Liquor Control in the U.S.A. [The Rotarian, January 1934]

German Beer "Intoxicating beverages" - an ocean of beer in a large German brewery awaiting shipment

The Honorable Gifford Pinchot, a life-long advocate of prohibition:

[…] To many it may seem strange to read a dry Governor's ideas on the distribution of liquor. And so a word of explanation is necessary. I am not only A dry, but I am dry. But I accept the decision of the American people. That does not mean I have weakened or surrendered my allegiance to the dry cause. What I have done is what I hold every good American must do under the circumstances. I have accepted the decision of the majority. This decision against my own view does not lead me to believe that the great majority of the people of the United States are for repeal because they want to guzzle whisky and wallow in the gutter. We are not a nation of drunkards. We were not before prohibition; we are not under prohibition; and we are not going to be after prohibition. At the moment, very large numbers of American citizens do not believe, as I do, that prohibition at its worst was infinitely better than booze at its best. They have the same right to their opinion that I have to mine. Roughly there are three opinions on this question of prohibition. The sincere drys are convinced that prohibition is morally and economically right. The sincere wets believe that prohibition is morally and economically wrong. And then there are those who have a selfish personal interest in the return of liquor. Whether their interest is a personal thirst, a personal money profit, or a personal political profit from alliance with the liquor traffic, it is not necessary to inquire. The well meaning sincere wets, plus the group of selfishly interested, joined to overwhelm the sincere drys in the battle of the ballot […].

USA after the repeal of prohibiton The "wet" territory of the United States immediately after Utah ratified the repeal of prohibition on December fifth, 1933

Frank J. Loesch, president of the Chicago Crime Commission:

[…] It seems to me an unwarranted interference with the rights of a person to say that he shall stand up to drink beer but he must sit down when he drinks his spirituous liquor. I think men and women should have the right to drink in such places at the bar standing up or sitting at tables. As long as women have equal rights to vote they should have equal rights in drinking with the men, however objectionable that may be to many of us […].

An old fashioned saloon Seems my Digitarian friends are too busy bridging divides to have a beer with me ...