t
WHAT "WETS” AND “DRYS " THESE DAYS,
ARE TEEEING EACH OTHER IN HALLS OF CON
GRESS ..ABOUT PROHIBITION AND ENFORCEMENT |
f
Prohibition and the Bill of Rights—
Wet Slates Really. Dry and Dry
States Really Wet;.
Speech of Hon. Anthony .L Griffin,
of New York; in the Hun sc of Repre
sentatives, March. 5,ol95Jffr
iGdlltinued frprn: Last Issue.)
Ml’.. Blanton.. . Will, the gentleman
yield?
Mr. Griffin... K$r ;a\-fuiestion.
Mj-. BlnttfOtt* Whkt_.btftught. that
about was:this...
Mr, Griffin.... I .kuowv.whtitubrought,
it about.
Me. Blanton. A.yery. smart woman:
announced herself .as a candidate for
Congress in a certain district and said
she. was wet and wanted ..wine and.
beer.. We had as.a result a resolution
to.investigate the. Anli->Salooii League
•vnd. irit .tbat. came af.terwa.ni.
Mr. Griffin. I suppose so; but the
contest has been going on for a long
time and throughout the country there
has been evidence, of a series of mis
representations. T would put. the mis ,
representations .of.-; the. Anti-Saloon
League into-.tour classes: First and
foremost, among the,' misrepresenta
tions is .their name, “The Anti-Saloon
League.” In the beginning, before!
prohibition, was .adopted, .they- could
perhana.justly claim the title “ \nti
Saloon -.League,” 'hut since the .eigh
teenth. amendment .hHa*been adapted I
leave it to the. fain mind of. any gen
tleman. here, whether they can. he just,
ly called “The Anti-Saloon League.” |
Mr. Blanton- Will, the distin
guished gentleman yield further?- It,
as a matter of fact, there are saloons
not like the:old ones, but like the new
ones; in Chicago, Baltimore, Philadel
phia, and in iNew ..York; has. not this
organization a right to still retain its
name against the places that dispose
intoxicating liquor?
Mr. Griffin. They are not saloons;:
Mr. Blanton. The saloons have
been put out of Business. If'there are
places that;, dispense intoxicating
liquor, the organization has a right to
denominate itself . the “Anti-Saloon
League”.’
Mr. Griffin. That situation is - the.
one I want to emphasize.
Mr. Blanton. If the gentleman lias
a more appropriate name, I am sure
r,he organization would adopt it.
Mr. Griffin, f km ready to give it
to’ the gentleman right now: “Total
Abstinence Society,” because its pro
gram is “Total abstinence for every
body,” no matter how they feel about
it personally. I do not mean1 to go so
fat as to admit that they carry it out
themselves in their personal like*; hot’
they want total abstinence for others.
That is their aim. They want to
make tnrb country absolutely nby;
they want to not only close the sa<
loons, blit they want to close the bor
ders; they want to patrol' thecoasts to
prevent the possibility ol any drop of
the hated stulf entering this: beloved
land of ours."
Mrr Blanton. - They-want to uphold
McGrath
Cigarr
Tobaccos J
(Sandiesj i
Fruits |
Soft Drinks |
A Place to Meet f
Your Friends*
_i
Geo. Mutchler 1
Proprietor *
the fundamental law of che land,
which is the Constitution.
Mr. Hill of Maryland. Mr. Chair-j
man, will the gentleman yield to me? ;
Mr. Griffin. Yest*.
Mr. Hill of Maryland*: Mr. Chair- j
mnn, the gentleman from Texas (Mr.i
Blanton) the other day on. the. floor of
Lhe House claimed to have personal
knowledge of over. 400 of what he |
called saloons* in Baltimore
Mr. Blanton. No, not personal,
knowledge. I said that I had evidence !
of the existence of 50, and that one
colleague claimed there were 400
there. But 1 did not claim that I had
personal knowledge of them.
Mr. Hill of Maryland. Please do
not interrupt me. I am not yielding
to the gentleman.
Mr. Blanton. I do not want the
gentleman to misquote me. He will
remember that I asked from the floor
whether our colleague from Maryland .
(Mr. Linthicum) would deny that
there were 50 saloons there, and he
would not deny it.
Mr. Hill of Maryland. The gentle
man claims to have knowledge. I do
not know whether it. ris personal, or
not; but when a gentleman gets up on
the floor of the House and says that,
he knows of such and such things ex
isting. we assume he. knows it from
personal knowledge, and especially
when the gentleman is a gentleman, of
such thoroughness of. investigation as
the distinguished gentleman from
Texas* ft the gentleman from Texas
has any reason to believe that there
are in existence what he calls saloons,
is it not his duty under the Constitu
tion, which he has sworn several
times to support, to report that in
formation which he claims to have to
the local.United'States district attor
ney’?
Mr. Griffin. I think lie ought to pul
it in the Record.
Mr. Hill of Maryland. Yes, I think
he ought to put it into the Record.
Mr. Blanton. Then I will put one
in the Record. If the gentleman from j
Maryland (Mr.. Hill) will go to Balti
more this evening and go to what is
called “Abe’s Sea Food Place,” for
that is the sign in front of the cafe,
he will find that in front there is a
cafe but in the rear there is a saloon.,
and that he can get there all the:
whisky he wants at 50 cents per
drink.
Mr. Hill of Maryland! How does
the gentleman know- it ?.
Mr. Blanton. L have been there. An
officer in< tha United States Army
took me there to show me.; but, of'
course. I did not drink anything, But.:
the Army officer did, and he paid 50
cents per drink for it.
Mr. Hill of Maryland. Will the
! gentleman yield me just one brief,
statement? The gentleman from
Texas states that he has been in a
saloon in Baltimore. Why does he
not tell the district at torney what he
learned there, if he learned anything?
!: Mr. Blanton. If the gentleman
! knew all that 1 have been telling the
authorities he would know more than
he. could hold under that No. 8 hat
which he wears.
Mr. Hill of Maryland. Why does
not the gentleman go and. tell it to the
United States district attorney?
i Mr. Blanton. I have been telling
.j lots of information from the public
forum.. I am a legislator, not a detec
tive or public informer.
Mr. Hill of aMryland. I have never
seen any results from it.
Mr. Cooper of Ohio. Mr. Chair
man, will the. gentleman yield?.
Mr. Griffin. Yes.
Mr. Cooper of Ohio, t do not know
i whether they have, any saloons in Bal
! timore or Philadelphia, or New York,
; as the gentleman from Texas (Mr
J Blanton) says, hut I did notice in the
! newspapers a few days ago that in
J the city of New York they have sufv
;j stituted the bathtub for the old bar
. room.
Mr. Gritfih. I come now to the sec
ond cardinal misrepresentation of the
Anti-Saloon League.
Yhe Chairman. The time of the
gentleman from New' York has ex
qired*.
Hr..Griffin. I wonder if I could get
ar tittle! more time?
Mr. Oliver of Alabama. The gentle
man will remember that he gave up
Five minutes of hjs time yesterday to
the gentleman from Georgia. (Mr. Up
shaw ).
Mr. Griffin., Yes, ( did, in the full
ness of my heart.,
Mr, Oliver of Alabama, 1 have a
number of requests, and since the gen
tleman asked for only a limited time,
I can yield him only five minutes
more.
Mr. Griffin. That wiQ give me an
opportunity to proceed, with, my enu
meration.
Mr. Ackerman. Mr. Chairman, 1
will yield the gentleman five minutes
additional also.
Mr. Griffin. I will ask. gentlemen
not to take up any more of my time,
please. The second cardinal misrep
resentation of the Anti-Saloon
League, or Total Abstinence- Society,
which I feel, sure they would prefer
to adopt now, is that the eighteenth
amendment was fairly and justly
adopted.
I charge that the eighteenth amend
ment was not fairlj adopted. At the:
time it was submitted there were 32:
States out of the 48 States that had
prohibition in their constitutions, and
I submit tto any fair-minded man
whether he would care to> go before a
jury of 48, with .‘52 men in the-box ob
viously biased against him. It was j
not a fair submission to the American j
people.
Mr. aCrter: of Oklahoma; The gen ]
tleman will admit that it was submit- •
ted in accordance with the Constitu-1
tion ‘J
Mr. Griffin. Yes; but I'am dealing
with principles of ethics that are;
eternal.
Mr. Hudson. Mr. Chairman, will
the gentleman yield?
Mr. Griffin. Yes.
Mr. Hudson. Would the gentleman:
mean that it. should have been sub-j
mitted before any of the 32;States had
prohibition T
Mr. Griffin. No. That is a long
story, and I can not go into it now.'
but I shall answer t hat later. The j
third cardinal misrepresentation of;
the Anti-Saloon League is calling
their opponents “wets.” That is an
odious term. I do not like it person
ally. I do not like being put in that
category, because I consider that I am
a reasonably temperate man and al
ways have been. I do not like to be
classified with men by a term that is i
odious and suggestive of drunkenness I
and carousing and ribaldry and all
sorts of mean and low things, and 1
think that while it may be justifiable!
in the heat of argument to use a term
of that kind, I submit to the Anti
Saloon League that if they want to,
make friends with the American peo- |
pie they should abandon their odious !
term of “wet.” The fourth cardinal
misrepresentation of the Anti-Saloon
League is that the “wets” are in
league with th ebrewei s. We are not i
in league with the brewers. We are j
fighting the battle on higher grounds.;
We do not want to bring back the sa
loons.
They have no place in our economy,1
and they were fast disappearing at
the time the eighteenth amendment
came into existence. Now if the wets,
so-called, want to be nasty, they could
retort that the drys are in league
with the bootlegger. Let me show
some fiures in reference to bootleg
ging. They will prove very interest
ing to the gentleman from Texas and
1 know to the gentleman from Geor
gia; but before I get to that., permit
me to refer to Georgia.
Georgia adopted prohibition in
1733—August II, 1733. But the stills
flourished, and bootlegging went on to
such an extent that John Wesley,
founder of Methodism, was brought
into the country to see what he could
do by personal suasion. After work
ing 16 months in Georgia he was
1 forced to abandon it as a bad job.
In the fiscal year ended June 30,
1924, the reports of the Treasury De
partment show that over 17,000 illicit
distilling places were closed up or
captured in Georgia. 1 am going to
put into the Record a summary from
the' Treasury’s statistics for the last
fiscal year concerning intoxicating
liquors.
Mr. Lankford. Will the gentleuan
yield? How many were closed up in
New York State in the same time?
Mr. Griffin. I will give the figures
j in New York State, but I am going to
■ honor Georgia first. In the fiscal year
ending June 30, 11)24, there were illicit
distilleries and distilling apparatus
seized as follows:: There were 737 dis
tilleries, 1.472 stills, and 649 still
worms, and 1(5,389 fermenters—ir
Georgia, after 200 years of prohibi
tion.
Mr. Horsey. Will the gentleman
yield ?
Mr. Griffin. Take New York—I
will give Maine in a moment.
Mr. Ilersey. I hope so, but I want
ed to ask a question about Georgia.
Will the gentleman answer me?
Mr. Griffin. I will if I can get more
time.
Mr. Ilersey. I wanted to know
whether the gentleman approves of
that? Does the gentleman approve
of doing that ?
Mr. Griffin. Seizing stills?
Mr. Ilersey. Putting them out of
business.
Mr. Griffin. Certainly I do. Hut
the vast quantity of stills in existence
in the State of my friend from Geor
gia after 200 years of prohibition
ought to teach some lesosn. I shall
show what happened in New York
State, with a population over three
times as great as Georgia. In New
York there were seized 2G0 distilleries, j
106 stills, 13 still worms, and 1,146'
fermenters. There were 13 still worms
as against 549 in Georgia. There
were 1,146 fermenters as against 10,
(Continued on Page 4.)
Notice to Pay School Tax
To*All Whom This May Concern:
In accord with Chapter 29, Session
Laws of Alaska, 1910, and amendments ■
thereto, all male persons between the
aces of twenty-one and tifiy years, w ho
are not “sailors in the United States
navy or revenue cutter service, volun
teer firemen, paupers or Insane per
sons,” are required to pay an annual
school tax of five dollars ($5).
This tax is due and payable after the
PROFESSIONAL
Mrs. Jean McLean
Notary Public
Tokotna, Alaska
Du Rand’s j
Cafe and ;
Hotel !
\
Flat City j
and deduct as herein specified"' within
first Monday in the month of April and
i .shall be paid before the first day of
J May, providing you are in the Terri
tory of Alaska mi said first date; if not,
the tax is due within thirty days after
| vour arrival in Alaska or within ten
! days after written or oral demand is
' made upon vou by the school tax col
lector. Taxes not paid in accordance
with the foregoing requirements shall
become delinquent, and each person de
linquent shall be subject to a fine of
j two dollars.
All persons, firms and corporations
employing labor in Alaska shall fur
nish to collectors a list of all employes
subject to tax, and employers of labor
as above set out are authorized by pro
visions of said act to deduct amount of
the tax from the wages of each em
ployee who is subject thereto. If any
of such employers shall fail to report
the neriod designated for payment of
said tax, the said employers of labor
shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and
subject to a fine of from $50 to $500.
All persons subject, to, and refusing
or neglecting to pay. said tax, are sub
ject to a tine of $25, or imprisonment in
jail for period r f one month; and all
such employers of labor as herein set
out. who neglect or refuse to collect
said tax from employees may fie pro
ceeded against and shall pay the
amount of each individual tax. and a.
further penally of $25 for each such'
tax.
Tax receipts will be furnished by the
tax collectors.
Dated at T.ikotna. Alaska, this 31st
day of May, lU2t>
J. II. McLEAN,
Duly author/, d and qualified1
\laska Territorial Schoel Tax
Collector for Tokotna District.
B. & t Store
McGrath, Alaska
Groceries
Hardware
Miners’ Supplies
of All Kinds
Ladies' Furnishings
Furs Bought and Sold'
Moose Skin Mitts and Hoofs
King Island Mukluks i
s r
Baheesh, or Sled Hashing j
Voigt’s Dog Harness, the very
Best
FRESH GARDEN’ SEEDS
A. R. Eldridge
ALASKA RIVERS NAVIGATION !
COMPANY
Operating Light Draught Stea mers
On the Kuskokwim.
Capt. Wallace Langley, Manager,
J. H. McLEAN..
Fresh Fruits
Fresh Vegetables
Plenty of Nuts
Choice Canned Goods
Fresh Garden Seeds
Meats