New-York tribune., 1921-01-13
Miller Asks
Law to Make
New York Dry

portatlon and expectation OF lntoXicat-
ing liquors for beverage purposes.
"6. The Volstead act defines intoxi
eating liquors as those containing one.
half of 1 per centum or more Of alco
hol by volume which are fit for beyer.
age purposes.
81 take it that there can be no dis-
ference OF view upon the proposition
shat the present liquor tax statute ..f
this state sh uld be repealed. at least
in so far as it conflicts with the Vol
stead act. The question then arises
whether further action should be taken
by the Legislature. and if so, what?
"No action Of the Legislature can
make the Volstead act either more or
less binding. The act is the law, and
so long as it remains on the statute
books will cont nue. to be the law. bini-
ing on every one in the st,te, irrespec-
tive Of any action the state may take
or fail to take. The sole question is
whether the state should adopt meas
ures to aid in the enforcement of the
law.
States Duty to Aid
"After careful consideration, have
reached the conclusion that the state
should itself aid in the enforcement
of the law, and I base that conclusi ~
prime pally on the following reasons:
81. AS it is the dnty of the citizen to
respect and obey the law, so it is the
duty of the state to promote law and
order by compelling IS far as possible
obedience to the law. The Eighteenth
Amendment, as interpreted by the Su-
preme Court of the United States, con-
fers concurrent power on the states 70
enable them to DISCHARGE that duty.
"2. The present conditions are intol-
cradle. According to current reports,
the law not only is being openly AMI
fagrantly violated. but has become the
cause of the most scandalous corrup-
ton. When war prohibition went into
effect the law-abiding in the liquor
business discontinued the traffic. The
lawless took advantage of the situation
to make unlawful gain, and the illicit
traffic thus engendered disturbs tn
good order and corrupts the morals of
the community. The state cannot re-
main Indifferent to that condition. No
citizen who desires social order an |
wellbeing can remain Indifferent to it,
irrespective of what his views on the
subject of prohibition may be.
SO. The Federal government can en-
force such law only at enormous sx-
pense and with an army Of agents in
every state.
strongly tend to break down state
power, the maintenance of which is es-
sential to the preservation of our
scheme of government.
"5. The prohibition of manufacture
and importation may most effective y
be enforced by the Federal government,
but the other prohibition acts can best
be enforced by local officers.
"6: The state may render effective
aid in preventing all of the prohibited
acts, thus lesseninc the necessit Of
tributing to the maintenance of law and
order essential to the security of every
citizen.
Repeal of Excise Law
~ do not think a state department
to enforce the law is either necessary
or expedient, and l recommend the
repeal of the existing liquor tax law,
which will necessarily abolish the Ex-
else Department. Care should, of
course, be exercised in such repeal, so
thot its operation may be prospective
only. Pending proceedings and prose
crt tons mi~ht we'll be committed to
the Attorney General.
GAS the manufacture and sale for
certain purposes is not unlawful it
may be an aid to enforcement to have
certificates therefor issued b.. some
state agency upon the payment of a
fee sufficient to pay the cost thereof
md upon giving an undertaking to
comply with the law, with sufficient
penalty to assure compliance That
might we'll be committed to a bureau
in tie State Tax Department.
"The law should define the pro-
fibited acts in as simple and concise
language as possible, conformabe to
he Eighteenth amendment and the
Volstead act. Pena ties for viola
ton of the act should correspond with
those prescribed by the Vo stead act,
oo' I think q prosecution under the