And from the New Republic, no less.
The last two tweaks of the Sheppard Amendment [the Amendment to the U.S. Constitution proposed by Senator Morris Sheppard] were connected to each other. In addition to the congressional wets, a few moderate drys whose votes were still somewhat in question wanted to provide compensation to the distillers and brewers, much of whose property was about to become worthless. At the time the Sheppard Amendment was pending, thirteen million gallons of bourbon were aging in Kentucky warehouses alone. Nationwide, the liquor and beer industries represented nearly $1 billion in invested capital, by that measure making the combination the nation’s fifth largest industry. The New Republic said any dry who argued against compensation was “exactly as mindful of property interests . . . as the Russian Bolsheviki.”
This is from Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition by Daniel Okrent.
READER COMMENTS
david
Aug 9 2014 at 12:14pm
The next paragraph is equally interesting:
It is hard to think of a more succinct insight into the view of the temperance movement on alcohol at the time.
Comments are closed.