New Britain herald., 1921-03-07
HOHENTHAL SPEAKS
 ON LIQUOR TRAFFIC
Addressed Large Audience at Y. M. C. A. on Prohibition Yesterday

Emil l.. c. Hohenthal most worthy patriot of the temperance society or North America. gave an interesting talk on. The Enforcement of the Prohibition Act" before a large gather ing at the Y. NJ c. A. yesterday after noon. The speaker addressed the as- sembly in the lobby nt o'clock. He spoke here about two years ago.
 Commencing with his talk, Mir. Hohent hal spoke briefly on the ren- sons for prohibition and the physical abilities gained through it. AS far bask as the Revolutionary War, pr. Benjamin Rush. then surgeon gen cral of the army. recommended the abolishing, of rum. Other notable physicians testified as to its injurious effects upon the body. and urged dis use of alcoholic beverages Leading manufacturers and business men like F.. Fl. Gary of the United States steel company and F. c. Platt of the New Britain Machine company claimed that the aboIshing of rum would serve to encourage economy and much of the money spent in that purpose could be used otherwise. Protestant and Catholic leaders have recorded ther testim ony favorable to prohibition. Statesmen the world over. have advocated the killing of the liquor traffic. said MT. Hohenthal.
 The effort to rid this country of rum traffic has been actively going on for more than n century. MT. Hohen- thai counted as far back as 16i0. whom 1t was forbidden to drink more than n given quantity. and one who became intoxicated suffered a more severe penalty than those now inn posed for drunkenness. Stocks. by tho wayslde. were used to place such per sons as these, and were gazed upon with scorn by the passerby for hours at d time. Schoole, said MT. Hohenthal arc continually teaching the evils of narcotics and alcohol and will con- tinue to do so for many years to come.
 When the 18th amendment was adopted, 33 states had themselves prohibited the liquor traffic There were still three to be had to ratify tho amendment. When it was sub- mitted. 45 states ratified. Following the ratification, the Nolstead Enforce ment Act was passed. This combines the thought and experience of some 50 years of dealing with prohibition and was considered a good law by many.
 Mir. Hohenthal felt that there were still some imperfections in prohibi- ton, but these would eventually be disclosed by the law. Mentioning the most drastic ones which had as yet not been used in this state. MT. Hohenthal gave the following illus tration: The owner of "a building whose tenants persist in violating the law may find his place locked up for a year by the court order. simply be- cause he permits his tenants to con- tinue this unlawful business. Leases are cancelled because the tenant vio- lates the prohibition law.
 By this means. said Mir. Hohenthal, our county commissioners renewed applications for licenses which neces- sarily meant tho extension of old ones. for this reason we are now seeking to secure from the General Assembly. an enforcement code that will corre- spond with the so-called volstead act. Mir Hohenthai said. It's passage will i give the state and local officials auth ority to enforce the law. When con- gress meets at a special session it will strengthen the act. it is believed. We are keenly interested in whom President Harding will select as com missioner of internal revenue, as this position will have much to do with the future police enforcement.
 In regard to the people taking the prohibition act. MT. Hohenthal was of the opinion that it was received with recognition and approved of by the majority. It came quietly. Despite tho slackening of business and other depressions. our savings banks show il decided increase in deposits, which prohibition has enabled us to do, otherwise the money may have been spent for rum. The question of to- day is. Do you intend to be a law abiding citizen and observe the pro- hibition laws?" Safety lies in obed- fence to law, concluded MT. Hohen- | thai