Chapter IX: Section 12

“All persons manufacturing liquor for sale under the provisions of
this title shall securely and permanently attach to every container
thereof, as the same is manufactured, a label stating name of
manufacturer, kind and quantity of liquor contained therein, and
the date of its manufacture, together with the number of the permit
authorizing the manufacture thereof; and all persons possessing
such liquor in wholesale quantities shall securely keep and
maintain such label thereon; and all persons selling at wholesale
shall attach to every package of liquor, when sold, a label setting
forth the kind and quantity of liquor contained therein, by whom
manufactured, the date of sale, and the person to whom sold; which
label shall likewise be kept and maintained thereon until the
liquor is used for the purpose for which such sale was authorized.”

And Section 13 specifies again about records--I wonder if these are carefully kept, as the law provides!--

“It shall be the duty of every carrier to make a record at the
place of shipment of the receipt of any liquor transported, and he
shall deliver liquor only to persons who present to the carrier a
verified copy of a permit to purchase which shall be made a part of
the carrier’s permanent record at the office from which delivery is
made.

“The agent of the common carrier is hereby authorized to administer
the oath to the consignee in verification of the copy of the permit
presented, who, if not personally known to the agent, shall be
identified before the delivery of the liquor to him. The name and
address of the person identifying the consignee shall be included
in the record.”

“SECTION 14. It shall be unlawful for a person to use or induce
any carrier, or any agent or employee thereof, to carry or ship
any package or receptacle containing liquor without notifying
the carrier of the true nature and character of the shipment.
No carrier shall transport nor shall any person receive liquor
from a carrier unless there appears on the outside of the package
containing such liquor the following information:

“Name and address of the consignor or seller, name and address of
the consignee, kind and quality of liquor contained therein, and
number of the permit to purchase or ship the same, together with
the name and address of the person using the permit.”

How simple they make it for us! And of course free speech on the billboards has been squashed. For Section 17 has this to say:

“It shall be unlawful to advertise anywhere, or by any means or
method, liquor, or the manufacture, sale, keeping for sale or
furnishing of the same, or where, how, from whom, or at what
price the same may be obtained. No one shall permit any sign
or billboard containing such advertisement to remain upon one’s
premises.”

“SECTION 18. It shall be unlawful to advertise, manufacture,
sell, or possess for sale any utensil, contrivance, machine,
preparation, compound, tablet, substance, formula, direction, or
recipe advertised, designed, or intended for use in the unlawful
manufacture of intoxicating liquor.”

How the very stills themselves must tremble at these ominous words!

But I think for its far-reaching effects, Section 20 takes the palm:

“Any person who shall be injured in person, property, means of
support, or otherwise by any intoxicated person, or by reason of
the intoxication of any person” (though we thought intoxication was
to be wiped out with the passage of the Volstead Act!) “whether
resulting in his death or not, shall have a right of action against
any person who shall, by unlawfully selling to or unlawfully
assisting in procuring liquor for such intoxicated person, have
caused or contributed to such intoxication, and in any such action
such person shall have a right to recover actual and exemplary
damages.” (Yet it is not quite clear how a dead man can bring an
action in the courts!) “In case of the death of either party, the
action or right of action given by this section shall survive to
or against his or her executor or administrator, and the amount
so recovered by either wife or child shall be his or her sole
and separate property. Such action may be brought in any court
of competent jurisdiction. In any case where parents shall be
entitled to such damages, either the father or mother may sue alone
therefor, but recovery by one of such parties shall be a bar to
suit brought by the other.”

So Mr. Volstead anticipates trouble for years to come--as long as it would take to settle an action for damages in our already-clogged courts. We make laws, it seems, which we expect to be broken. Deep down in his heart, then, Mr. Volstead feared that people would go on being--just people. Drunkenness is rampant in the land; and I suppose drunkenness will always be rampant in the land. Even Mr. Volstead cannot stop it. What a pity!

But do not think for a moment I am putting in a plea for drunkenness. I am bitterly opposed to drunkenness. Prohibition has not cured it. We have had it long enough now to see its terrible errors. The lions have heard the crack of the whip, but instead of being overcome, overpowered, cowering in corners, we have the spectacle of a determination to pay no attention to the lashings of the law. Half of us willfully disobey this iniquitous legislation--and are proud of our disobedience. What is to be done about it? The more teeth that are put into the Volstead Act, the more teeth the lions show. They growl and fight. They will not be mastered.

Read Section 23.

“Any person who shall, with intent to effect a sale of liquor, by
himself, his employee, servant or agent, for himself or any person,
company or corporation, keep or carry around on his person, or in
a vehicle, or other conveyance whatever, or leave in a place for
another to secure, any liquor, or who shall travel to solicit,
or solicit, or take, or accept orders for the sale, shipment,
or delivery of liquor in violation of this title is guilty of
a nuisance and may be restrained by injunction, temporary and
permanent, from doing or continuing to do any of said acts or
things.”

Have our army of bootleggers read this Section? But they are worth a whole chapter to themselves, so important a part have they become of our national life.

“SECTION 26. When the commissioner, his assistants, inspectors,
or any officer of the law shall discover any person in the act of
transporting in violation of the law, intoxicating liquors in any
wagon, buggy, automobile, water or air craft, or other vehicle, it
shall be his duty to seize any and all intoxicating liquors found
therein being transported contrary to law. Whenever intoxicating
liquors transported or possessed illegally shall be seized by
an officer he shall take possession of the vehicle and team or
automobile, boat, air or water craft, or any other conveyance, and
shall arrest any person in charge thereof. Such officer shall at
once proceed against the person arrested under the provisions of
this title in any court having competent jurisdiction; but the said
vehicle or conveyance shall be returned to the owner upon execution
by him of a good and valid bond, with sufficient sureties, in a sum
double the value of the property, which said bond shall be approved
by said officer and shall be conditioned to return said property
to the custody of said officer on the day of trial to abide the
judgment of the court. The court upon conviction of the person
so arrested shall order the liquor destroyed, and unless good
cause to the contrary is shown by the owner, shall order a sale
by public auction of the property seized, and the officer making
the sale, after deducting the expenses of keeping the property,
the fee for the seizure, and the cost of the sale, shall pay all
liens, according to their priorities, which are established, by
intervention or otherwise at said hearing or in other proceeding
brought for said purpose, as being bona fide and as having been
created without the lienor having any notice that the carrying
vehicle was being used or was to be used for illegal transportation
of liquor, and shall pay the balance of the proceeds into the
Treasury of the United States as miscellaneous receipts. All liens
against property sold under the provisions of this section shall
be transferred from the property to the proceeds of the sale of
the property. If, however, no one shall be found claiming the
team, vehicle, water or air craft, or automobile, the taking of
the same, with a description thereof, shall be advertised in some
newspaper published in the city or county where taken, or if there
be no newspaper published, in said city or county, in a newspaper
having circulation in the county, once a week for two weeks and by
hand-bills posted in three public places near the place of seizure,
and if no claimant shall appear within ten days after the last
publication of the advertisement, the property shall be sold and
the proceeds after deducting the expenses and costs shall be paid
into the Treasury of the United States as miscellaneous receipts.”

“SECTION 27. In all cases in which intoxicating liquors may be
subject to be destroyed under the provisions of this Act the court
shall have jurisdiction upon the application of the United States
attorney to order them delivered to any department or agency of the
United States Government for medicinal, mechanical, or scientific
uses, or to order the same sold at private sale for such purposes
to any person having a permit to purchase liquor, the proceeds to
be covered into the Treasury of the United States to the credit of
miscellaneous receipts, and all liquor heretofore seized in any
suit or proceeding brought for violation of law may likewise be so
disposed of, if not claimed within sixty days from the date this
section takes effect.”

One is happy to realize that the Government may, even while the Volstead Act is in force, receive some small emolument and revenue from John Barleycorn.