Chapter 328: Repeal of the Prohibition (1/2)

"Is the news accurate?"

"It has been confirmed. Washington has not denied our source of news..."

June 5, early morning, Pulitzer Building in New York.

The Courier World is busy, and the reporters are reporting on the upcoming major events.

According to reliable information from the White House, the long-discussed "Amendment No. 18" has finally been officially repealed. The aroma of hops from the brewery has given Americans who are struggling in the economic quagmire a whiff of hope.

In fact, the repeal of Prohibition was not achieved overnight.

As early as March 22, 1933, the federal government had announced that the sale of beverages with an alcohol content of less than 4% had become legal.

And now, Roosevelt is just delivering this already confirmed promise to the Americans.

Compared with the original history of the abolition of Prohibition, it was nearly half a year earlier, which was more or less influenced by Colin. The radical approach of Harvey Dent not only failed to prevent the promotion of the "21st Amendment", but instead played a role in fueling it.

Relying on the social impact of Mr. Colin Looper's shooting, Roosevelt successfully suppressed the prohibition forces in Congress and promoted the passage of the "21st Amendment" at an unimaginable speed.

On June 5, the "Courier World" published the news of the abolition of the "Prohibition" in the form of an extra edition.

On the page of the newspaper, the words "abstinence, finally over!" were written in large fonts, and then the news of the passage of the "21st Amendment" was announced in a slightly smaller font below. At the same time, a photo of a bar full of people was placed in the lower right corner of the page, indicating that the people had been looking forward to this day for a long time.

"Congratulations, Mr. Colin Luper, this is your sales license..."

In the New York Health Department office, the official in charge of license application smiled at Colin.

Colin's channels in the White House are even more complete than his own newspaper, so as soon as the 'Prohibition' was confirmed to be abolished, he came to the New York Health Department office to apply for an alcoholic beverage sales license.

As a famous newspaper tycoon in New York City and with extremely close ties with Washington, the entire license application process was not delayed at all, and the New York Health Department office approved Colin's application almost immediately.

"Cheers to the future of America."

Reaching out to take the license application document, Colin glanced at it, and then smiled at the official in the Health Department office in front of him.

"Cheers!"

Hearing Colin's words, the official was slightly stunned, and then quickly reacted with a sincere smile on his face.

The lifting of the Prohibition is not only a cause for celebration for the American people, but also something that government officials like them have been looking forward to for a long time. After all, for most people, compulsory prohibition is also a very painful thing, especially when it is written into the law, it is not only physically painful, but also psychologically tormented to a certain extent.

Fortunately, this painful day has come. From today, people no longer need to hide and run to the private wine cellar to drink, but can taste the taste of fine wine in the sun.

…

"Go to the dock!"

After coming out of the New York Health Bureau office, Colin went to the Brooklyn Port Dock as soon as possible.

As early as several months ago, he had rented a suitable warehouse at the port near London, which was specially used to store the purchased Scotch whiskey and gin, and declared it to the customs after the passage of the "21st Amendment", ready to seize the wine market.

From the New York Health Bureau office all the way to the Brooklyn Dock, trucks can be seen everywhere, and most of them are carrying barrels.

These barrels are all prepared for the repeal of the "Prohibition". Compared with various types of alcoholic beverages that need time to prepare, beer is the easiest to brew. According to what Colin saw outside the Health Bureau office, almost half of the brewers who applied for alcoholic beverage sales licenses were brewers.

The fourteen-year "Prohibition" has made many breweries not produce beer properly for a long time. More than half of the breweries have been forced to close, and even the beer cans used to store beer are rusty.

Not only in New York, breweries across the United States, as soon as the news of the repeal of the "Prohibition" came out, the first thing they did was to clean up the equipment for storing beer, regroup, and re-invest in the brewing business.

"Here we are, sir."

The driver retracted his gaze from the truck carrying beer and reminded Colin.

When Colin got off the car, the first thing he saw was the busy workers on the Brooklyn dock. He hadn't seen such a lively scene for a long time since the Great Depression.

Interestingly, Colin also saw some bootleggers on the dock, who were directing dock workers to unload marbles used to hide alcoholic beverages. This was illegal during the Prohibition period, but now it was happening on the dock without anyone noticing, and even the customs officers on the side turned a blind eye to it.

After the passage of the "21st Amendment", this has become a legal thing.

Passing by these dock workers, Colin quickly submitted his application to the customs officers with the customs clearance list he had prepared long ago.

At the same time, the Courier World, which had already received the notice, immediately took the photo.

Colin's batch of Scotch whiskey and gin also became the first manufacturer to import wine into the United States after the repeal of Prohibition.

In the next few days, the whole of New York was immersed in the joy of the repeal of Prohibition. On June 5, at midnight in Los Angeles, actress Jean Harlow opened the first bottle of legal beer.

The alcohol business has been growing continuously, and many temporary bars-like settings have appeared on the streets of New York, specifically designed to provide people with beer.

Of course, because it was only the early days of the repeal of Prohibition, although Congress passed the 21st Amendment, President Roosevelt had not yet made a formal announcement, so everyone expressed a certain degree of restraint. They were waiting for the day when the president would announce that Prohibition was being repealed.

…

"Have you determined the time?"

Washington, inside the reception room for foreign guests.

Colin was chatting with Roosevelt while sipping martinis mixed with his imported whiskey.

"In just a week."

Picking up the wine glass in his hand and taking a sip, Roosevelt responded with a smile. After losing his ability to move, martinis became a major interest of Roosevelt. However, due to the "Prohibition", even as the president, he could not You can't drink as much as you want, after all, even former President Hoover had to be in the embassy to enjoy the exemption.

Now, with the passage of Amendment 21, he can finally taste martinis openly.

"We succeeded."

Tasting the martini in the glass, Roosevelt raised his glass to Colin in front of him.

"Yeah, we succeeded."

Colin naturally knew that the so-called success in Roosevelt's mouth was referring to the conversation in the 21 restaurant.

Although Colin, as a latecomer, knew that even without his participation, Roosevelt would still be on the road to abolishing "Prohibition", but for Roosevelt, Colin was the one who really prompted him to think about the repeal of "Prohibition". One of the important promoters.

Under Roosevelt's gaze, he drank down the martini in the glass and then said: "This time, I not only want the United States to hear it, but also to see you announcing the abolition of Prohibition."

As soon as Amendment 21 was passed, Colin not only applied for the imported wine that had been prepared, but also used the passage of the law to promote the broadcasting sites on televisions.

Bring it from the previous shopping mall counter, hotel, into the bar.

In the past, due to the "Prohibition", many bars were forced to close down or change businesses. Now, with the passage of the law, these bars have sprung up again like mushrooms after a rain.

What Colin values ​​​​is the huge customer flow behind these bars, especially the memory of the fourteen-year prohibition of alcohol, which has a large number of people looking forward to sitting in the bar.

…

The time came one week later, which was June 15th.

On the same day, the Courier World first announced the news that President Roosevelt would make a formal announcement, and then on the TV screen, we saw the scene of Roosevelt signing the bill and declaring it to officially come into effect.

"Now, fellow Americans, let us take to the streets again and have a drink, of course not too much, because a better tomorrow is still waiting for us..."

On the TV screen, Roosevelt informed the people of the repeal of "Prohibition" in a friendly voice.

Although, due to technical limitations, the live broadcast was very mock-up, it still could not hinder the people’s enthusiastic hearts.

Prohibition, which had been in place for fourteen years, or more accurately, 13 years, six months, and nineteen days, was repealed. This was the first time in the history of the United States Constitution and the only provision so far that has been repealed. Correction Eucalyptus.

The repeal of Prohibition was an incredibly unique moment for the American people, as Roosevelt announced the repeal on television at the same time as excited crowds gathered in the streets of America.

People came out of their homes to raise their glasses in public places and drink their first truly legal drink in nearly fourteen years.

People crowded into the streets in droves to dance, sing, and raise glasses to celebrate this memorable day.

Everyone in the Pulitzer Building was also affected by this atmosphere, and everyone in the newspaper office spontaneously put a smile on their face.

Of course, Colin was the one who laughed the most. Because of the repeal of Prohibition, his imported Scotch whiskey and gin were sold out immediately. Now he is mobilizing new imported liquor from London. , it can be said that with the imported wine resources in hand, he occupied a certain market share before many domestic wineries in the United States could react.

With the receipt of this amount of funds, Colin has become more confident in his subsequent plan to acquire Fox Film Company.

On the first morning after Roosevelt announced the official repeal of Prohibition, men lying on bottles could be seen everywhere on the street.

"The Courier World" also specially took a photo like this to record the report on the repeal of "Prohibition".

The first change brought about by the passage of the "21st Amendment" was the obvious increase in federal revenue. According to Roosevelt, the abolition of Prohibition brought hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue to the federal government every year, and also reduced the expenses of prohibition agents.

In addition, because of the re-legalization of alcohol, the bar business is obviously much better than before.

The occurrence of the Great Depression and the relationship with the "Prohibition" caused many bars in New York City to close down and go bankrupt. Now those people who used to hide and drink secretly are openly taking to the streets, which undoubtedly brings a little impetus to the economy that has stagnated due to the Great Depression.

Although this impetus is not strong, it is at least much better than the stagnant situation in the past.

At least, in the reporter's report of the "Messenger World", it can be seen that there is a customer in every major bar in New York.

Legal alcohol has become another means for people to escape reality in addition to radio, comics, and books during the Great Depression. The feeling of not having to hide and drink alone also allows them to vent their depressed emotions for a short time. Even if, after sobering up, they will still have to face the cruel reality.

Of course, in addition to these benefits, the abolition of "Prohibition" is not without disadvantages.

At least, as far as Colin knows, on the day when "Prohibition" was officially announced to be abolished, more than a thousand people died in drinking sprees in New York, no, the United States.

These people did not fall under the Great Depression, nor did they fall under "Prohibition", but died because of the abolition of "Prohibition".

Because of the endless number of similar deaths, Roosevelt had to publicly call on the people of the country to drink in moderation and not excessively.

In addition to these unlucky people who died because of alcohol, another group that suffered a devastating blow was naturally the gang organization. The abolition of "Prohibition" directly cut off their most profitable voice in the past for a long time. The legalization of alcohol directly led to a large drop in the illegal liquor in the hands of these gangs.

After all, after being able to drink legally, how many people will spend a higher amount of money to buy illegal liquor that is obviously much worse in quality?

For a time, the gangs in the United States fell into a huge chaos. This website:

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