Morning journal and courier., 1886-08-20
Difficulties in Enforcing a Liquor Law.


 A Journal reporter, to learn what measures have been adopted to secure the enforcement of the prohibitory law, had the following in- terview with Chief of Police Child
 Q.-What effect has the prohibitory law had on liquor selling in this city.
 Alt has stopped the open sale of intox- icants.
 Q.-Judgjng from the increase in the num- Der of arrests for drunkenness it must be that liquor is being sold very freely.
 Ave are aware that great deal of li- quor is being sold and are doing everything in our power to enforce the prohibitory law as effectively as others, but it is work which necessarily must be done slowly and quietly. There is a difficulty in enforcing this law which is almost insurmountable and is not encountered in other cases. It is the procuring of testimony. Many seem to think that to proceed in prosecuting illegal sellers of liquor it is only necessary for the police to know that the man is making sales They think that if the officials know that 8 man is selling it is an easy matter to convict him. The fact is, and all should know it, corroborative testimony and great deal of it is necessary. Some of our officers suspect and are satisfied that intoXicants are being sold in certain places on their beats, but they cannot produce evidence that will warrant us in proceeding to prosecute. Some of our officers, when alone and even in uniform, can enter saloons and other places on the beats they patrol and be supplied with any kind of liquor they call for. The dealer has no fear about selling to man who is alone. He knows that the testimony of one officer would be balanced by his own and would fail to convict. If the policeman should en- ter accompanied by another person and call for intoxicants they would be refused, be- cause the officer would then have corrobora- tive testimony that would support prosecu- tion. In cases of any other nature we are able to secure support from citizens who will furnish the testimony that is req uired to con- vict. Frequently complaints are made to me that certain person are selling liquor to the fathers and brothers of the complain ants, but when we request them to assist us in the prosecution they fatly refuse to appear in court and testify.
 Q.-What do you do in such casess
 A-Our officers aIe- all instructed to watch places where they suspect that the business is carried on for the purpose of securing nuisance cases against them. The only thing that can be done is to prose cute them on the charge that ''they keep and maintain a grog shop and tippling shop or tenement used for the illegal sale and keeping of intoxicating liquors, where incorporate, idle, absolute, noisy and disor derly persons are in the habit of resorting." This is done by watching the places and lio- ting the number of drunken persons that come out of them, that large numbers of idle and dissolute persons frequent them.
 Q.-Why don't you employ "spotters" to secure sales!
 Ave have no money at our command to employ them.
 Q.-Why do you not secure sales through your patrolmen?
 A In ba first place we cannot do so be- cause of the expense it would entail upon the department. Even though we do not have to pay any additional sum for the ser vices of the men the expense would be very great. Under the license law the procuring of sales by our men costs several hundred dollars per year, and to do such work prop erly under the present law would require thousands of dollars per year, and we have not got it to expend. Then again if we should compel the men to perform that kind of work we would lose the most valuable men in the department They would not consent to perform that kind of service and would resign. The force has lost many valu- able men by putting them in that kind of servlce. No man is accepted in this depart ment who uses intoxicating drinks. Many have been appointed on the force and being new men have been used to secure sales of liouor. They have been ruined for other duty because after being placed in contact with strong drink they have acquired appe- tites for it that they could not control. We have never compelled man to do that kind of work, and since July 1st no man has been asked to do "spotting" in citizens dress or i'll disguise. We do not approve of it and the nolice committee of the Board of Aldermen agree with us that it would be injudicious to require the men to do "spotting." If it mist be done we must E4.ye money to en- ploy men to perform that work.