"THOU SHALL NOT DRINK SUCCESSFUL AS 10 COMMANDMENTS"

WHEELER DECLARES 'DRY' LAW IS SUCCESSFUL, OPPOSES REPORT OF ANTI-SALOON LEAGUE

Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) On May 7, 1925, The Washington Times reports that today Wayne B. Wheeler, "generalissimo of the drys," said...

"'Thou shall not drink' is being enforced just as successfully as any of the Ten Commandments."

Mr. Wheeler was responding to a "sensational report" by the Iowa branch of the Anti-Saloon League** which says that prohibition is turning Iowa farmers into "bootleggers and illicit distillers."

He argues that farmers, "the backbone of the dry movement," are not turning their corn into liquor.  Wheeler further states that the Volstead Act*** reduces or mitigates liquor violations.

*Wayne Bidwell Wheeler (1869-1927) was born in Ohio & graduated from Oberlin College, 1894.  WBW became a leader of the Anti-Saloon League & leading advocate of prohibition using mass media communication to support the movement.

**Anti-Saloon League was founded in Ohio in 1893.  The lobby group played a key role in the temperance movement & the push for prohibition.

***Volstead Act (1919) sponsored by Andrew Volstead of Minnesota was also known as the National Prohibition Act.  It implemented the 18th Amendment prohibiting the manufacture, sale & transport of intoxicating liquor in the United States.

SOURCE

"'Dry' Law Not Failing, He Declares," The Washington Times, May 7, 1925, Chronicling America, Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/

Wayne Bidwell Wheeler

1920

Harris & Ewing Photo

Library of Congress

"BEER BILL WOULD HAMSTRING PROHIBITION ENFORCEMENT"

ANTI-SALOON LEAGUE COUNSEL RESPONDS TO PETITION OF 50 CONGRESSMEN

Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) On June 2, 1922, Wayne B. Wheeler*, counsel of the Anti-Saloon League**, issued a statement in regard to a petition of 50 congressmen "requesting a prompt report from the chairman of the Ways and Means Committee on the 2.75% beer bill."

Wheeler points out that 385 members did not sign the petition and expressed the view that the beer bill "would hamstring prohibition enforcement."

*Wayne Bidwell Wheeler (1869-1927) was born in Ohio & graduated Oberlin College, 1894 & LLB at Western Reserve University, 1898.  WBW became a leading advocate for the prohibition movement & played a major role in passage of the 18th Amendment.

**Anti-Saloon League, founded in Oberlin, Ohio in 1893, supported the Temperance movement & lobbied for prohibition. 

SOURCE

"'Beer Losing Its Kick At Polls,' Wheeler Says," The Washington Times, Home Final Edition, Washington, D.C., June 2. 1922, Chronicling America, Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/ 

   

 

Wayne Bidwell Wheeler

Harris & Ewing Photo (1920)

Library of Congress

"HOW DRY I AM"

PROHIBITION GOES INTO EFFECT

Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) On January 17, 1920, the 18th Amendment, prohibiting the production, transportation and sale of 'intoxicating liquors' went into effect in the United States.

According to the Roosevelt Institute for American Studies, consumption and abuse of intoxicating liquors were national problems that increased during the 19th century.  Prohibition movements were led by groups like the Anti-Saloon League* and the Woman's Christian Temperance Union**. 

As a result of the 18th Amendment, organized crime took over the liquor business and America was victimized by record crime, poverty and violence. 

According to Dr. Jack S. Blocker Jr., alcohol consumption did not surpass pre-Prohibition levels in the U.S. until the 1970s.  The Depression of the 1930s kept the consumption level at 1.5 gallons per capita.  By the 1950s, it was up to 2 gallons and in the 1960s 2.4 gallons.

JFK+50 NOTE

Prohibition was in effect from 1920 to 1933.  FDR signed a law legalizing 3.2% beer & the 18th amendment was repealed by the 21st amendment in 1933.

*Anti-Saloon League was founded in Oberlin, Ohio in 1893 by Howard Hyde Russell.

**WCTU was founded in Cleveland, Ohio in 1874.  It became one of the largest & most influential women's groups of the 19th century. 

SOURCES

"Did Prohibition Really Work? Alcohol Prohibition as a Public Health Innovation," by Jack S. Blocker, Jr., American Journal of Public Health February 2006, www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/

"January 17, 1920:  The Law that Dried the Nation, Prohibition in the U.S. and its Consequences," Roosevelt Institute for American Studies.

 

 

Prohibition Disposal

New York City

Library of Congress Photo

 
 

WILSON DOOMS WHISKEY BUT SAVES BEER & WINE

JFK+50:  Volume 7, No. 2355

PRESIDENT WILSON SAVES BEER & WINE BUT WHISKEY IS HISTORY

Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) One hundred years ago today, June 29, 1917, President Woodrow Wilson saved beer and wine from "annihilation" but "doomed whisky to the fate proposed in the war prohibition section of the food control bill."

The President sent a letter to the Anti-Saloon League* "asking the organization to agree to the elimination...of beer and wine"  from the bill.

Mr. Wilson was most concerned about the delay in passage of his administration's Food Control Bill.

*Anti-Saloon League was the leading lobbyist organization for prohibition in the U.S. in the early 20th century.  It was strongest in the South & rural North and had great support among protestant churches.  In 1909, the ASL moved its HQ from Washington, D.C. to Westerville, Ohio.

SOURCE

"Forbid Only Whisky:  Wilson Asks Senate Not To Touch Beer and Wine", by Arthur Sears Henning, The Chicago Daily Tribune, June 30, 1917.

WCTU Cartoon
by Rea Irwin
May 23, 1902