Evening star., 1932-12-18
The Beer Bill.


on Tuesday in the House. is an inter
esting and informative treatise on %
the change Of sentiment toward pro-
hibition; 90 the need for revenue and
revenue; CD the physiological effects
of alcohol on an empty stomach as
compared with such effects of alcohol
when taken with food: (4) the psyche
logical effect Of re-establishing an in
dustry utilizing manpower, railroads
and farm produce, and (5o the evils,
sanitary and otherwise, Of the bootleg
traffic in beer and homebrew, from
which the Federal Government collects
no revenue.
Yet all these matters are irrelevant.
The question is: Is beer of 80 per cent
by weight or 4 per cent by volume in
toxicating within the meaning of the
Constitution of the United States, which
forbids the manufacture, sale or trans
portation of intoxicating liquors within,
the importation thereof into, or the
expectation thereof from the United
States and all territory subject to the
Jurisdiction thereof for beverage pur-
poses?
On this point, the committee divided
seventeen to six. Seventeen members
agree that the beverages proposed to
be legalized would not be Intoxicating
In fact" and that such legislation is in
keeping with the letter and the spirit
Of the amendment"
Six members of the committee have
taken the opposing view. The pro-
posed beer would be Intoxicating, they
say, and their support of movement
to legalize such beer would repudiate
their oaths to support and defend the
Constitution.
Another dissenting member Of the
committee, Mr.. Treadway, took the po-
sition that it was improper to treat a
measure legalizing beer as revenue
measure.
Is per cent, or '-pre-war,' beer
intoxicating in fact? The committees
reasoning to support its opinion that
it IS not, is important. 1t follows here,
in part:
The alcohol in 4 per cent beer is so
diluted that it would require consld-
cradle effort on the part OF an average
person to drink enough 10 become
drunk.
Moreover, in determining what is in
fact Intoxicating it would not be proper
to use either an inyeterate drinker or
one easily susceptible to intoxicatlon as
a criterion.
Also, it should be assumed that the
beer is to be drunk as it is generally
drunk-that is, in limited quantities and
with food 1t is common knowledge
that the effect of the consumption OF
alcoholic liquor on an empty stomach
is much different than when taken
with or after meal.
The presence OF solids in an alco-
holic beverage. as in beer. or the pres
ence of food in the stomach, hold the
alcohol back from the rapid passage
through the stomach wall into the blood
stream and allow some OF 1t to be ab-
sorbed through the intestines.
In this way the rate of absorption
into the blood is slowed down and the
alcohol is allowed to pass off before
there is any large accumulation in the
system.
This is all true But is there any
evidence that thousands of persons will
not be glad to expend the considerable
effort" necessary to become drunk on
beer? If, by expending considerable
effort, they become drunk on beer, is
beer intoxicating in fact?
Is there any basis for the assump-
ton that beer is to be drunk in
limited quantities and with food? Is
not the weight Of the evidence. drawn
from common knowledge regarding the
conditions before prohibition, exactly
to the contrary? When the saloons
were selling beer. did patrons of the
saloons consume it only in limited
quantities and With food? They dld
not
And that emphasizes another i'm
portant section Of the beer bill Beer
would be sold "in or from" bottles,
casks barrels. kegs or other contain
ers. No restrictions are made as to its
retail sale in or from such containers
That would mean the return Of the beer
saloon, except in the States that chose
specifically to outlaw saloons.
Both parties are pledged to fight the
return of the saloon Why does this
bill make no mention of the beer saloon,
or seek to control retail sale of beer?
1t is, presumably, because Of the OBJ
yious inconsistency that would lie IN
calling a beverage notwithstanding, and
then seeking to regulate its retail sale
because of its intoxicating qualities.
But if the States seek to control
its retail sale, they will thereby imme-
diately recognize 1t as intoxicating, and
if it is intoxicating it is contrary both
to the letter and the spirit Of the
eighteenth amendment.
This beer bill permits the return OF
the beer saloon. People will get drunk
in those saloons on 4 per cent beer.
That is the truth and it cannot be
lodged.
Gold bars are said to figure In foreign
oil tc MD o1tr ely