Evening star., 1932-11-27

AS if alcoholic content and amount
of tax were not problems enough to
plague beer enthusiasts in Congress,
there is looming larger than ever the
perplexing question of whether 1t
should be sold by the bottle or by the
glass. At the bottom Of this question
is the saloon.
With both political parties on record
against the saloon, drafters of pro-
posed legislation are wracking their
brains to find a way of dispensing
legalized brew without invoking reccg-
niZed evils of the saloon.
This will be one of the major puzzles
to be tackled this week by modifica-
tionists in the House who are on the
Executive Committee" of the wet bloc.
Leaders of this bloc are Representative
John j. O'Connor, Democrat. of New
York and Representative James M.
Beck, Republican, of Pennsylvania.
In the minds of this group lies a
joint determination to protect "the in
terests of the working man." whose
thirst for beer is represented as over
powering.
No Time for Red Tape.
The average working man, it is ar
gued by his champions, has neither the
money nor the time to spend in un-
tangling red tape surrounding his legal
beer. Bottled beer, they hold, is all
right for the rich man who likes to
quench his thirst at the club, but the
poor man wants a quick glass of beer
for lunch, and he doesn't want to go
home or to club to drink it.
I'VE are going to try and give the
working man his glass of beer without
bringing back the saloon" it was ex-
planned yesterday at the Office of one
member Of the wet bloc. How this can
be done will be discussed at a confer
ence of beer advocates in the next few
days"
So far the saloon question has been
somewhat ignored in the rapid develop
ments with regard to repeal and modi-
fication of the past week. Legislative
drafting experts have been instructed
to prepare beer bill that does not
specify percentage of alcohol or amount
of tax, leaving these decisions to COM
mittees. Nothing was said, apparently,
about regulation of the sale of beer.
The attitude of most of the leaders
on this question probably was sum-
married in a declaration yesterday by
Speaker Garner that the saloon prob
lem was "a creek we don't have to cross
till We get to it." He was replying to
a question by newspaperman as to
what safeguard against the saloon would
be contained in the proposal of the
Democratic leadership Of the House for
immediate repeal of the eighteenth
amendment.
Urges Repeal Vote First.
The Speaker reiterated his belief that
the whole beer question was one that,
in the natural course" should not
come up until Congress has had an OPP
portunity to vote on outright repeal.
With the question of what will be done
about the eighteenth amendment out of
the way, concerted attention can be
given to beer legislation, he explained.
Beer bills in the past have been di-
vided into three general classes. First,
there were those which merely sought to
amend the Volstead act by raising the
allowable alcoholic limit, with no re-
striction as to method of sale. A sec
ond group raised the alcoholic limit and
restricted sale to original containers
for consumption in the home or places
other than the place of purchase. The
third class raised the alcoholic content
so that wet States, by appropriate legis-
lative or other action, could provide for
manufacture and distribution of the
legalized product.
The Original container" restriction
was aimed, of course, at the saloon.
where most of the profits were derived
from the sale Of beer on draught-from
the bung. A saloon, however resplend-
ent with mahogany bar. foot rail, free
lunch and art" could never be sue
cess with bottled beer that could not be
imbibed on the spot.
One of the latest suggestions for
amendment Of the Volstead act has
been made by local attorney, Nathan
B. Williams, in letter to Senator Tyd-
ings, Democrat, Of Maryland, who Is a
champion of the wet cause. The at
torney proposes that Government con-
troll be restricted to distilled and forti-
fed liquors." leaving such products OF
nature" as beer and win,s free from
interference Tydings is said to approve
this plan. He is preparing liquor bill
for early introduction. but whether it
embraces such scheme is not known.
Some vets have advocated sale of
bottled or draught beer in restaurants
with regular meals as a means of cir
cumventing the saloon, but here, again,
no provision is made for the workman
who carries his lunch box, or for that
matter, for the man in the bread line.@
Smacks Of Barroom.
Draught beer, on the other hand
smacks too much of the barroom OF
p-e-Volstead days to suit these who