LEGISLATION AGAINST THE DRINK EVIL. 617 



" It has been my practice during mj term of office never to give 

 a certificate in regard to a liquor to any one but the officers authorized 

 to ask such a certificate. In other words, the only way a private 

 person can get an analysis of liquor made by the State assayer is 

 to take it to the chief of police of his town or city and make a 

 complaint in regard to it; as the assayer is paid by the State for his 

 work, it would obviously be wrong for him to do work which he might 

 have to revise in his official capacity. ... I may perhaps be allowed 

 to add a few words as to what is defined in this State as an intoxicat- 

 ing liquor. When the State assayer of liquors was first appointed he 

 soon became convinced that some limit must be fixed to the allowable 

 amount of alcohol contained in a liquor. After consultation this 

 amount was fixed at three per cent by volume at 60° F, This law 

 remained in force several years. Soon after it was found that a large 

 amount of beer was being made which contained about 3.5 per cent 

 of alcohol. This was a palatable beer, and the venders gave the 

 officers much trouble. The regular trade, who were selling lager 

 beer and ale, and paying for the privilege, were also much opposed 

 to its sale, and the Legislature was asked to reduce the limit to one 

 per cent by volume. This at one stroke destroyed a large amount 

 of illegitimate trade. The Massachusetts law, as it now stands, is 

 that ale, porter, strong beer, lager beer, cider, all wines, and any 

 beverage containing more than one per cent of alcohol, by volume, 

 at fiO'-" r., as well as distilled spirits, shall be deemed to be in- 

 toxicating liquo7', within the meaning of the license provisions, 

 and this section of the law has been decided by the Supreme 

 Court of the Commonwealth to be constitutional.* The question is 

 never raised now in the court as to whether a liquor is actually in- 

 toxicating; the only question being. Does it contain more than one 

 per cent of alcohol? If it does (and as a matter of fact cases are 

 very rarely brought in which the sample does not contain at least 

 two per cent of alcohol), the court has no power except to convict, if 

 it be proved that the article was kept for sale. The result of this 

 law has been that the sale of beer, with the idea that it is possible 

 to convince the court that it is not intoxicating, has entirely stopped. 

 Some few attempts are made to produce a beverage that shall con- 

 tain less than one per cent of alcohol. And several brands are on 

 the market which, when cold, taste very well, but which contain 

 only about 0.85 per cent of alcohol. Generally the only test 

 made in regard to liquors is as to the amount of alcohol that they 

 contain; or, rather, whether the amount of alcohol exceeds one 

 per cent, that being the maximum amount that can be sold without 



* V\<ie Commonwealth vs. Brelsford, 161 Mass., 61. 



