The American Federation of Labor (AF of L)formed Labor’s National Committee for the Modification of the Volstead Act (NCMVA). That was in January of 1931.
The Volstead Act was the law that implemented the Eighteenth Amendment that established National Prohibition (1920-1933).
Matthew Woll
Matthew Woll co-founded and then headed the LNCMVA. He testified before a Congressional committee that workers and organized labor opposed Prohibition.
Labor leadership opposed the Eighteenth Amendment. It was the first time in history that an amendment to the Constitution denied instead of creating or expanding rights.
As early as 1923, the AF of L had passed a resolution calling for the modification of the Volstead Act. It wanted the law to permit the sale of “light wines and beers.”
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21st Amendment (Repeal).
Serious Problems
Prohibition caused many serious problems. With the passage of time support for it continued to erode.
Following creation of LNCMVA, organized labor began forcefully calling for change.
Advisory Committee
In March of 1931, labor groups formed a committee representing 75 national and international unions. It advised LNCMVA.
In November of the same year, Woll called for a Congressional showdown on the issue. Prohibition was causing increases “in racketeering, gangsterism, debased morality and poisoned citizenship.”
Woll asserted that Prohibition had been a “most tragic mistake” and a “miserable fiasco.” He said the group would call for Repeal.
Repeal
An overwhelming majority of people came to believe that Repeal was necessary. As a result, National Prohibition was rejected by voters three-to-one.
LNCMVA wanted the law to permit the sale of “light wines and beers.” The call for the legalization of beer and wine but not distilled spirits was naive. It was bused on a common myth. It’s that standard drinks of distilled spirits have more pure alcohol than beer or dinner wine.
Alcohol Equivalence
Standard drinks of beer, wine and spirits all have the same amount of pure alcohol. That is, six-tenths of an ounce per drink. Thus, they’re all the same to a breathalyzer.
A standard drink is a
12-ounce bottle or can of regular beer- five-ounce glass of dinner wine
- shot (one and 1/2 ounce) spirits. That is, rum, whiskey, vodka, tequila, etc.
For more, visit Alcohol Eqivalence.
Resources: Labor’s National Committee for the Modification of the Volstead Act
Readings
Cashman, S. Prohibition: The Lie of the Land. NY: Free Press, 1998.
Drescher, N. Organized labor and the eighteenth amendment. Labor Hist, 1967, 8(3), 280-299.
Kyvig, D. Repealing National Prohibition. Chicago: U Chicago Press, 1979.
Labor: Resolved and Departed. Time, Oct 22, 1923.
Rose, K. American Women and the Repeal of Prohibition. NY: NYU Press, 1996.