I FOREWORD NCREASED public interest in the liquor question; the development of more scientific and accurate methods of analyzing its several aspects; the continued activity of the prohibition forces, and the gradual coalescing of the liberal elements for united effort against them; certain noteworthy experiments looking to the improvement of the character of drinking places, together with well-reasoned suggestions from persons of high standing and open minds having the same end in view, are among the outstanding features of the past year, and account for the large size of the Year Book of the United States Brewers' Association for 1915 as compared with previous numbers. While it would be futile to deny that the year has seen some ground gained by those who, for one reason or another, are opposed to the legalized sale of alcoholic beverages, it is gratifying to note that the process of voting "dry" municipalities, counties or states by virtue of purely emotional appeals, is becoming increasingly difficult. The voter of to-day is not inclined to accept at face value the wild statement, erroneous deduction and the veiled sophistry which characterize the stock prohibition argument, but is showing a growing disposition to demand and to weigh all the facts of the situation before reaching a conclusion. To the educational movement, inaugurated by this organization, may be justly given some of the credit for this change of attitude. Throughout the year, effort has been made to bring the facts before the thoughtful citizens not only in states threatened by the prohibition propaganda, but in all other parts of the country as well. The different aspects of the subject-social, economic and physiological-have received their due share of attention. The weight of evidence against prohibition is impressive. In answer to the hysterical cry that "alcohol is poison," the medical scientist asserts its value as a remedy in certain diseases, and demonstrates how its physiological action varies according to its proportion, in the various beverages and the other elements composing them. The charge that it is the principal source of pauperism, degeneracy and crime is refuted by the sociologist who presents the actual conditions to the public view. The latest indictment, that it is the chief cause of industrial accidents, is disproved by the statistician in unbiased analyses of the experience and official data of the states operating under the workmen's compensation systems. Finally, in answer to the glowing predictions of public and private prosperity, of a decrease in immorality and disease, under prohibition, the politico-economist presents the picture of broken public treasuries, defaulted bonds, unpaid school teachers, abandoned public work and empty business houses, of law evasion, of "bootlegging" and illicit distilling, of drunkenness and poverty as drawn by the official documents of the commonwealths which have been placed under the yoke of the prohibition system. Each year sees a gratifying advance on the part of true temperance which has moderation as its watchword, and a strengthening of the effort to eradicate from the saloon the evils and abuses with which that institution has been associated. To give increased impetus to this great movement, and to draw out the ideas of thoughtful and disinterested observers the United States Brewers' Association, at its annual convention held at Springfield, Mass., in October, 1915, authorized competitive essays on the subject of "The Solution of the Saloon Problem," for which prizes amounting to $5,000 will be offered. The jury to award the prizes will be composed of persons of eminence in various parts of the country and the conditions of the competition will soon be announced. In this connection it is interesting to note that the retiring President, in an address at the Springfield Convention endorsed the suggestion emanating from the Co-operative Committee of establishing family resorts to take the place of the present saloons, and the attempts in this direction of the so-called English Public House Trust. Among other matters brought before the Convention was that of the tax on beer, in connection with other governmental revenue questions, by the Trustees of the United States Brewers' Association; the description by the Advisory Committee of the extreme laws resorted to in prohibition states in the futile endeavor to accomplish prohibition; the revelations by the Vigilance Committee in regard to pauperism and crime in such commonwealths, and the bad state of public and private business; the plea by the Publication Committee for co-operation of state and local organizations with the national body in the common cause, and the discussion by the newly-elected President of "Efficiency and Drink" and kindred subjects. In addition to the regular proceedings of the Convention, the Year Book presents some of the most important contributions to the literature on the liquor question which have been published throughout the year. Many of them are from independent sources. A most striking article is Arthur Brisbane's "A Temperance Talk to Newspaper Men," in which the famous New York editor demolishes the prohibition argument by an irrefutable array of fact and argument, and shows the immorality of destroying a legalized busi ness without compensation. Though some points in Mr. Brisbane's article may be debatable, its principal conclusions cannot be avoided. A most exhaustive and painstaking "Study of the Causes of Industrial Accidents," by Gustavus Myers, published originally in the American Statistical Quarterly, for September, 1915, disproves beyond peradventure the recently conceived and widely circulated charge that great numbers of such casualties are due to the use of liquor by the workers in shop and factory. Taking the official reports of the progressive commonwealths which have adopted employe's compensation laws, Mr. Myers demonstrates that liquor figures in such a small number of cases as to be a negligible quantity. Of similar import is an excerpt from a study by the British Association for the Advancement of Science, published under the caption "Alcohol as a Factor in Industrial Accidents" which, incidentally, refers to fallacious assumptions by the Scientific Temperance Federation of Boston. An elaborate report based upon investigations extending over a period of more than four years was issued during the year by the Norwegian Alcohol Commission. Because of the authoritative character of the report and the completeness with which it treats each phase of the alcohol problem, it is copiously quoted in the Year Book. The majority of the Commission finds emphatically against prohibition, cites the ineffectiveness of that system in the United States, referring particularly to the experience of Maine and recommends the retention of the present Company law of Norway with sundry improvements. The minority, while confessing a desire for prohibition, does not wish it brought about at one time, but seeks to have it accomplished by the gradual extension of "dry" areas. Prohibition is also decried by the Moderate League of New Zealand, whose request for the appointment of a Commission to examine into certain phases of the liquor problem is set forth in the article "New Zealand's Plan." Prohibition's difficulties in Russia, and its breakdown in Iceland are described in interesting articles from trustworthy sources. West Virginia, where prohibition went into effect in July, 1914, has suffered the disorders characteristic of the system but in even greater degree than experienced by some of her sister States. The "Record of Prohibition in West Virginia" is a graphic presentation of the dilemma brought about by a combination of machine politicians and self-styled reformers. Three sessions of the Legislature were necessary for the enactment of tax laws satisfactory to the Governor. "In the meantime," says the writer, "a moratorium, as in war-swept Europe, did business in West Virginia. State officials went unpaid. Funds due the public schools could not be paid by the State Treasurer. Even the State University had its allowance cut off. The Omnibus Revenue law is a dragnet 'for corporations doing business in West Virginia. Likewise it bears heavily on the owners of all kinds of property. Briefly it doubles the charter tax, triples the tax on non-resident charters and imposes an excise tax of one-half of one per cent on the net earnings of corporations. It is also shown that despite an unusually odious and incidentally expansive system of espionage, that "bootleggers," dive-keepers and other illicit dealers in liquor, flourish and multiply; that intoxication is widespread and that ordinary business concerns are loud in their protests against the exactions of government and the prostration of trade and commerce. For a depiction of affairs in another prohibition State, the reader is referred to the article on "Economic Effects of Prohibition in Tennessee." What may be termed the medical side of the drink question is given prominence. Among others, the articles entitled "Alcohol Problem and Modern Medicine," "Clinical Use of Alcohol," "Bearing of Alcohol and the Temperance Movement on National Welfare," "Alcohol and Eugenics," "Alcohol and Insanity," "Alcoholism among Criminal Insane," "Death Rates of Abstainers and Moderate Drinkers," and "Alcohol a Blessing or a Curse,"—all written by or based on the writings of distinguished scientists at home and abroad, will be found exceedingly informative and suggestive. Interest also attaches to Alexander F. Part's essay on "Licensing Reform: a New Policy," from the Nineteenth Century and After; the paper by Mayor Newton D. Baker of Cleveland, on "Law, Police and Social Problems," which was published in the Atlantic Monthly; the article on "The Swedish System of Individual Control," and the discussion of "The Question of Compensation," which throw light on certain other sides of the question. The Year Book is intended to serve as a reference book for publicists, legislators and all students of the problem it deals with. Анзи, 7 это Secretary of the United States Brewers' Association. EDWARD LANDSBERG. JOHN F. NAGEL.... SIMON FISHEL. .809 Calvert Bldg., Baltimore, Md. 1916 .38 Hawley St., Boston, Mass. .1619 Oliver Bldg., Pittsburg, Pa. .325 East North St., Danville, Ill. ..716 Conti St., New Orleans, La. .114 East 51st St., New York, N. Y. 1916 1916 1916 1916 1916 Central City, S. D. 1916 1917 1917 1917 1917 .36 Forrest St., Brooklyn, N. Y. GUSTAVUS W. BERGNER.... Thompson and 32nd Sts., Philadelphia, Pa. .1422 First Nat'l Bank Bldg., Chicago, Ill. ...965 Main St., Buffalo, N. Y. ..1113 American Trust Bldg., Cleveland, O. 1917 HENRY GUND.... ..9th St. & Mormon Coulee Rd., La Crosse, Wis. 1917 .26th & Chestnut Sts., Oakland, Calif. 1917 .275 E. Elizabeth St., Detroit, Mich. 1918 13th & Cherokee Sts., St. Louis, Mo. 1918 ...... CARL S. PLAUT. |