Salt Lake Telegram | 1937-02-16 | Page 3 | Beer and Voted in Kansas House

BEER BAH VOTED IHKANSASHOUSE I TOPEKA, Kan, Feb. 16 Only two legal blows were needed today to hammer the bung back tightly in the beer barrel In Kansas. The statehouse has 'passed a bill to ban beer and all other beverages with any alcoholic content It would become a law if approved by the senate and Governor Walter A. Huxman, Democratic successor to Alf M. London. Beer, mostly of ths 1.1 variety, has flowed freely without beenfit to ths state treasury sines 1933 in Kinni, where Parry X. Nation once swung her hatchet and threw rocks at a saloon painting of "Cleopatra "Cleo-patra at the Bath." An odd situation developed In ths state four years ago after ths nation na-tion restored beer to the legal fold. Tho "bono dry" statute forbids intoxicating in-toxicating beverages, but did not define "intoxicating." Beer appeared in Kansas. So did ths arresting officer. Sellers, particularly par-ticularly those who wanted to keep the thirsty from going over into wet Missouri, contended .the beer was not intoxicating. The supreme court was asksd for a ruling. It held judge and jury must decide the beer's potency in each case. Jury after jury monotonously ruled that 1.1 beer was safs snougb for Kansas. Some sven approved of stronger, beer. Governor Huxman, In his message to the legislature, said it was necessary neces-sary "that a law be psssed defining ths alcoholic content of an intoxicating intoxi-cating drink" and urged: "Let us not stultify ourselves by deliberately calling that nonlntoxi-cating nonlntoxi-cating which common sense and reason tells us is intoxicating, or, on tho other hand, call that intoxicating intoxi-cating which common sense and reason rea-son tells us is nonlntoxlcating." Ths senate, acting ahead of the house, passed a bill for a revenue tax on malt beverages. Whether the branches will agree or compromise is a matter to be threshed out Kansans defeated, in 193. a proposal pro-posal to repeal the constitutional prohibitory amendment Dry' argued ar-gued the vote was a mandate to outlaw 1.1 beer. Beer advocates retorted re-torted the brew was not involved. It's a frothy battle.