The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1919-07-15

Needless to say. evedy allegation Is
Is without a scintilla of truth, as the
books OF the department and the com
missioner AFFIDAVIT disclose. All the
moneys received for The sale of whis-
key have been turned in TO the treas !
ury of Virginia for the benefit Of the
school fund. Believing, however, that
he disnensary was being used to the
dlscredit of prohibition. the commits
slonef declined TO renew the license
May /. 1919, and the privilege ceased, !
For approving the application. in 1918,
DIR. Peters was roundly condemned;
for refusing TO approve it, in 1919. he
was vieiously abuse d.
In similar painstaking fashion. the
com missioner travarSes the charges of
alleged misconduct by his agents to-
ward women travellers, arrested for
cause In every instance the facts
h9ve justified the acts OF his deputies,
as the records OF each individual case
reveal. The Nominations of the news
/ paner critics Of the department, par
| ticularly, those OF the New York
| World, become fantastic in the light
| Of the sworn testimony. Far from in
sulting women in Pullman car berths
! the statements of the occupants. in
every instance noted, disprove the
charges The Valley turnpike TRACE
! dv. near Woodstock, last March in
which two hootleggers lost their. lives
has been utilized BY the opponents Of
prohibition as Offering excellent OPP
! portunity to put the department out
Of commission, DR.. Peters realizes
that the four indicted officers must not
! he tried in advance of the judicial
! hearing lIcfore court and jury, so
merely states that Trey were fired upon
! in the night time by the two bootleg
! gers, whom they had placed under ar
- l. ~
/ laden with whiskcy, and that ii was in
the defense of their own lives tina.
they shot and killed the lawbreakers.
OF course. IT is patent that the
malignant and wholly deceptive stories
rejecting upon the prohibition depart
mont OF Virginia are given currency
for the sole purpose of ting an at
mosphere of distrust of and aver
sion to its methods OF enforcing the
! law. 10 the end that the office of COM
missioner may he abolished. Sublime
4 ly disregardful of these efforts to en-
harTass and curtail his usefulness, DR..
I Peters has sturdily persevered in his
work and the results attained amply
testify to his faithfuness and zeal,
The mum her of convicts sent to the
penitentiary has been reduced nearly
/ one half: those sent to jail have been
scarcely more than n third OF the
average quota sentenced at a corre-
, snonding period of the wet regime,
] while the number OF persons cared for
at charitable institutions has been di-
minished, on the average, to an extent
of more than twenty five thousand
cases, The actual net gain to the
revenue of the state. after deducting
all costs of the department, has been
more than eighty thousand dollars.
This effectually disposes of the charge
that il is a fearful burden on the tax
PAYERS. To abolish the office. just as
national prohibition Is about to take
effect. would be more than folly II
would be criminally wrong. Instead
the departments appropriation should
be increased, not diminished, the leg
iislature thereby serving notice on ten
Jative hootleggers and their sympa-
thizers that the lawmaking body of
the state is unfalteringly supporting
the prohibition commissioner In his