Evening star., 1933-01-15
The Senate Beer Plan.

More important than its slight reduc-
tions in permissible alcoholic content
under the House beer bill is the Senate
subcommittee method of approaching
the ticklish question of legalization of
beer and other beverages without run
ming afoul the Constitution.
The key to the Senate method is
found in Section (A):
Nothing in the national prohibition
act, as amended and supplemented,
shall apply to any of the following or
to any act, or failure to act, in respect
Of any Of the following containing not
more than 305 percentum of alcohol by
weight: Beer, ale, porter, wine, similar
fermented malt or vtnous liquors, or
fruit juices.
The Senate draft Of a beer bill, to be
reported to the Judiciary Committee TO-
morrow from its subcommittee, does not
attempt to do what the House bill does
in defining non-intoxicating beverage.
The House bill seeks to provide rev.
enue by the taxation of certain non
intoxicating liquor" The Senate bill,
as proposed, does not deal with the
question Of intoxication at all. It
merely exempts from certain provisions
Of the Volstead act certain liquors Of a
stipulated maximum alcoholic content.
This method is intended to make more
difficult challenge of the bill on con-
Stitutional grounds. The courts cannot
require Congress to do what Congress
refuses to do.
But it is obvious that the Senate bill
does not remove the fundamental OBJ
jections to legalization OF beer and
other beverages in advance of chang
ing or repeating the eighteenth amend
ment Certainly the Senate bill will
be interpreted as an opening wedge for
practical notification Of the eighteenth
amendment. If there is continued de-
lay in submitting to the States an ap-
propriate or acceptable plan Of repeal
ing or modifying the eighteenth
amendment, or If more than fourth Of
the States refuse to ratify the amend
ment to be submitted by Congress. the
tendency in Congress will be to resort
to the method proposed in the Senate
beer bill, and to amend the law,
should it become law, by constantly
raising the allowable alcoholic limit and
adding to the list Of beverages which
in the beginning are legalised. And as
the Senate bill makes no more effort
than the House bill to deal with the
saloon question, the return and the
gradual re-entrenchment Of the saloon
and all of the well known evils Of the
saloon are threatened.
As far as the Senate's lowering Of al
coholic limit Is concerned. the reduc-
tion of a fraction Of 3 per cent is not
of great importance. 1t has been said
that from the standpoint of manufac-
turing technicalities, 3o5 per cent beer
is less difncult to brew than 80 per
cent beer, and Senator Blaine has has
tened TO point out that sos per cent
beer contains more alcohol than some
Of the commercially well known light
beers Of the pre-prohibition era.
Adding wine to the bill, however, Is
suggesting, in effect. the Introduction
Of q new drink in America. Light
wines have heretofore been regarded as
containing minimum Of 10 per cent
alcohol A sos per cent wine is COM
mercially unknown In this country, al
though wines Of approximately that
content may be manufactured for local
consumption In some parts Of France.
Such wine is chemically possible, but
commercially untried. The winenakers
would probably develop a new process
Of restricting alcohol to the allowable
limit, or else adopt the procedure Of
diluting wine with grape juice, faced
perhaps with the dificulty of enabling
their customers TO distinguish between
old-fashioned vinegar and new-fash-
ioned wine" Ale and porter Of sos
per cent alcohol by weight are also
unknown beverages.
But they would, Of course. be sold in
competition with similarly named bev-
erages, of higher alcoholic content,
vended by bootleggers. The Senate bill
lifts the House flve-dollar-a-barrel tax
from home brew" taxing only those
beverages manufactured for sale. En-
forcing the law will be manifestly diff
cult The beer bootlegger can apparent
ly view the House and Senate measures
without alarm.