It is toward the woman of the home-the mother-that many of the beer and wine commercials on radio and television are currently being beamed. Subtile are the suggestions that she is something less than a good hostess, and will not be appreciated by her friends when they drop in, if she fails to provide beer or wine with the other refreshments.

I have in my home a little 5-year-old daughter. She is the youngest in my family. This little girl knows all the jingles of the beer and wine commercials. Constant repetition on radio and television have drilled them into her mind. She knew them before she knew the nursery rhymes. Such slogans as: 66* * * the finest beer around here," "** * give it a whirl,” “*** what'll you have?" "***that's it," or "* ** the kind grandmother used to make."

Mrs. Patterson and I are total abstainers. We are trying to teach our children to be total abstainers. Yet here is our little 5-year-old daughter with ideas about beer and wine already implanted in her mind and she hasn't yet reached school age.

It is foolish to suggest that we ought to turn the knob and simply cut off the offensive commercials. We try to do that when possible, but one can't stand constant guard by the radio or television set to flip the switch every time a beer or wine commercial is broadcast. Talk about mind conditioning or brainwashing-we have it right here in these United States. We also have a Constitution dedicated to "insuring domestic tranquility" and to "promoting the general welfare." What does "promoting the general welfare" mean if it does not include sheltering our children from the glamorized inducements to accept as normal and necessary-as something belonging to the finer things of life-as something contributing to the general happiness and well-being of man, a social practice that leaves in its wake in this country 7 million alcoholics or problem drinkers, and that is threatening our civilization to its very foundations.

Prof. Arnold Toynbee, considered by most authorities to be the world's foremost contemporary historian, says that the two greatest menaces to the life of our western civilization are "racialism and alcohol." He makes this statement after studying and discovering the causes of the downfall of 16 civilizations of the past. His statement regarding our western civilization is made in the light of these discoveries.

I am concerned about this menace. I believe I have a Christian duty as an American citizen to use this opportunity to speak in support of this proposed legislation designed to limit the growth and expansion of one of the greatest social evils of our day. I am concerned about what conditions may be 10, 15, or 20 years hence when these liquor-ad-brain-washed boys and girls of ours have grown to adulthood.

Of course our children can't go out and buy the stuff. At that point the law protects them. To sell to minors is illegal, and right there you have a fact which indicates that the alcoholic beverage industry is in a category apart from industry in general. It is not an inherent-right business. It is a special privilege business. Many times this has been declared by the courts over the past century. The liquor business is a restricted business. It has always been a restricted business. It is subject to many controls and regulations. Prohibition of sales on election day, the Fourth of July, Christmas, and New Year's, and with hours of sale limited on other days, are a few of the restrictions. There are no such regulations regarding the sale of milk or of soft drinks. Why these restrictions on the sale of alcoholic beverages? Because our governing bodies believe these restrictions are essential to the promotion of the general welfare.

The beverage alcohol business is a special-privilege business in which no one may legally engage unless he has been granted license by the Government and operates within the limits of the privileges granted by that license. The nature of beverage alcohol is such that close and careful regulation is deemed necessary and wise.

This matter of regulation is no new thing. I was reading in my Bible recently from the book of Esther, chapter 1, the story of King Ahasuerus, who reigned "from India even unto Ethiopia, over an hundred and seven and twenty provinces." In the third year of his reign he made a feast to which he invited all his princes, his servants and all the nobles of the provinces of Media and Persia. At this pagan feast there was an abundance of royal wine. In the seventh verse we are told that the drinking was "according to the state of the king." He was evidently the consumption barometer and his condition regulated the drinking. Furthermore, we read in the eighth verse that the "drinking was according to the law; none did compel; for so the king had appointed to all the officers of his house; that they should do

according to every man's pleasure." In other words there were regulations and restrictions.

The drinking was "according to the law," and the law forbade urging or compulsion. "None did compel." There was no advertising of the wine or glamcrizing of the drinking. Protocol did not impel a man to drink. Though he was an invited guest at the King's feast, at which the royal wine was served in abundance, yet there was no embarrassment to anyone if he declined to drink. The King's instructions to all his officers were that no one was to be urged to do so, and that "they should do according to every man's pleasure." There was no glamorized persuasion. If this pagan king of ancient Media and Persia felt there was some need for regulation of inducements to drink in his day in a heathen nation, surely we are justified in seeking legislation to regulate and control inducements to drink in this our day in a so-called Christian Nation.

This bill is entirely in keeping with regulations which are already in effect. It does not establish any precedent. It just extends the regulation into an area where privilege has been abused and where regulations are now necessary. This bill is not discriminatory any more than the other regulations and restrictions of the industry that are now in effect.

Passage of this bill would not prohibit the manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages. It would simply prohibit the transportation in interstate commerce of baited inducements in the form of advertisements encouraging the use of alcoholic beverages and would free our homes of this unwarranted invasion and exploitation on the part of the beverage alcohol industry.

For these and other reasons I urge the members of this committee to act favorably on this bill.

Chairman PRIEST. Is Mrs. Mcknight present?

Bishop HAMMAKER. IS Mrs. Mcknight present?

Chairman PRIEST. Will a statement be filed on her behalf?
Bishop HAMMAKER. Yes.

Chairman PRIEST. Very well.

The next witness is Dr. E. F. Bohmfalk.

STATEMENT OF ERWIN F. BOHMFALK, DISTRICT SUPERINTENDENT, WEST FORT WORTH DISTRICT OF THE METHODIST CHURCH, DALLAS, TEX.

Mr. BOHMFALK. Mr. Chairman, with your permission I would like to file this report without reading it. I would like to add to the report some pictures which show the degrading effect of advertising by the misuse of religious art and religious literature to advertise alcoholic beverages.

The first picture I wish to present is a picture of Christ at the Door, which a retail dealer in the State of Texas has distributed to advertise his product.

Another is a picture of the head of Christ on a calendar, and a third, which I asked permission to file a few days from now, is a picture of the Last Supper, which has been distributed in our section of the country, showing Jesus Christ having in his hand a cocktail glass, with the disciples having cocktail glasses in their hands, and liquor decanters all over the table.

Thank you.

Chairman PRIEST. May I ask in what place does that picture appear? Is it on a calendar?

Mr. BOHMFALK. Is it a calendar distributed by a retail dealer in the State of Louisiana. We found it in the State of Texas.

Chairman PRIEST. The reason I ask that question is because attention has come to this committee of instances of that sort, and I had requested additional information about calendars of that character.

The bill, of course, unless they cross the State line, would not touch that sort of a situation. That would have to be handled by State or local laws. They could be distributed within a State, unless the State law prohibits it.

I think that the example of the pictures you have presented here are extremely offensive. It sort of shatters on my whole conscience when I see that sort of a thing. I hope it is not widespread.

I appreciate your bringing these examples to the attention of the committee.

Are there any questions?

If not, thank you very much, Mr. Bohmfalk. Your statement will appear at this point in the record.

(Statement referred to is as follows:)

Hon. OREN HARRIS,

FEBRUARY 14, 1956.

Chairman, House of Representative Committee on Interstate Commerce, House Office Building, Washington D. C.:

My name is Erwin F. Bohmfalk and I am district superintendent of the West Fort Worth district of the Methodist Church and vice president of the Texas Alcohol-Narcotic Education, Inc., in Dallas, Tex. My address is 6308 Greenway Road, Fort Worth, Tex. I submit this statement in behalf of the passage of the Siler bill (H. R. 4627), which bill is up before your committee for consideration on February 16.

I am speaking not as a professional in the field of alcoholic beverages, but as a layman. In my position as a Methodist district superintendent, I am titular head of thousands of Methodists in the Fort Worth area. As vice president of Texas Alcohol-Narcotic Education, I represent an organization in which 19 denominations, with a constituency and membership of 42 million pour their energy and resources in order to curb a growing evil which in recent years has made its way uncontrolled into the living rooms, dens, and bedrooms of our homes.

"From the Land of Sky Blue Waters" to "Hello, Mellow Jax, Little Darlin'" the whole gamut of little jingles, in other generations associated with lovely poetry, expressed in so many ways through the imaginative element in the play life of our children, now is used to pervert the plastic minds of these youngsters and make the drinking of alcoholic beverages as common to them as the drinking of milk.

Radio, television, newspapers, and magazines, and other such other mass media are the vehicles through which most of our education comes. The sum total of the impact made on the mind of a child through ear and eye is greater than through all other senses put together. Advertising by the beverage alcohol industry is accomplishing its purpose in the home by making brand names so commonplace through a constant repetition of a familiar jingle that children sing them in their play, even to the neglect of character building, poetry, and song. Parents cannot control the encroachment of beverage alcohol advertising in the home before their children without excluding from the curriculum a most powerful educational force in our generation. Pictures in magazines and advertisements in newspapers are being made so attractive that a child's interest is gained in an instant-the drinking of beverage alcohol is made to appear as the most natural thing in the world.

In a newspaper one morning recently in our section there appeared 1,388 column inches of beverage alcohol advertising, and, since the only color in the edition appeared in the ads of this industry, even a child would conclude that this product has the most important place in the life of a person.

Others evils can be controlled against encroachment, but this pernicious advertising makes its way into the innermost recesses of the sanctity of the home. The problem is acute in our State. Hereto is attached a map, showing the situation in Texas relative to dry territory. One hundred and forty-two of two hundred and fifty-four counties are totally dry, 82 are partly dry, only 30 of 254 are totally wet, yet all the people of the State are constantly being attacked through the medium of advertising by the beverage alcohol industry. Only Federal regulation can give us a means of protection.

Every effort to control this matter within the State, in order to protect these vast areas that of their own volition by the use of the franchise exclude the sale

of beverage alcohol, has failed on the theory that it would be unfair so long as interstate and intra-state advertising is not controlled. Churches, schools, and homes stand helpless in the face of a growing evil, unless national regulation and control are provided.

I do not believe, gentlemen, that the legitimacy or illegitimacy of the product is in question. As a churchman and counselor, I deal with the physical and moral wreckage left behind by an industry that degrades character, breaks up our homes, diverts our economic resources from necessary business, places burdens on law enforcement, and, in our State, is involved in more than 50 percent of all automobile accidents. Such an industry can be placed in but one category. How to keep it out of our homes through curtailment or complete elimination in the field of advertising by the use of mass media is the question. Friends, I trust that this committee will see fit to vote this measure out to the larger group of legislators so that they in turn can vote the sentiments of and in behalf of the welfare of their constituents. This is too important a measure, in our opinion, not to have wider consideration in our national Congress.

Gentlemen, to you has been committed the sacred privilege of curbing this growing evil, thereby protecting our homes and children against it. I can think of no greater privilege in our generation that can be given to a group in the Congress of the United States than to pass upon the merits of such a bill. The

THE SITUATION IN Texas LOCAL OPTION STATUS BY COUNTIES-AS OF JANUARY 1

larger constituency I represent in Texas is praying earnestly with me that you will give prayerful consideration to the responsibility reposed in you, but only after heart-searching and earnest prayer upon your part. Blessings on each of you, our fathers in Government.

ERWIN F. BOHMFALK.

Texas is more than one-half totally dry. If we add the 112 dry justice precincts to the 142 totally dry counties, Texas is actually more than 60 percent dry.

Dry areas are flooded with liquor and beer advertising through interstate commerce, as well as intrastate. Residents of dry counties are urged to break the law and go against the wishes of the majority of the people through these liquor advertisements.

State legislators constantly evade and ignore the demands of those seeking to protect dry areas from liquor advertising, their excuse or reason being, "We cannot regulate television, radio, and other advertising from without the State and, therefore, if we regulate it within the State, we would be discriminating against State industries."

The Federal Government should act in this situation and act promptly for the protection of the growing dry areas of the Nation.