Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1921-01-28
HOW CAN WOMEN HELP EN-
FORCE THE LAW?

70 ~ opi Worh. mere are great
many people these days who think
that the only ,thing needed is to
make arrests and that that will set
tie the question; that if we make
enough of them in any city or COM
munity, after awhile everybody will
obey the law. Arresting law viola
tor certainly has n good effect. 1t
not only Furnishes him, after he has
been tried and convicted, but he
serves as good example to others.
But the matter of making arrests is
not all there is to this problem. What
we need most in the different com
munities of the state and nation, as
whole, is to create sentiment which
will indicate to the officials that the
people want the law enforced: and
will show violators that the law must
be obeyed. i know that it is always
difficult to enforce law at first. The
American people will sit around and
rest easy until they are driven to do
something. But when they see it has
to be done, they will wake up and do
it.
That is the thing we need more
than anything else. We do not SO
much need help to make arrests. We
do not not so much need information;
we have more of that than we can
handle. The thing needed today in
stead of information-th though, of.
course, we need that's an organic
ed effort in every community that
will take hold of the situation and
say that the thing has to be done.
A certain city has mayor who is
not dry man. but pretty respect
able fellow. An ordinance enables
him to fine law viclators up to $500
for selling liquor, and yet there is
hardly man in the city who is do
ing anything toward letting the
mayor know he, as nm individual,
would like to have him enforce the
law.
If can say one thing more than
another it is that you women assert
yourselves on this question. You will
have to be like Deborah and go along
with the Baraks to fight the battles
.of the Lord. know u great deal
about men. Most of them are cow
ards. They think about their bust
ness, they thing about politics, they
think about one hundred other things
that stand between them and the
things they ought to do. / have had
men come to me and say, Kramer,
] will tell you something. but don't
tell where you got it." If we had
one thousand men who were not
afraid to tell where they got the
evidence, and would stand by the
law, it would help greatly to hold up
our hands.
Now if n thousand women were
organized for that very purpose, the
lazy violators would take notice and
there would cease TO be violation.
Another thing you can do is to
sit steady in the boat until we get
further along with this thing. know
it is working out all right; it is
bound to because of the way things
fit into each other so we'll. For in
stance, the arrival on the scene of
the women with the ballot is going
to help nightly. The thing we must
do is to keep steady for the next
two OF three years, SO that we shall
not suffer a reaction. =
What bothers me more than any
thing else is this talk about wine
and beer-just as if this We're light
matter, something that didn't mean
much after ALL Let me tell you that
look somewhat with suspicion up
on the man that will advocate that
kind of temperance when lie knows
it means pure notification. The con-
stitution says that intoxication liq-
uors shall not be sold, bought, man.
ufactured, transported. imported OF
exported. Right in the face of this
provision there are many statesmen
and politicians who say if they get
to congress they. will make it legal
to sell, buy, manufacture, transport,
import and export light wines and
beers. You know what light wines
are. The lightest of them contain
from twelve to fifteen per cent alco-
hol, and you can make man crazy
on u beverage containing that
amount
Then another thing you must keep
in mind: If we get light wines and
beer, the whole case is lost. There
are not enough men in the govern
ment service to enforce the law in
New York City alone with light
wines and beers being legally sold.
Our trouble today is largely with
the soft drink establishments. Slip
ping hard liquor over with the soft
drinks, but we can take care of all
that in time. That will not worry us
very long, but open up 1900 sa-
looms in New York City, the number
prior to the time prohibition went
into effect, and no force on earth
can carry out the provisions of the
law relating to wines and beer. 1t
would be light wines and beer the
first week, and in month it would
be the hardest kind of liquors, and
every ytime man was arrested you
would have to show that the man
was intoxicated on alcoholic bever-
ages containing more than the slip.
.ulated alcoholic content, end he