The Winslow mail., 1919-12-26
Enforcement of National Prohibition
Gigantic Task
(By Leonard Ormerod)

There is in Washington a man
charged with one of the most stupen-
dous tasks that have confronted a
government official since the days OF
Continental Congress-the task of en-
forcing law the like of which was
never before written into the statutes
of nation.
During the year 1917, which preced-
ed the advent of nationwide prohibit
ton, there was poured down the Anne
rican throat some 1,884,000,000 gal
Ions of matted liquors. 161000,000
gallons of native spirituous liquors
37,640,000 gallons of domestic wines
and 2400O,000 gallons of domestic
brandy, not to mention some 100000
gallons of imported spirits and wines
An d it is the job of Daniel c. Ro-
per, commissioner of internal reve-
nue., to make "bone dry" an area of
1855, 900 square miles, whose hum
dred-odd million inhabitants but re-
Gently required more than 100000,
600 gallons of Intoxicating beverages
to assuage their thirst for twelve
month.
To the question: How under the
sun are you going to do it?" Commits
sioner Roper makes answer:
81 have an abiding faith in the
American people,"
This is not the statement of vi
sionary, for the man who, is charged
with collecting some $4,000, 100000
in income taxes, excess profit taxes
and other items of revenue for 1919
can cherish to illusions about the
temper or character of the people
Rather it is his past experience as
collector of internal revenue under
the most drastic tax law the country
ever saw that makes that official con-
fident of his power to enforce prohi-
bition. Briefly he has summed the
situation up as follows:
Prohibition is no longer an issue; );
~ 10 OAliy q 4uCpIlOu VI law ICG-
ment.
Every citizen must take his place
in one of the two groups; either with
the good citizen, who believe the law
and the constitution should be en-
forced, or with the bad citizens, who
seek to violate or evade the law, and
the latter group is entitled to no
standing.
"There might be another temporary
classification of the potentially good
citizen; the man or woman who has
shown the morality and justice OF
keeping law will keep it even tho
they may find the law Objectionable" :"
To put this principle into opera
ton, it is proposed to apoint federal
prohibition director for every state
in the union. His first duty will be
to cooperate with the state officials
and with the county and municipal
officials in the state in enforcing the
law. State officials and lesser Off
cials who may be inclined to wink at
violations of the prohibition laws
will find their evasions exposed, even
where their action does not make
them liable in the cuorts.
The state director will deal exclu-,
sively with the good citizen and the
potentially good citizen He will or
ganize public opinion through the me-
dunn of civic, religious, fraternal and
commercial organizations. He will
be an apostle not so much of prohi-
'bition as of law enforcement. To
him will fall the task of administer
ing the permissive features of the
law, such as the manufacture and
sale of near-beer, the use of nom
beverage alcohol, use of liquors
for sacremental and medicinal pur-
poses and the assessm ent of taxes,
etc. Each director will have a. corps
OF assistants to be known as federal
prohibition inspectors, who will de-
termine for the director the condition
existing in every part of the state.
In short, it is assumed by Commits
sloner Roper that the great majority
or the state, county and municipal
oflclals as we'll as the public believe
the law of the. land should be enforc-
ed, and the state director is to de-
yelop that idea and assist in it's, exc
cut1on In che frankest possible man
ner.
What, then, for the bad citizen; the
man who looks upon the law, and,
finding it not to his liking, decides to
disregard it, and for one reason or
another cannot be reached by local
authorities?
The country is to be divided into