Evening star., 1932-12-18
Change of Sentiment Stressed
Majority Report on Collier Bill Points Out Both
Political Parties Took Cognizance of Altered
Prohibition Views in Their Platforms.

| to be about 50 per barrel, including
labor, caps, bottles, cases and so forth
A barrel of beer will produce 496 g.
ounce glasses at a cost of approx
mately III cents per glass. The pro.
would add cent to the cost ant
State and local taxes of the same tota
/ still Grother cent. This would allow
the retailer a margin of approximately
134 cents per glass of the size men,
toned.
To make legal the sale of such fer
! nented liquor. the bill amends the
national prohibition acc as amended
and supplemented, by providing that
| the terms liquor" intoxicating liquor,
beer" "ale" and porter" as used in
that act shall not include beer, ale
porter Of similar fermerted liquor con-
tanning 80 per cent or less of alcohol
by weight. or per cent of alcohol by
volume. Your committee believes that
the proposed legislation Is not in con-
flict with the eighteenth amendment
inasmuch as beer of an alcoholic con-
tent of 80 per cent by weight is. on
eminent authority, said to be non
intoxicating in fact. The present lini-
tatiOn of one-half of ! per cent was
never intended to be line of demarca-
ton between liquor which was in fact
Intoxicating and that which was not,
and the mere fact that the Supreme
Court has sustained the power OF
Congress to fix that maximum per-
centage of alcoholic content does not
mean that it does not have the power
to fix higher one.
Beer of 32 per cent by weight is and
always has been considered light beer
that containing appreciably less than
that percentage of alcohol is much less
palatable and probably would not be
consumed in any great quantity. The
alcohol in 4 per cent beer is SO diluted
that it would require considerable effort
drink enough to become drunk.
Moreover, in determining what is in
fact Intoxicating it would not be proper
to use either an inveterate drinker OF
one easily susceptible to intoxication as
a criterion. Also, it would be assumed
that the beer is to be drunk as 1t is gen.
orally drunk, that is. in limited quantity
and with food. It 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 alcoholic beverage. as in beer, OF
tlle presence Ol 1OOO III the stomach,
hold the alcohol back from its rapid
passage through the stomach wall into
the blood stream and allow some of II
to be absorbed through the intestines
In this way the rate of absorption into
the blood is slowed down and the alco-
hol is allowed to pass of before there
is any large accumulation in the system
Farm Products Consumed.
In the production of beer there is
consumed a considerable quantity of
farm products. including malt. rice,
corn, hops, etc.
1t is estimated that the legalization
OF beer Of 80 per cent of alcohol by
weight will give employment to approxi-
mately $4,000 men In the breweries and
about 225,000 in its retail distribution.
In addition, there will be very large
number of men indirectly employed
through demands made by the brewing
industry upon other industries. Refer
ence has already been made to the ne
cessity for certain farm products in the
manufacture of malt beverages. The
expansion of production in the brewing
industry will require an estimated capi-
tai expenditure of $3.50 100000 within
the next year for rehabilitation and
modernization Of plants, and the pro-
vision for retail distribution would re-
quire large outlay also. The money
spent for production and distribution
would give employment to men in many
lines OF business. There would be a de-
mand for bottles, barrels. hoops, crowns.
labels, cases, glassware, refrigerating
equipment, machinery, etc The rail-
roads and truck lines would be bene-
fitted by increased tonnage. The psy-
Geological effect of the stimulation of
these industries upon business in gen.
eral would no doubt be far-reaching,
according to statement made before
your committee by representative of
the Committee on Industrial Rehabili-
tatlon, three men are put to work in
other lines of business for each man
put to work in the capital goods indus
tries
1t is difficult to estimate the amount
OF beer now being produced in the home
and IN illicit breweries. 1t goes without
saving, however, that it is quite large.
This beer is made under unscientific
and unsanitary conditions, and the al
coholic content cannot be controlled as
1t can in the high-class breweries with
proper refrigerating apparatus. Boot
leg beer Is offered for sale at prices
ranging from $40 to $50 a barrel. and
the Federal Government is not collect
ing cent of tax from this illegal prod
uct. The legalization of good, whole
some, palatable, non-intoxicating beer
will go far toward stamping out this
illegal traffic by making it Improbable
IN competition with good tax-paid beer
at one-third the price, and will enable
the Federal Government to collect a
large amount of revenue which it now