Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1921-03-11
Me. Booze Traffic
Continued from Page one)

stay. lue ISSUE now Is. Sudll the
Constitution be sustained and the
law enforced?"
j. Under the Eighteenth Amendment
| the Federal and State governments
have an equal obligation to enact
| prohibition laws and to enforce
them. This is what we call "Con-
current Power" as expressed in Sec
| ton 2 Of the National Prohibition
Amendment. The Federal govern
ment has fixed the obligation and
! the duty placed upon it, and has en-
acted what is called the Volstead
! Act, or the Federal Prohibition Code.
! This was a great help to states like
Maine. because it defined the term
/ Intoxicating liquor" and included
! many troublesome beverages which
were not prohibited under your law
| as it formerly stood. The one-half
of one per cent. standard was not
I adopted in the Federal Act, because
, that amount of alcohol will visibly
intoxicate the. average person. 1t
was adopted because, as the supreme
court said, if we were to have cap
able and effective enforcement of
the law. a standard similar to that
in the Volstead Act must be enacted.
Experience has taught us that, if you
give the liquor dealers an inch, they
, will take a mile. About 30 states
had adopted that standard before
the National Prohibition Code was
enacted. We believe it is pretty
person would have to drink a very
large amount of the liquid before he
could get any visible signs of intoxi-
cation.
The Volstead Act is not as strong
in some Of it's provisions as few Of
the State Prohibition Codes. There
is not, however, a provision in it but
what has precedent in State legiS)a-
ton and was found to be necessary
if we were going to cope effectively
with the lawless liquor traffic
When the Federal Prohibition code
was drafted we had three things in
mind: First, the community where the
officers do their duty fully and COM
pletely under the law and that was
provided for in what we call the
criminal penalties of the act. where
you have to get your indictment be-
fore the grand jury and then before
a trial jury you have to get your, con-
viction, and it is quite a long, tedi-
Gus process and under our criminal
procedure, it is a little difficult. But
where the officers will do their duty
there is enough power in that one
arm of the prohibition code to smash
the liquor traffic anywere under the
,k,-.yo Tl,tf Gvnn h a
there would be some places where
| there would be one man on the jury
who would be so prejudiced he would
| not enforce the law or stand for con-
viction, or some district attorney VINO
would not do his duty or be some one
along the line who would fall down on
the job in our getting the criminal
provisions enforced, and so we de-
cided we would put another arm on
it and give the power to try the case
straight to the court without going
to the grand jury or the petit jury or
starting the procedure through the
justice of the peace and binding him
over, but take your affidavit and your
petition asking for writ of injunc-
ton and present it to the Federal
Judge and ask for a temporary re-
/ Straining order and under the law if
there is reasonable evidence present
ed he has to grant that temporary
writ and it carries with it the order
tat law thereafter, nor interfere with
the fixtures or liquor connected with
the place, and he can then put them
| under bond and within a short time
have a final hearing straight to the
| Judge; don't have to depend on q
petit or grand jury. and If he reach
es. the conclusion that they have vi
olated the law then he issues per-
manent writ, abates the place as a
nuisance and puts on a heavy bond.
And then if they wolfe the law there
after to bring them square before the
court and he is sent to Jail for con-
tempt of court.
Now that provision works fine ev-
cry place where a judge has any re-
spect for the dignity of his court.
There is many a Judge who is not
very dry but who has the Judicial at
mosphcre in that court when he gives
an order that order is to be obeyed
and when a liquor dealer starts out to
disobey and we bring him the owl
dence YOU watch what an average
Judge does. He goes after them pref
ty rough. Judge Lands goes after
them harder than the average judge
But the average judge when ne
knows that man violates the court
order if you present your evidence he
will sentence him to Jail and 1t puts
that Judge in direct conflict with the
violation of the law and drives him
further to law and order and the en-
forcement of the prohibition law IN
every case you bring in that court. IL
has a splendid effect. 1t is a speedy
procedure.
Now 10 go back to the first: We
wrote in the Volstead Act, that Sec
t,on fOl4. United States Statutes, ap-
niles. which give to the justice of tine
peace, every mayor and judge OF the
state. power to issue warrants for the
arrest of every person who violates the
federal law and then we added to II
that those same persons who have the
power to issue search warrant to Sc
cure the evidence for violation Of the
federal law. So that you do not have
to wait for all these other officers You
can go to jistuce of the peace and
present the affidavit there and have
that party arrested and have a prelim-
mary hearing in the state court before
either magistrate or justice of the
peace and bind them over to the fed
aral coprt for trial That state Off