Evening star., 1933-03-20
On Trial.

FINAL action by the Congress on the
beer bill, permitting the manufacture
and sale Of that beverage provided it
contains no more than sos per cent
alcohol by weight, or 80 per cent, de-
pending upon the adjustment Of diff
ferences between the Senate and House,
Is expected not later than tomorrow.
President Roosevelt will sign the beer
bill, it is predicted. Last week he sent
message to Congress urging the pas
sage Of such legislation. When the
measure becomes law 1t will be up to
the States to provide regulations for
the sale and distribution Of the
beverage. In large measure, the
liquor business will be on trial after
twelve years Of national prohibition.
If the brewers and the politicians
join forces again and undertake to
operate the retailing of beer as it was
operated before national prohibition
was voted, the drys will have, indeed,
the weapon for which they are search
ing to defeat repeal of the eighteenth
amendment. 1t was that combination
of brewer and politician, followed by
the domination of politics and Gov
ernment in many localities by the
liquor traffic, that really brought about
national prohibition. The liquor traffic,
largely through the greediness of the
brewers who sought to establish a
saloon on every corner and in the
middle of the block, was not content
to remain within confines. 1t sought
to run the country.
In no State will the conduct of the
manufacture and sale of the proposed
beer be more closely watched than in
New York. Already there have been
indications that there would be an
effort to unite the forces of beer and
politics. The fear has been expressed
that once more the licensing Of beer
saloons would become a mere political
function, with Tammany in New York
City holding the reins. Fortunately.
Gov. Lehman Of New York has different
ideas about the, matter. He will insist,
it is reported, that the legislation for
the regulation and control of the sale
of beer shall divorce the issuance of
licenses from politics. If he Is sue
cessful in this, the opponents Of the
eighteenth amendment will heave q
sigh of relief.
Many of the vets have looked with
disfavor on the proposal to amend the
Volstead act SO as to permit the manu-
facture and sale of beer, pending the
repeal of the eighteenth amendment.
They have feared that it might lead to
an orgy; that it might give their cause
such black eye that national prohibi-
ton would be clamped down more
firmly than ever. These vets are not
inclined to give either the brewers or
the politicians their heads in this mat
ter of licensing the retail sale Of beer
Fifteen days after the beer bill be-
comes law the new statute will be fully
operative. In more than a score of
States the manufacture and sale of the
proposed beer will be under way. It
is true that the heads of some of the
dry organizations are planning to force
the matter into the courts If they can
and enjoin the manufacture and sale
of the beer. But the legal forces on
the other side will be no less active
The country, therefore, is likely to have
a demonstration of the sale and con-
sumption of legalized beer on a large
scale within a very short time. Surely
the beer trafic-and the vets and
their cause-will be on trial.