AMERICA NOT TOO DRY

Evening Star, Issue 17924, 21 March 1922, Page 6

AMERICA NOT TOO DRY

PLENTY OF "REAL" BEER, COMPLAINTS OF SOFT DRINKS VENDORS. In vie a- of the firm deekiuitnns by Prohibitionist advocates of Uio awful •'drouth" that exists in tho United States by ream of tin bone-dry anti-liquor remine, it is almost laughable to read of manufacturers of "soft" drinks com plainin* bitterly that they cannot pell their "nea-" berir—because unscrupulous competitors are making and readily disposing of "nearer" .beer —so- noar, ui tact, that it is the " re-ally real " beer that lends its amber' color to tho glass and cheers, refreshes, and exhilarates When America went "dry," and a nation of 100,000,000 teetotallers was created by one stroke of the legislative pen, the numerous brewery companies hitherto conducting a profitable business with «, great nroportion of those hundred million were right up against it. Their business, the managements concluded, was at an end, and some profitable use had to bo found for their costly buildings and plant. Somo breweries changed over with little difficulty fo the manufacture of all sorbs of teetotal beverages and alcoholic substitutes. Others went- in for ice cream, another the malting of chemicals; many, it must be concluded, just adopted the slogan, under tho rose, of "Business as usual," and they continued turning out, under a camouflage, the real, genuine nectar, o? which tho working man is traditionally held to bo continually afraid of being "robbed. Bishop Locke, of course, is uuite sincere in the ho recently made at Wesley Church that the ktorics bv persons interested in the liquor traffic as" to the breakdown of tho Prohibition law in the United States were " a pack of lies,'' but when persons interested in the non-alcoholic liquor traffic lament of the iierca competition of illegallybrewed beer—not to mention tho output of the thousands of homo breweries—the- inquiring Australian begins to think there must be ttometh'ng in the talcs of travellers. Of these-, thero havo boon in tho past few days, to off-set against/ the bishop, MrW. Leitch, who Bays that the-beet-wines, spirits, or ales may be obtained in the big cafes and hotels hi America ; and Mr Ivor PI vans co'ifcss.!? that he drank mora whisky in New York than anywhoro else in his experience. But the remarks of Anglo-American exbrewers are mora authoritative and woighty. When tho Prohibition Act camo into force, Chicago Breweries switched over from tho manufacture of real beer to the production of a beer containing less than r, per cent, of alcohol, thus coming within the prescribed limit. The chairman of tho company, Mr J. W. Spademan, stated that the company's product was made of tho same ingredients and by tho same methods as beer, bat tho alcohol content was reduced later by distillation, and sold for industrial purposes. Tho beverage, oven kept fox eighteen months, was * perfectly sound and pleasant to the palate—indeed, a icmarkably rrioodrink"; but Mr Spackmin complained at tho meeting of shareholders, held in London on 29th December last, that somo of the company's competitors were openly defying tho "law, and supplying saloons with beer containing a much higher percentage of alcohol. The profit, he said, had been affected by the " unfair competition of many of the vendors of beer, who did not adhere as wrrup-ulously to tho laws o? their country ns the company bad dona," The chairman of San Francisco Breweries, Ltd., Mr A. H. Wynn, had a similar grievance at tho meeting of shareholders held in lxmdon on 16th December last. Referring to tho loss of over £4(3,000 sustained during the year on the manufacture of i.on-alcoholio beverages, Mr Wynn said their sales (of dealoohoused beer) had been very disappointing, and showed o continued decreas-). Tbexa was no question, he continued, that this decrease was due mainly to tho mcrecKing trade done in alcoholic drinks, and to home brewing in the United States.

Even mor<3 definite and conclusive charges against tho effectiveness of tho "bono dry" administration were made by Sir G Eves, presiding at the meeting of shareholders of St. Louis Breweries, held ■in London on 16th December. He said: —" Total Prohibition is still the law in the United States, but it has been found impracticable to enforce it against tho will of the people. Beer, wines, and spirits are easily procurable everywhere, with the result that it has become increasingly difficult to sdi the temperance beverages. Our managers, in the early part of the year, put upon tho market a root beer which has met with considerable success, ami lias very much helped our sales; but, in spite of ibis, tho total volume of our business has been extremely disappointing. Jt is always dangerous to predict, and in thin case it is not only dangerous, tout is somewhat difficult. There can -be no doubt that Prohibition in America has been a failure. It baa proved a dead, letter; tho open violation of the law is apparent, on every fiide. In my opinion, the brewing of light beers must again ho permitted. As to when that will como about nobody can possibly saT, and I must confess at the moment. I do not pea any sign of it; in fact, wo recently had a little set-back." Tho chairman then went on to explain that about three months earlier tho Secretary of tho United States Treasury iseuod permits for what was called "medicinal beer." by -which anybody croing to a doctor unci obtaining a certificate could obtain an amount of beer and light wine for medicinal purposes; but hardly had that permission been, pit into force than a. Bill, called the " Anti-medical Beer." war, rushed through both Congress and. the Senate, and passed by a largo majority, thus nullifying tho permits issued by the Treasury. No respite from the Prohibition yoke, therefore, could reasonably b'.> erpeeted from tho present Parliament; but an election of Sonato and Cor;guesswould bo bdd a year bene©, when thero was no coubt both bodies would bo varied considerably, and Sir C Eves hoped that "saner counsela then would prevail." In the same way, tho directors of tho Donvetr United Breweries stated that, owing to tli© fact tliafc real boer and other liquors were freely obtainable, it had boon found impossible (by the oompanv) to maintain the sales of temperance coverages at a, figuro on which,any substantial profit could bo earned. Tho directors of ■lndianapolis Breweries declared that National Prohibition had proved impossible of enforcement, and tho open violation and disregard of tho Law having bccoma universal, theyvroro of opinion' that Congress -would modify the drastic conditions contained in the Vols toad Act, and again logah'ao the Kilo of beer of a. low alcoholic content

Tho striking feature of tho reports of thos'J undertakings that formerly made a good profit out of brewing -beer in tho United States, but had restricted their activities and (jane int-j other avenues of production, waa tlso genera! agreement that the traffic- in illicit alcoholic- beverages in tho United St&tes had etoadily increased, and that conditions had reached such a ctago that before very long som*> modification of tho law would toocoino inevitable. —Melboujno ' Age.'