The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1933-11-08
u. S. MOVES TO
NAIL RETURN OF
PRE-DRY EVILS
Saloon-C Controlled Politics
Tabooed; Logger
Must Go.
BY WALKER STONE
Times Special Writer

AAHfh optttdi writer
WASHINGTON. Nov blow to
guard the post-prohibition era
against continuance Of prohibitions
evils and recurrence of pre- prohibi-
bition's abuses is the problem that
bubbles in Washington's cauldron
today as election returns brought
nearer the end Of the eighteenth
amendment.
On President Roosevelt's desk lies
a bulky report drawn up by an in
terdepartmental committee of ex-
perts, detailing the legal status OF
all laws affecting liquor, telling
which liquor laws remain constitu-
tional and what taxes and tariffs
will be in effect between the date
of repeal, Dec. 5 or 6, and the con-
venlng Of congress, and recon-
mending additional legislation by
congress.
Meanwhile a subcommittee of the
house committee on ways and means
nears the end Of its study Of liquor
problems, preparatory to hearing
before the full committee.
Tax Problem Arises
Official Washington is trying to
find a way to stamp out the boot
logger and the speakeasy, and at
the same time prevent the return
of saloon-controlled politics; to raise
the tax revenue that the federal,
state and city governments so
hungrily demand from the new
legal liquor trial, and at the same
time keep the price of the legal
product low enough to wean the
people away from moonshine.
One of the most discussed pro-
posals is a levy that could be COL
lected by the federal government,
with the bulk Of the proceeds 60
ing into the states according to pop
ulation.
The weakness of this scheme lies
in the fact that some of the states
will remain dry and even some of
the wet states will have dry areas by
local option
Brewers Protect Business
The saloon politics in the drys be-
fore Volstead, many believe, Sprang
from the mOnOpolistic control that
brewers and distillers-particula
breWers-exercised over retail eS-
Establishments. A preponderance of
saloon operators in most of the large
cities were not free agents, but were |
either managers Of chain eS-
Enlistment or otherwise subjected !
to coercion from manufacturers.
Practically all of the states that
have enacted liquor control legis-
lation, anticipatory of repeal, have |
forbidden such interrelationship be-
tween manufacturers and retailers,
and the practice is strictly forbidden |
under terms of the brewers code of |
fair competition now pending gov
eminent sanction.
Similar fair practice rules are being |
sponsored by reputable distilleries.
Most liquor manufacturers today |
seem determined to avoid repetition
of the mistakes that made their /
business for fourteen years an out
lawed trade
Price Still Mystery
ProhibitioniStS here today hailed |
the astonishing 2 to l dry vote in
North Carolina as a demonstration |
that the sentiment of the people is |
not frozen against sumptuary leg |
islation. They pointed out that it
will serve as a reminder to the
liquor industry that it can not af-
ford to misbehave.
What the price of liquor will be
when repeal becomes effective still |
is a matter of conjecture. There !
will be no uniformity. Some states
are refraining from taxation, while
others are imposing heavy sales
taxes and still heavier manufactur-
ing, wholesale and retail license
fees.
In New York, for example, it will
range from $500 to $1,000, and
thereby have almost as much effect
on the ultimate price to consumers
as the federal tax which probably
will be between $500 and SO a gall
lon.
Farmers already are reaping the
benefits of repeal. DR.. James NJ
Doran. commissioner of industrial
alcohol, announced today that
licensed diStilleries in this country
are now MASKING" grain at the rate
of 10000 bushels a day, which means
a domestic output of approximately