Perth Amboy evening news., 1920-08-04
Whiskey Frauds /.
Being Curtailed

by w. =. NAM.
Copyright. 1920. by The Washington

copyright. lszO, oy Inc washington
starr
WASHINGTON, Aug. 4.@vigfiant
guards who are keeping watch over
some 6~0,0e0,000 gallons of whiskey
in bonded warehouses in various
parts of the United States. have
! practically stopped wholesale thefts
of such liquors that a few months ago
were of almost daily occurrence, and
the chief trouble OF the prohibition
agents now is guarding against forged
or raised permits allowing with
drawal OF liquor for non-beverage
uses.
New methods of beating the law
are sprung with amazing frequency
by the devotees of John Barieycorn,
and one of the latest is to get Mold
of a bona fde withdrawal permit
calling for a small amount of whis-
key, and by skillful work with a pen
raise the amount named in It. Thus
a permit for the withdrawal of
fifty gallons may be raised to read
500 or 5000 gallons. and only close
inspection by the guard will show
the change, the plan being an adap-
ton of the old trick of raising a 50
check to a $40. familiar to the men
of the secret service.
ouA IA okAN0 Va NAAA1 oA0 a.
subtleties, including border SNUG
Cling, home brewing and the writ
ing of "phoney" prescriptions for
liquor, John F. Kramer. federal
prohibition commissioner, is not dis
couraged ove the opposition his
force Is meeting, and insists that the
victories of the law-enforcement
organizations far exceed those of the
law-evasion forces. He believes that
the chief problem of the prohibition
bureau is the building up of an
efficient organization of men and
ome who can be depended on, and
that this goal is being approached
daily.
A serious setback has been the re.
signation of H. M. Gaylord, chief
assistant to Mr.. Kramer, who will
leave the service this month and who
excepting the head of the bureau, is
probably better acquainted than my
one with the problems of prohibition
enforcement. having been an official
of the bureau of internal revenue for
a number of years.
The home brewers" though they
attract much attention, are not
giving the federal authorities much
trouble. The old-time internal re-
venue agents, such as most of the
officials of the bureau have been.
know nearly all there is to know
about brewing and distilling, and
they are aware that a home Still
capable of turning out enough
intoxicants to count requires so much
time and attention that the average
man Will not mess around" with it
very long.
There is a humorous side to this
home brewing industry said one
internal revenue official. IAN
acquaintance of mine calls them
worse pests than the boil wevil, and
says he is getting afraid to make
a call because of some weird concoc-
ton he may be called on to drink in
the name of conviviality. One host
will surreptitiously produce a bottle
of some sickly-sweet medicine which
he christens brand and insist on his
guests RECALLING themselves. Another
pulls down the curtains and brings
forth sundry bottles of bitter, sudsy,
liquid which he dignifies as beer,
while in some other house the favor
ed guests are helped 10 a home
grown wine that smells like vinegar
but does not taste as good.
Such manufacture of drinks is
largely a fad, that will pass like the
overall fad, and it's worst feature is
that sometimes the amateur brewer
or distiller gets a chemical combina-
ton that amounts to rank poison
and the results are very serious. The
real enemies of law enforcement so
far as the prohibition bureau is con-
cerned. are the men who are in it
to make a quick fortune and who
are willing to take almost any
chance to clean up several thousand
dollars in a hurry.
The question of defining more
clearly the Volstead act is certain
to come up oon after congress meets
next December. n of the most
pressing matters being how far the
federal agents can rightfully go in
searching baggage, automobiles, ex-
press and ven pockets in looking
for contraband liquors. Several
cases growing out of such searches
now in the courts and some of
them will be carried to the United
States supreme court for decision. A
definite search law is particularly
needed along the Canadian border
where liquor smuggling is in progress
almost continuously. Small SNUG.
glers are not bothered on the border
a rule, as the law enforcement
are devoting their attention
to the professionals who bring whis-
key into the states by the truck load.