establish an economic sub
stitute for the pulque industry. in which
| millions of pesos are invested and for
which thousands of acres OF land are
used that are worthless for anything but
/ maguey. The maguey will be utilized
| for Industrial and commercial purposes
! and its products improved gradually by
| chemical research.
When the plant, now but the source
| Of a perniciouS drink. is converted to
other uses pulque will cease to be COM
mercially interesting. 1t will not be
produced on a large scale. and as other
alcoholic beverages become scarcer and
higher priced the present national
! drink will cease to be popular in price
| and quality, and its consumption Will
| decrease until at last it will disappear
! And then, when the use of pulQue is no
| longer one of the customs of the people
| it will be easy to complete the process
and put a real "dsy law" into effect.
In Chile the movement against alco-
| holism is nothing new. For many years
| the government has been seeking a
way TO combat the sale of intoXicants.
| At one time 1t went so far as 10
| consider total prohibition. copying the
| laws of the United States, but the gov
| eminent became convinced that in
| Chile nothing would be more out OF
place and more likely to defeat its own
purpose than complete "dryness," since
that nation has. at present, an ex-
tremely high per capita rate OF liquor
consumption, and its vineyards are the
! basis of several of its most important
industries.
Treat Alcoholism as Disease.
Instead, the Chilean authorities have
decided to begin by restricting the con-
sumption of alcoholic beverages, and
treating alcoholism as a disease, thus
avoiding doing violence to the deep
rooted feelings and desires of the peo-
pie and injuring one of its most profit
able industries. 1t must not be for
gotten that Chile has more than l72.970
acres of vineyards producing about AZ
272 900 gallons of wine per year. Dur
ing the month of September alone last
year Chile produced 4,947 300 liters OF
beer. 100. 500 literS of liquors. 168 900
literS of pure alcohol and $4,000 liters
of denatured alcohol. Such an industry
is too great a factor i'll the economic
life of the country to be shut down sud
denly and entirely
Law 4536, just approved by the Chi
lean government, shows us how this
Latin republic is treating drunkenness
as a disease and a misdemeanor. Ha-
bitual drunkardS are given scientific
treatment in a temperance asylum"
established for the purpose.
Temperance will be brought about by
Furnishing the offender, not the inno-
cent, nor those who drink In modera-
nf riT1Inkard