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The Correspondence series deals with a wide variety of subjects, from efforts to incorporate the A.S.L.A. as a tax-free organization to specific legal points in prohibition laws. Although many letters contain only routine information, some letters from Congressmen explain their reasons for supporting or opposing prohibition legislation. Readers should note that it was the practice of this office to use the obverse of letters received as blank sheets for carbons of the reply. Hence correspondence is not in strict chronological order.

Correspondence prior to ratification of the Eighteenth Amendment concerns Oklahoma's dry law, the 1917 Virginia gubernatorial campaign, and court cases involving prohibition issues. From 1921 to 1923, correspondents discussed the operation of the Volstead Act, problems of prohibition law enforcement, Abraham Lincoln's attitude toward prohibition, and various state prohibition laws. Major issues discussed in 1924 included Congressional appropriations for prohibition enforcement, constitutionality of the Volstead Act, the Cramton Bill designed to correct defects in the Prohibition Law Enforcement Bill (H.R.6645), proposals to legalize 2.75% beer, and other legal aspects of prohibition. These same issues were prominent in 1925, with lengthy debate on the additional question of whether the Anti-Saloon League should be incorporated as a tax-free organization.

Most of the correspondence for 1926 is dated in December, when the Legal Office's attention was occupied by the Tumey v. State of Ohio case, which concerned what agency should receive fines obtained from prohibition law violations. The Legal Office sent letters to state superintendents regarding appropriation of prohibition fines in their states and received answers from almost every state attorney general. During 1927 important legal concerns of the Anti-Saloon League included whether the prohibition amendment should be changed from exclusion of "intoxicating" beverages to the broader category of "alcoholic" beverages; how to collect income tax from illegal bootleggers; prohibition in Puerto Rico; the Tumey v. Ohio case; and possible incorporation of the A.S.L.A. Several Senators and Congressmen wrote letters describing how much discussion there was over use of the word "intoxicating" when the prohibition amendment was debated in Congress.

In 1928 the A.S.L.A. continued to consider incorporation of the League's Educational Foundation for tax purposes. Correspondence with the Internal Revenue Service examined the possibility that contributions to the Educational Foundation could be considered tax deductible because of the A.S.L.A.'s religious affiliations. The League also argued that the Senate should impeach Judge Cooper for his failure to enforce prohibition laws. Prohibition enforcement is the main theme in correspondence for 1929. Important topics include temperance education in public schools, funding needs of the government's prohibition department, failure of the Supreme Court to enforce prohibition laws, whether foreign diplomats should be prosecuted for prohibition violations, and the illegality of making wine and beer at home.

Correspondence from 1930 to 1932 discussed the case of United States v. Sprague concerning constitutionality of the 18th Amendment; a bill to facilitate stricter control over fermented fruit juices; and incorporation of the A.S.L.A. There is also information about the January, 1932 A.S.L.A. convention; close relations between the A.S.L.A. and Senators Arthur Robinson and Morris Sheppard; and Republican and Democratic platform planks advocating legalization of 2.75% beer. Following the November, 1932 election, fear of Prohibition repeal culminated in A.S.L.A. cooperation with the W.C.T.U. in sponsoring a "Resist Repeal" convention in Washington, D.C., December 9-11.

Correspondence for January-June, 1933 deals largely with the fight against the 21st Amendment, including charges that it was unconstitutional, discussion of methods to prevent repeal, and attacks on state ratification convention procedures. There was still some interest in incorporation of the League, possibly due to continuing financial difficulties. From July to December, correspondence focuses on the repeal movement, particularly the alleged unconstitutionality of repeal conventions and charges of fraud in elections to the conventions. The A.S.L.A. at first had tried to stop the entire repeal process, but then attempted to win the elections in order to defeat ratification. Correspondence indicates that the League concentrated its efforts in Missouri, Maine, Arizona and Ohio.

The Reports and Minutes contain substantive documents on important aspects of the Legal and Legislative Office. These papers clearly demonstrate the issues which the League deemed the most important, such as the best method for electing dry delegates to the state conventions and the conclusions from experiments on the effects of 2.75% beer.

There are seven folder of undated Reports and Minutes. Within the first undated folder are memorandum of a legal brief concerning the constitutional validity of the 18th Amendment; information concerning the Webb-Kenyon Bill; efforts to increase government control of medicinal liquors; statements favorable to prohibition by presidents from James Madison to Andrew Johnson; and a "Summary of the Provisions of the Proposed Prohibition Enforcement Act" for the District of Columbia. The second undated folder includes a report on the 18th Amendment and its relation to the Constitution, which provides a synopsis of arguments for prohibition, disputes certain "fictions" about alcohol, and discusses future prospects for prohibition; a sermon written by William Jennings Bryan; information on the Supplemental Prohibition Enforcement Act, including how Congressmen voted on the bill; and requests to the government for clarification or rulings on such issues as unlawful possession of liquor and alcohol as the object of larceny.

The third undated folder contains information on A.S.L.A. legislative policy; a list of Wayne Wheeler's important legal cases, particularly those involving prohibition; discussion of A.S.L.A. support for the 16th Amendment, adopted in 1913, which provided for a Federal income tax; an article debating the constitutionality of the Jenks Bill, concerning local versus federal authority over prohibition; Wheeler's evaluation of enforcement of the 18th Amendment, particularly the prohibition codes; a report on manufacture and sale of intoxicating liquor containing 2.75% or less alcohol, under regulation of the Wartime Prohibition Act; and information on Congressional and legal case attempts to define the word "intoxicating."

The fourth undated folder contains information about supplemental prohibition bills, Lincoln's prohibition views, state enforcement of the 18th Amendment, state efforts to modify or evade prohibition regulations, concurrent power and the supremacy of Federal law, applicability of the 18th Amendment to Puerto Rico, and whether brewers should be compensated for confiscated liquor. The fifth undated folder contains an A.S.L.A. convention manual; an American Bar Association statement; information concerning a bill to create an Alcoholic Liquor Damage and Indemnity Fund; and literature concerning attempts to pass previous Constitutional amendments.

The last two undated folders include information concerning: legality of constitutional amendment conventions; definitions of "intoxicating liquors" in state statutes adopted prior to the 18th Amendment; the constitutionality of Section 29 of the Prohibition Amendment, dealing with fruit juices and cider; various state tests for drunken driving; the record of Supreme Court Justice Brandeis, whom the A.S.L.A. severely criticized; and a list of dry Congressmen in the 69th Congress (1925-1927).

Reports and Minutes for 1912-1919 include the Post Office Department's "Liquor Bulletin No. 2" concerning regulations against liquor advertising, an article on "The Statewide Initiative and Referendum" statutes, a copy of The Ohio Law Reporter, and information concerning: A.S.L.A. Legislative Committee chairman James Cannon's protests against appointment of Louis Brandeis and William Howard Taft to the Supreme Court, due to their pro-liquor stances; the Reed Amendment to outlaw liquor advertising in the mail; and League involvement in a contested election in Pennsylvania.

Reports and Minutes for 1920-1922 include information concerning: concurrent powers, whether a state legislature can nullify Congressional laws, liquor prosecutions in Federal courts, demands for more efficient enforcement and prosecution of prohibition violators, whether beer should be used as a medicine; and applicability of the 18th Amendment to vessels on the high seas. Material from 1923 deals with such topics as: the Supreme Court's Constitutional role; the President's law enforcement responsibilities; collecting funds for the A.S.L.A. at Sunday church services; requests for New York Governor Al Smith to enforce the 18th Amendment; arguments against repeal of New York's Mulligan-Gage inspection law; and income tax provisions for contributions to the A.S.L.A. This folder also contains a copy of the A.S.L.A. constitution.

Reports and Minutes for 1924 includes information concerning: whether a state can license the sale of 2.5% beer; definitions of the term "intoxicating liquor"; the President's power to pardon those convicted of violating the Volstead Act; a proposed treaty with Britain to stop liquor smuggling; and the Cramton Bill to establish a Bureau of Prohibition under the Treasury Department. Material on the Cramton Bill includes a legal brief, a booklet on hearings before the House Judiciary Committee, and proposed amendments to the bill.

Reports and Minutes for 1925-1927 contains information concerning: various legal problems; industrial alcohol and 2.75% beer; the Couzens Bill; a reorganization bill to create a prohibition department within the executive branch of government; prohibition enforcement authority; applicability of income tax laws to the illegal liquor traffic, and "wet" plans to repeal the 18th Amendment through another constitutional amendment.

Material for 1928-1929 includes: an A.S.L.A. Legal Office report on the 1928 Presidential election; judicial decisions on Congressional authority to endow U.S. Commissioners with power to hear and decide misdemeanor cases; a Legal Office report to the A.S.L.A. Executive Committee concerning regulations and by-laws of the Educational Foundation which relate to its incorporation; proposals to increase penalties under the National Prohibition Act; prohibition resolutions introduced in Congress; copies of state scientific temperance laws; a report on the California grape industry; and a summary of state laws relating to traffic in intoxicating liquors.

Reports and Minutes for 1930 include literature on national constitutional conventions; a response to a New Jersey judge's charge that the 18th Amendment was invalid; clippings and a legal brief on upholding the 18th Amendment; arguments for government control of medicinal spirits and editorials on the Sheppard Bill for prohibition enforcement in Washington, D.C. There are also prohibition surveys of Virginia, Florida, Kentucky and Georgia--including information on legislation, the judiciary, enforcement personnel, public officials' attitudes toward prohibition, and death rates from alcoholism and cirrhosis of the liver.

Material for 1931 includes information concerning: the legality of constitutional conventions; A.S.L.A. constitutional arguments against resubmission of the 18th Amendment; prohibition legislation facts compiled by the A.S.L.A.; a history of prohibition legislation prior to the 18th Amendment; the legality of fermented fruit juices and cider; the Havell Bill for prohibition in the District of Columbia (a copy of the bill is included); and other reports of the Legal and Legislative Office.

Reports and Minutes for 1932 contain information concerning: state laws dealing with 2.75% beer; A.S.L.A. policy when neither major political party supported prohibition; the 1932 A.S.L.A. convention; the repeal movement and state constitutional conventions; state decisions on initiative and referendum; beer as an intoxicating beverage; the status of state prohibition legislation in case the 18th Amendment was repealed; incorporation of the Nebraska Anti-Saloon League; and the "Resist Repeal" convention, December 9-12, 1932 in Washington, D.C.

Reports and Minutes for 1933 deal primarily with legal aspects of state constitutional conventions and the repeal movement, including an outline of the argument against repeal; a statement on methods of electing dry delegates to state conventions; information about state liquor laws and constitutional conventions; and copies of Congressional repeal bills. There are also reports on the most effective state enforcement laws, including the Arizona Control Act and the Colorado Beer Act, and the 1933 report of the A.S.L.A. Legal and Legislative Office.

Scrapbooks and published materials include a 1927 scrapbook containing obituaries of Wayne B. Wheeler and statements by national leaders concerning Wheeler's career, written shortly after his death. There are also contains copies of the A.S.L.A. publication, Prohibition Enforcement Bulletin, 1922-1923.