Volstead Act

Explanation and Analysis of the Document

The purpose of the Volstead Act is to “prohibit intoxicating beverages, and to regulate the manufacture, production, use, and sale of high-proof spirits for other than beverage purposes.” In Title I of the act, “To Provide for the Enforcement of War Prohibition,” Congress defines terms and outlines enforcement provisions for the “War Prohibition Act,” which banned the “sale and manufacture of intoxicating liquors until the conclusion of the present war and thereafter until the termination of demobilization.”

Congress turns to enforcement of the act beginning with section 2 of Title I. In this section, the Internal Revenue Service is authorized to investigate and report violations of the act. Section 3 states that any place where intoxicating liquors are “sold, manufactured, kept for sale, or bartered” is in violation of the act, and its liquor and property are “hereby declared to be a public and common nuisance.” Section 3 also specifies fines. Section 4 authorizes the U.S. attorney general and U.S. attorneys to file suit against violators of the act and outlines procedures to be followed to issue an injunction “restraining the defendant or defendants from conducting or permitting the continuance of such nuisance.” Any person who violates the injunction can be summarily tried and punished. Section 5 extends enforcement authority to “other officers of the United States whose duty it is to enforce criminal laws.” Section 6 is a standard provision that states that if any portion of the act is invalidated, the rest of the act remains in force, and section 7 states that none of the provisions of the Volstead Act are to be construed to repeal any provisions contained in the “War Prohibition Act.” Section 7 also states that the act does not prohibit military or naval authorities from enforcing regulations having to do with the disposition of liquor during the war or demobilization after the war.