The Mena weekly star., 1920-02-26
TO KEEP THE ]. 5.
 'DRY,' 50 MILLION
Senate Gets Surprising Estimate of Yearly Expense of Beating Thieves, Bootleggers and Smugglers
 of Booze.
From the Kansas City star.

From the Kansas City Star.
 Washington, Feb. 19.-Fifty mil lion dollars year from the federal treasury to keep the nation dry was the surprising estimate given the sen ate today by Senator Francis E. War ren of Wyoming, chairman of the ap- propriations committee. The esti- mate was made during the discussion of letter received by the chairman from Daniel c. Roper, collector of in- ternal revenue, asking authority of congress to rent, lease or purchase warehouses in cities such as Pitts burgh, Philadelphia, New York and Louisville for the purpose of storing the 59 million or more gallons of spir- ituous liquors at present held in eight hundred warehouses, large and small. Senator Warren introduced a bill, pre- pared by Collector Roper, for taking over the warehouses.
 The revenue service is face to face with a serious situation Every day messages are received stating that warehouses have been broken into and large stores of intoxicants stolen. In some instances guards have been "overpowered" by thieves. while in others the thefts have been commit ted while the guards were being ] changed.
 Roper Has Job on His Hands.
 It's battle with thieves and boot leggers that Collector Roper is fac ing. Not only is the breaking into bonded warehouses becoming more serious-but the smuggling of "wet goods" from Mexico, from Cuba and from Canada has developed into quite an industry. Within the last few days reports have come to revenue officials that large quantities of intoxicants are coming into the United States from Canada, Cuba and Mexico, be- ing carried by small craft to isolated landing places along the coasts of the Gulf states, Maine, California and Ore | gon.
 The ''wet goods,' according to in- | formation reaching Washington, are smuggled into the country without difficulty and disposed of to represen- tatives of bootleggers, who see to the distribution. With a view to- combat ting the smugglers, the senate appro- priations committee has writters into the second deficiency appropriation bill an allowance of l million dollars to guard various coast points and to enable the revenue service to organ ize a mosquito fleet" to patrol the coast to catch the lawbreakers.
 Would Acquire All Booze.
 During today's discussion of Collec- tor Roper's plan to centralize the wet goods in warehouses in Pittsburgh and other important centers, Senator l Shoot of Utah declared that rather than attempt to guard the stock, it would be better for the government to acquire it outright; have it absolutely under it's control and dispose of it un- der the existing laws.
 Senator King of Utah entered viz orous protest against the constant de- mands that are being made for fur ther appropriations to carry out the enforcement law. He objected to the addition of l million dollars to the same amount allowed by the House on the deficiency bill for the guarding of bonded warehouses. It is an outrage to make such appropriations" he said and he declared that the treasury es- ! inmates of 15 million dollars for the work showed that the officials lacked common sense.
 "Two million dollars was appropri- ated in the organic act, but when we undertake to carry out this laudable purpose and make this country a pro- hibition country" Senator Warren said, fit will be 50 million dollars a year instead of 12 million dollars a year, as provided in pending legisla- tion reported by the house. It may not last long; we may be able to kill out all the seeds of this great curse;