The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1919-10-24
WHAT WE GAN
 AND CANNOT DO
Problems Raised By Coming of ProI1ibi-
 tion

The Jaw which has been passed by Congress for the enforcement of war time prohibition and for prohibition under the eighteenth amendment to the United States Constitution bee comes effective next January. The new law is awaiting the Presidents signature and. should the condition of President Wilson be such as not to enable him to affiX his signature to the bill, which 1t is generally con- ceded that he will do. the bill will become law on Oct 2S without his signature. The bill will become effect i've cotncident with its becoming the law of the land. One of the weak features of the wartime prohibition law was that Congress did not pro- vide the means for enforcing it. An appropriation of S2,oOO.0 900 has been made for use of the commisst oner of internal revenue In the enforcement of the new law and SIo0. .000 to the Department of Justice in the conduct of prosecutions for violation Of it.
 Home Stocks.
 Some of the features of the new law have been explained at Wash fugton. It permits one to possess liquor in his private dwelling for the personal use of himself and his fam fly, and there Is no limitation as to the amount Of liquor he can possess, The only restriction is that the liquor, regardless of the amount, must have been obtained by him before war time prohibition became effective, which was on July 1.
 Legal Way to Get Drunk.
 The question has been asked as to whether there is any legal way for a man to get drunk, so far as the law Is concerned, after 1t becomes effect Eve. There Is one way according to the interpretation the law has re- ceived. The person who has legally put in @ supply before July l, may serve 6 bona fde guest when the lat ter Is entertained in his home, So far as the federal law is concerned, there is no provision for the punish ment of a person who becomes in toxIcated but he could be reached by the laws of the states, as now.
 Burden on Accused.
 Under the law, however, greater burden is put upon an accused than in criminal procedure, generally. Should 8 charge be brought against 8 householder that he has liquor in his home that was not legally ac- quired, the burden Is upon him to prove the negative of the charge, or that he legally acquired the liquor, rather than upon the government to prove the truth of the charge, Re gardless of the information he may have no government inspector or agent, can enter and search dwell ing until a search warrant has been issued. Search warrants can be ob- |1IrT ak fibre a United States commissioner or other qualified officer. In connec- ton with the illegal possession of liquor,~ where liquor IS sold. a double violation of the law has been com- na5tted, that is in addition to the ille- gal possession is the failure to have paid the tax to the internal revenue department. If the liquor was man ufactured on the premises there would be an additional and third Eio- lation- The two latter violations are under statutes existing before the new law was enacted and the former statutes were not repealed by the law which will become effective the latter part of the month
 In Bonded Warehouses
 No person has right to move liquor bought before July 1. from a DOHuS0 SI1C use lO HIS home During wartime prohibition liquor may be removed from a bond ed warehouse only for export pur- poses After prohibition under the eighteenth amendment goes into eff feet next January, liquor may be re- moved from a bonded warehouse only for medicinal, scientific, mechanical or sacramenta1 purposes, and only for these purposes can liquor be sold. It has been asked if in a case where & person had not space in his room or apartment for liquor which he bought before the prohibitory laws became effective, and he had stored liquor In an ordinary storage ware house, he could move this liquor from its storage place to his apart Inent.
 Permits Needed.
 Under one feature of the law as to wartime prohibition, there is no pro- vision against such removal, but, un- der the law relating to enforcing of the law as to the amendment, it has been regarded that it would proba- bly, be necessary to obtain a permit from the commissi o1cr of internal revenue, or one of his agents to transport the liquor. The rnanufac- ture, sale, purchase and transporta- tion of Hquors as permitted under the law, are governed by the issuance ot permits by the commissioner of 1n- ternaI revenue and closely drawn re- strictions are thrown around the is- suance of these permits
 It was the intention of the framers of the law, that when persons moved from one city to another or from one state to another, they be not per 1nitted to take liquor they might have on hand. In fact, when the debate or the bill was before the Senate ont Senator asked this question o: another. The answer he got was thai it was thought this could be done, but that the Senator who asked the ques- ton could put his own interpretation on the bill in that particular.
 Illegal Transportation.
 The part of the bill which relates to the transportation of liquor is very comprehensive. It covers i1lega transportation by aircraft. It pro. vfdes that the vehicle illegally used shah be seized, and unless a good anC valid bond is given, it shall be solt to pay the fine assessed against the vioIator The term private dwell ing" as mentioned in the law, is de