The American issue. [volume] (Westerville, Ohio) 1912-19??, 1921-12-16

DIR. Baker declared that the chle1
obstacles in the way OF complete en-
forcement of the Eighteenth Amend
ment arc % Wet Newspapers; %
Enforcement officials Who Fail to Do
Their Duty; go The Triling OF Con-
gress and especially the United
| States Senate. With reference to each
| OF these obstacles DR.. Baker spoke in
| part as follows:
THE time has certainly come when
| country should stand for more i'll the
counting-room of newspaper oitce,
than the buns and those who wish to
violate law. The liberty of speech and
liberty of the press are sacred Ameri-
| can rights, but when a newspaper
| wantonly assassinates a righteous
cause it should be taught that its lib
erty ceases where the cause begins.
when even a small percent OF the
Christian business men of the country
| will take this stand, and cease spend
ing their money where it is used
against their principles, there will be
an end to these half reasonable at
tacks upon the fundamental laws of
| the country. 1t is legitimate form OF
moral warfare that we appeal to the
| men of affairs who are standing by us
with their money and inhuence-and
they are legion-in this long hard
| fight for a better civilization and
better country, that they cease spend
ing their money where it is being used
against their sacred principles oil
sobriety and patriotism. 1t is the only
language these defiant publishers can
understand.
"There are judges and sheriffs and
| prosecuting attorneys and mayors and
city solicitors that seem not yet to
have learned that the Eighteenth
| Amendment has been adopted They
are still operating under the shadow
of the beer mug A rude awakening
is lust ahead. They are to learn that
enforce that law. Rapidly these
dere1icts are moving toward the dis
card of unused things. 1t always re-
ouires time to remove excrescences OF
this sort from the political horizon
The chief offenders however, in this
respect are humber OF Federal
Judges scattered over the country who
ought to be impeached for the man
ncr in which they deal with criminals
who wantonly violate the laws en-
acted to enforce the Eighteenth
Amendment. The utterances some OF
them have already made from the
! bench, together with the nominal pen
alties they impose. constitute greater
offense than that committed by the
bootlegger- They are not only en-
couraging law-Di eakers but they are
nullifying the efforts of unperJured
Judges who are doing their full duty
to check the reign OF lawessness'
: These men are appointed for life or
during good behavior. If the appoint
, ing powers will not rise above political
debt-paying in The selection OF judges,
the people must take it into their own
hands and elect Congressman and
1 United States Senators who will not
S be averse to defining what constitutes
GOOD behavior" on the part OF Fed
era1 Judges. The conditions in some
4 judicial districts are becoming intoier-
S able The Judges themselves are aid
ing in bringing the law and amend
e ment into disrepute.
a Nothing is clearer than the tact
r that the Volstead law, designed to
carry the Eighteenth Amendment into
+ full effect, must be placed in the hands
o of its friends if the benefits OF Prohl-
bition are to be realized.
t candidates for Office who have to
n do with the enforcement OF the Prohi-
bition laws must be more carefully
c scrutinized than hitherto. 10 do
/ this partisan bias must be eliminated
c from the ballot box A man may be
a partisan and 4 good citizen, but he
can not be the best citizen unless he
is willing to abandon his partisanship
= for the public good. No man has a
right to expect, nor should he re-
: ceive the suffrage of law-abiding citl-
zens if he is not big enough and
patriotic enough to stand for the en-
y forcement of law, whether he likes
n il or not. Laws are not enacted to
e conform to the likes or dlslikes OF
: some petty magistrate, but for the
5 benefit of the public. The test OF that
t benefit is in the enforcement or the
: laws. If there is no benefit, it is the
: business of the public to repeal them,
h but it is never the duty or the bust
: ness of the magistrate to abrogate
! them.
5 "There has been considerable clean
S ing out of both branches of Congress
: in recent years, but vast amount is
:, still needful, as we'll as highly de-