The Stroller's weekly and Douglas Island news., 1921-11-12
TLoODaATEs NOR RUM WIDE OPEN


 Is the United States a dry country Theoretically H s In reality it not The noodgates are wide openI and the country from the peary shores of the AtanucI o thc blue waters of the Pacific from the iccirmged lakes of the north o the epd waters of the Gull oi MeN co is dcugcd in booze-smugged booze imported ooole'I domestic booze moonshine booze doctored booze ltl cam be had bottledn-boud bottcd-mcear bottled-m-I kitchen at any time and in all places Here in Alaska wei may think booze is pentifu-and it is But 1t is mol more plentiful in Alaska than elsewhere and moi half sol plentiful as in some places, the National Capital for onei There we have it on the word of a reliable ncwspapTI correspondent corscrcws kept on sale at the newsI stand i'm the senate cloak Whyl For the reason l tbcr is demand for them thcre-a market for cork screws among the lawmakers of our country No poI- ics have nothing to do with it-not partizan politics uut politicians have an to do with it. Crooked politicians at the top and bootcggers at the bottom make It prac- ,.calv impossible to enforce the laws of the country and inc law says the country is dry.
 Last year the country spent little over six and a uartcr millions in its attempt to enforce prohibition hc appropriation for the present year ending June 50 1902 is seven millions four hundred thousand dollars asst year the imported lQuor amounted to over two mI- nom gaous twenty times more than in the previous year and double what was any year before we had what we are pleased o term 'prohibtion" The actual value of liquor imported last year m excess of five million dollars but at bootleg prices it cost the United States onc hundred million dollars and the rm-rummg indus try is but in its maucy but it must be admitted that is mighty hsty infant that is rapidly developing into prodigy.
 Rm-rumcrs throughout the country are organized or mutual protection and in the majority oi cases ihe I,ru. of the organization are not known and arrests n their ranks are few and far between Occasionally a mall fry is caught. but a nominal fine is imposed which
 .,,,I .fr, In O return immediately to his business Some big Fellow says word for him and the affair is a closed incident
 In the states the maximum paid to prohibition en- orrcmcut agents is two thousand and forty dollars perl .rumu-uot amy more than cnterprisug and indus .rous bootlcegcr cam make in few days The result IS that the poorly paid government employees mot oIl huJ many of thcm-occept brbcs in comparison with which hci mcaerc salaries are but bagateIe And thus proo by accouts in many instances for the hoard of seekers or the office of prohibition enforcement agent. The sa ary is mseuGcaut but the possibilities of the position are unlimited
 Prohibition is not enforced for many reasons, but the two most uoenmt reasons for it's uon-cnlorccmcn are hat the majority of people, while they voted for it, are tot u sympathy with it. and the other is that there is too much easy money o be made by violating its provisions
 The wave of crime that is sweeping over the country a present is largely am aftermath of the prohibition law for if oc law is broken with mpmity respect for all law s soon lost and has just what is the matter with Amer ca today
 Facts are facts and must be squarey faced The proc Mbou law of the country is not enforced for he reason that those in charge of the machinery for enforcing 1t are not in sympathy with it and big money is being made by it's violation
 President Harding has expressed himself as being determined that the prohibition law shall be enforced and if he stands by his coors will be enforced regard less of the fact that it s to dotc the biggest joke ever pepetIgtcd by amy government
 1nl-rNrss ,lonr COSTLY rnAN MAR