Bisbee daily review., 1916-01-05
Henry Wheeler, in Interview,
 Explains Some of the Difi- culties Which Beset Off, cers in Enforcing Dry Law.
MYERS PEOPLE DO NOT
 REGARD IT AS CRIME
Declares, in His Opinion, Law Has Resulted in Reduction of His Office Expenses ST. 900 in the Year 1915.

DOOllesSluS as Sne IS uOne, HlSnl have been the subject of an interview, received yesterday morning from Sher- if Harry Wheeler That official, in whose hands the kind and indulgent forcement of the prohibition amend ment, has found his hands tied with those of other officials of Cochise county-and has had to take what ever measure of eliminating the traf- fic the conditions have permitted.
 ''I read the Reviews article, this morning, entitled Two Views of Dry Laws Possible in City and I will cor roborate large proportion of the story. Moreover, I am of the opinion the data was fairly handled and came to the point" was one of the official-s statements.
 ''The sheriff of this county" con tinued Wheeler, has his hands tiec in a number of instances. In the first place the amendment is faulty. In the second place the people of the county are not with the officers in the enforcement of the law.
 "The reason why we, the law en- forcement officers of Cochise county, succeed in keeping down robbery, murder, arson, and other felonies Is because the people believe such of lenses to be crimes. From ninety five to ninety-eight per cent, or even a larger proportion of the population, are against such crimes. When a business man. professional man or a laboring man. knows of a crime having been committed, or about to be committed, he will notify the of ficers. He will not be afraid to go on the witness stand and tell all he knows. He wants to see the law up- held. As single unit of the county's electorate he demands that the law be upheld and will give his whole souled and unsolicited aid to see that it is upheld. But what is the condi- ton when the officers of the county make conscientious efforts to catch the vendor of liquors?
 During the twelve months, com prising the year of 1915, the sheriff1s office did not have the testimony of a single non-official citizen of the county in the prosecution of any of it's bootlegging cases. There were a few instances in which the office was told by some responsible party that whiskey was being sold by a certain person or persons. It was then up to us to secure the testimony, or in short, to catch the vendor in the act of mak- ing a sale It must be obvious to the sensible person that officers. known in their respective communities, and especially to the bootlegger (who makes it his particular business to know the law enforcer) has a dis distinctly small chance of getting sufficient evidence to convict. Unless such evidence is secured. the office is wasting the money of the county.
 The court of the county is receiv- ing considerable censure because of the alleged light sentences imposed. This is neither deserved nor fair.
 "A careful perusal of the dockets, during the past year will disclose that but four jury cases cases of bootlegging resulted in convictions for the county. On the other hand forty per cent of the cases before the court, from a criminal standpoint, were liquor cases. The reason for this is quite obvious.
 Should the court sentence the bootleggers to the maximum it would soon become apparent to the other traficers that they had better fight than plead guilty. In great many instances the evidence was insuffici- ent to convict-before a Cochise coun- ty jury-and the law officers had to take a part of loaf rather than none Should the court proceed to sentence the bootleggers to the maximum. in other words, the bootleggers would fight and in that case the jury, which is made up of the average citizen. would not consider the offense of suf-
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