Evening star., 1932-12-18
81 BEER EXPECTED
TO WIN IN HOUSE
Special Bill for D. C.. Held
Needed if. Brew Is
LegaIized.
Continued From First Page.l

have to write new Law for that pur
pose. The legislatures of AZ of tn
States are to meet in January ant
would be in a position to tackle tn,
question.
When the showdown comes in th'
House on the beer bill much may de
pend upon the final shape of the meas
,ure. If present plans are carried out
the bill will be debated under genera
rules of the House and will be open tt
amendment. 1t might be amended Sc
as to reduce the alcoholic content tt
2.75 per cent and also to provide againS
the sale of beer in saloons. Such
amendments might, if adopted, affect
the votes of a number of the members
The vote on the opening day of the
session on the Garner resolution fol
the re1-e.. '0e :he eighteenth amend.
ment was 272 "ayes" and l44 noes,
divided as follows: Ayes" 1853 Demo
Gratis l03 Republicans and l Farmer
Labor; noes" A Democrats and 10C
Republicans. Eighty-one of the op-
poneltS of the repeal amendment were
lame duck members of the House, ! |
Democrats and 10 Republicans
What the Senate will do with the
beer bill if it is passed by the House
and sent to the Senate is a question
The Democrats of the Senate laid down
the proposition at a caucus of their
own that the beer bill should be re-
ferred first to the Judiciary Comlaittee
to pass upon its legality and second to
the Finance Committee. since it Is a
revenue measure and that committee
has jurisdiction over all such legaslz-
ton.
No Amendments Proposed.
Senator Smoot of Utah, Republican,
and chairman of the Finance Commit
tee, said yesterday he thought his COM
mittee, however, might have the Job
of dealing with the beer bill from every
angle. He said, further, that there was
nothing to prevent the Finance Com
mittee from adding other revenue fea-
tureT to the beer bill if it seemed wise
to the members so to do. The Utah
Senator added, however, that so far
there had been no proposal for such
amendment of the beer bill Whether
an attempt would be made to add to
the beer bill general manufacturers
excise tax, such as suggested by Presi-
dent Hoover in his message to Con-
gress, Senator Smoot said he did not
know
Senate leaders expressed the opinion
that if the House passes the beer bill
this week, as it is expected to do, the
measure could be brought to vote in
the Senate at the present session.
Many Senator's believe the Senate
would pass a beer bill If 1t voted on
1t. Nearly all Southern Democratic
aas well as Northern and Western Demo-
cratic Senators are willing to vote for
a beer bill. On the Republican side
there are a number of Senators, like
Bingham OF Connecticut, ready and
anxious to support such a measure.
Senator Watson of Indiana, Repubh-
can leader: Senator Smoot Of Utah, and
Senators Harrison of Mississippi and
Walsh of Montana expressed the view
beer bill could be brought to vote in
the Senate before March 4, provided 1t
is properly put through the House.
They said they knew Of no plans for a
filibuster against such g measure.
However, the legislative situation
looks none too bright for beer vote
in the Senate. That tady has still to
act upon all the appropriation bfr1s It
will have before 1t thu Glass banking
bill and many other imoortant meas
ureS before the session closes.
Veto of 3.2 Beer Forecast.
Considerable confidence was expressed
by Republican leaders at the Capitol
that President Hoover would veto beer
bill If it came to him. particularly If 1t
provides for as high an alcoholic con-
tent as 80 per cent and also made no
provision against a return Of the saloon.
That Congress would be able to pass a
beer bill over presidential veto is
not credited in informed quarters 1t
would take tWo-thirds vote in both
houses to override veto.
The Senate Judiciary Committee has
q subcommittee at work on a repeal
OF the eighteenth amendment resolu-
ton, composed of Chairman Blaine of
Wisconsin, and Senators Borah of
Idaho, Hebert of Rhode Island, Walsh
: of Montana and Dill Of Washington
So far it has passed tentatively on a
States from flood of liquor from
wet States if the prohibition amend
ment be repealed. It is the hope of
members of the subcommittee they will
be. able to report to the full commit
tee within couple of weeks. Pres
sure of ether work has handicapped
the subcommittee and prevented more
frequent meetings. At present it has
before it for consideration proposals
to place in the repeal amendment a
bar to the return of the saloon. While
this is backed by some members of
Congress. there is a big demand for an
outright return of control of the liquor
traffic to the States l. is admitted
that it will be extremely difficult to
write into a constitutional amendment
a bar to saloon. Furthermore, if such
a ban were adopted. the Federal Gov
ernment would necessarily be involved
In the enforcement of the law.
Would Expedite Action.
Senator Bingham has two beer bills
now on the Senate calendar. both with
adverse reports, but nevertheless with
a calendar status. They were reported
from the Manufacturers Committee,
headed by Senator La Toilette The
Connecticut Senator is seeking to find
some way in which he could substitute
for one of his bills now on the calendar
the House beer bill, after 1t may have.
passed that body SO as to expedite its
consideration in the Senate.
Disgruntled advocates of the legali-
zatlon of wine as we'll as beer, who
were turned down by the Ways and
Means Committee of the House, yester-
day haunted members of the Senate,
seeking to impress on them the need
of amending the beer bill so as to
include wine when the measure reaches
the Upper House. The supporters of
wine legislation are not inclined to
view with complacency the passage of
bill providing only for the manu-
facture and sale of beer and ale.
Representative Lea Democrat, Of
California, leader of the wine bloc. said
that under House rules an amendment
to the beer measure to legalize wine
would not be germane and that his
group would seek legalization OF wine
fhrol1ph on anen6p,ppt fn the hill ~