LIBtranslator

  Herbert Hoover was inaugurated 2 days after beer was made a felony–while the League of Nations unfolded a worldwide war on drugs . Small wonder that the resulting Great Depression triggered a search for replacement parties here, there and everywhere… Germany had troubles too . Losing the 1914 war against the Hague opium conventions had burdened the nation with war reparations to the Allies and loan debts to the (NOT an Ally) U.S. By 1930, League plans to throttle German pharma–Germany’s largest industry –had intensified. The U.S. now financially backed these international prohibitionists and packed the Geneva committee with her own delegates. Naturally, the search was on for new politicians.  Adolf Hitler’s name began appearing in the news .( link ) The League of Nations Opium Advisory Committee  spent nearly all of May 1931 working on the new Drug Convention they’d planned throughout 1930. German participants kept their government dutifully apprised of plans amounting-...

  In March 1931, Republican judges  again declared that  beer  would remain a felony, even if tens of thousands had to be robbed, jailed and/or shot to attain this noble ideal. Prisoners now exceeded the entire populations of three States. What, then, of German hopes to keep codeine and cocaine unregulated so as to pay war reparations with export profits? The clipping below, from when one American penny was worth six-and-a-quarter- MILLION  paper marks, explains how  other drugs  boomed  as beer was  banned . “Obviously the creation of a world sentiment against dope is the tremendous task upon which our government has embarked.( link )” Smuggling submarines were photographed in the Hudson river 8 months later.( link ) The same Norwalk paper on p.4 tells of Connecticut patrons pelting narcotics agents with brickbats. By 07 February 1931 the League of Nations  Opium advisory Committee had wrapped up its 44 meetings. Only two of which were ...

  The Hoover Administration in 1931  needed to elect candidates and coerce Germany–this while robbing and jailing voters over beer, interstate weekending and foreign drugs–all in one juggling act. A typical cartoon sandbags readers by pretending dry Republican “progressives” (who just  cost  the GOP control of the House) would change policy ( link ). The prime directive was to ignore the wet Liberal Party. Here are some portentous events of April 1931. March papers closed  with articles on the huge fortunes amassed by the Kaiser (living it up in Holland) and frau Bertha Krupp von Bolen and Halbach, still the boss lady of the Krupp steel and weapons conglomerate, worth 283,000,000 marks.( link )  Germany was investing in some brand new warships as well. Americans were meanwhile shocked to learn that illegal liquor had a budget of 5 billion dollars tax-free , while courts and jails were filling up with bootlegging tax dodgers indicted back in 1928.( link ) Th...