Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1921-07-01
DON QUIXoTE'S SUCCESSOR

WHEN Don QuiXotr went forth t" battle
w with the windmllS he was not troubled
by iccring and antagonstic audience.
Sancho PanZa. viewing the charge from afnr
was all sympathy. Life is moro complicated
now than it was then.
Here. for example. is w. e. MCConnrl
vino Just has been named a. prohibition en-.
forccmcnt officer in Pennsylvania and ordered
to a task that makes the self imposed travail
of Don QuXotc seem relatively pucrilr.
Before the Washington wire that carried
the news Of the appointment had cooled. the
air was filled with the objections of many
earnest prohibition advocates, who express
fear that Mr.. Mcconnell will not or cannot
do tho job assigned to him.
Perhaps there is justification for this fear.
There would be justification for it even if
Sherlock Holmes himself wcr" chief prohi
bition enforcement officer in PENNSYLVANIA.
Mr.. Mcconnell seems to be- n middle Of
the road man He voted for the State Dry
Law fntherpd BY Governor Sproul but
turned almost Immediately to east vote
for a bill which would have lcgalizcd >.
per cent beer--thc old fashioned brcw--in
this State What his convictions may be-
does not greatly matter in a final analysis,
Tho simple fact is that until tn" Federal
| Government or the State provides vastly
! increased appropriations for the suppression
q
| cannot be fairly enforced.
The men appointed to manage the revised
| enforcement system in Pennsylvania will
| be as badly Of as their predecessors BE
! cause Of n lack Of funds they will work
| with wholly innd"uUat" t"ld force. Under
| the n"w plan the weight Of tho rcSpOnsi
| bilty will rest ON the chief and on three or
| four assistants. who are to receive salaries
approxinatng $4,000 n year.
II is difficult to see how the SitVatiun can
be any more promising under the new ar
| rangcment than it was under the old ono,
| There will hc casual raids and the enforce e
ment agents will continue to wage sort Of
| guerrilla warfare upon viUlatOrs of the Vol
| stead act. The fire Of criticism hitherto
scattered over an area that reaches from
| New York to the Federal Building at Nintl
and Chestnut streets will be concentrated
on Mr. Mcdonnell. Mr. Mcdonnell is prob
ably prepared for it. Otherwise he would
not have accepted the appointment,
The dry age therefore, is not brought an,
nearer by change of the Administrator
and the acceptance Of "thc new enforcement
plan
But il is coming nearer, nevertheless. il
obedience to forces that have littIc relation
TO, legislative experiment The country la
been having its fling with bootleg whisky an,
if is approarhing the period Of the headache
| the morning Of realization and rcmOrs",
ANY one with half an cvC knows that tn
acccptancr Of tho NolStcad act in Washing
ton actually stimulated general interest il
alcoholic beverages. II did NOR" than that
II appcars actually to have stimulated thirst
Casual drinkers became enthusiastic dalcr
with the prohibited fire water merely be
rnusp il was prohibited aud therefore en-
dowed with something of the nOtoriousl
attractive favor Of forbidden fruit, More
over, there seems ttsthaye been stubbor