The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1921-05-24
MEN IN CONGRESS
BECOME ALARME D
" At DRY MEASURE
Say Prohibitions Making Com-
try A 'NatiOn of Crooks"
ACT INSTIGATES DISORDER
Dry Leaders Admit Attempt to
Enforce Law Has Been
Proven Failure
ACT INSTIGATES DISORDER

Wash 'ngton, May "a Members Of
Congress are beginning to resent the
dictatiOn OF the Anti-Saloon league.
Some of them have recently expressed
the opinion that the prohibition law is
max ng the United States "a nation of
crooks" Reports OF enforcement Of.
fic.als and the daily records provided
by the newspapers show very clearly
that there are more violations of the
prohibition law in day than of all
the other criminal statutes in a
month
Prohibit on leaders who systemiti-
cally check up the efforts of the vari-
Gus national and state prohibition
agencies dispute this statement, but
the reports to the revenue depart
ment and the attorney generals Of
flee tend to confirm it. The result is
that members of Congress who have
been led to believe there will be no
trouble in making the country 90 per
cent dry within two years-as claim
ed by the prohibition propagandists
are now beginning to be very doubt
full about it,
Provokes Disorder
Both the vets and drys, who differ
over the sincerity and efficiency of
law officers in attempting to shut off
the supply of liquor, agree as to one
feature OF the matter This Is the
obvious fact that the attempt to en-
force the Volstead law has provoked
great deal more disorder and gem
orally unsatisfactory results than
were anticipated by either.
From many sections OF the country
come every day reports that tend TO
encourage the belief that the Eight
eenth Amendment and Volstead En-
forcement act are held in the utmost
contempt WhiiN thousands Of ar
rests are reported in the various
states. the number of convictions is
almost negligible even when the proof
Of violation is of such convincing
character as to justify conviction in
the ordinary Grim nal case.
Leaders OF the Anti-Saloon league
movement are inclined 10 place the
responsible ty for this on law officers
of various grades of the national,
state and municipal service who are
held to be either derelict in duty or
lacking in sympathy with the spirit
of the law itself Federal officials in
and out Of Washington make little
conceaIment of their displeasure at
being called upon to exercise their
ofiic al functions in trying to enforce
the law
The treasury department is trying
to unload the responsibility for this
undertaking on the attorney gen.
erals office, while the latter depart
ment is perfectly willing to permit
the financial branch of the govern
ment to act as buffer between the
promoters of the Anti-Saloon league
and the ingenious citizens who, hay
ing no respect for the law Itself, re-
sort to every device to discredit it.
Say Laws Failure.
The more candid Of the dry agita.
tors admit that the attempt to en-
force the law to date has been a
failure. They further admit that the
present year will mark the crit cal
stage in the experiment to convert
the liberal American spirit into a pro-
scriptive one For the present they
have their attention centred on New
York City, where the agencies OF the
state and nun cipal governments are
making an apparently sincere effort
to compel an obedience to the law.
The Importance of this experiment
is admitted by the dry leaders, They
say that if the law can be enforced
in New York city it can be enforced
throughout the country They have
not definitely made up their minds,
however, whether the state enforce
fent law recently put into operation
will result in the yindication of their
hopes.
The failure OF the various enforce.
ment agencies In all parts of the
country has prepared them for revolt
among members Of Congress who
have heretofore been agreeably docile
to the dictates of the Ant-Saloon
league Some of these congressman,
reading the Signs of the mes, are be-
ginning to exhibit a tendency to re-
volt against proposals devised by the
dry leaders to make the Volstead act
as oppressive as possible.