Richmond daily register., 1921-04-01
PROHIBITION DOESN'T
PROHIBIT VERY MUCH
If Kramer's Report on Hard
Work Trying to Enforce the
Volstead Law is True

washington, April I.-EntOrCe-
ment of national prohibition is
made difficult in the large cities
because of antagoniStic sentimer
to the law, and this sentiment af-
fects the action of the courts and
the local officials, declared John
+. Kramer, Prohibition Commits
sloncr. in a letter he sent to Sen
ator Arthur Capper, Kansas, i'll
which he reviewed some of the
problems the federal government
has encountered in the enforce
ment of the Eighteenth amend
ment.
Smuggling liquor across the
Mexican and Canadian borders is
another problem the federal att
thorities have been unable to cope
with successfully, admitted Mr.
KRAMER, who said the federal
government has only IS men to
cover the entire states of Texas,
Arizona and New Mexico.
In such states as New York,
Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Mary
land, Connecticut and Massachu-
sets. which had national prohibi-
- tion forced on them against their
wishes, the enforcement of the
law has been most difficult be-
cause OF the sentiment opposed to
the law.
Liquor is sold more or less op-
enly i'll New York City and other
large centers of population" said
Mr.. Kramer i'll the letter, altho
on nothing like as large a scale
as before national prohibition.
He said the most difficult prob
lem any state ever undertook was
the elimination of liquor for bev-
erage purposes" especially in the
communities which had to accept
prohibition when they opposed it
In such communities where
there was no public sentiment for
the law, Mr.. Kramer said, it was
very hard to enforce the law, be-
cause such sentiment affected the
courts and law enforcement Of
ficialS.
For example" he said, I'm
New York City there is not much.
sentiment i'll favor of prohibition.
and what is more vital. the senti-
1nent there is either against law
obedience and law enforcement
or. to say the least, is rather
quieScent and dormant. This gen
eral sentiment, Of course. has it,
effect on the courts, the officials
and on those who are given to
violating the law.
He told of an instance where
highballs were served in a public
restaurant and that four highball;
cost $S. Arrests do not seem tC
stop it and hundreds of cases are
pending. in some instances nom
inal fines have been imposed. The
courts complain that they are
merely police courts, he said
'ln some states" he said, like
New York, Pennsylvania, New
Jersey, Maryland, Connecticut,
Rhode Island and Massachusetts.
there were no state codes which
enabled state and local officials to
render very effective assistance,
though some of them had desired
to do 50. There has been dis
position for state officials to say
that it is work for the federal
government to do"
Discussing problems of en-
forcement, Mr.. Kramer said:
First we have the border prob
lens; liquors are being smuggled
into this country from Canada,
from Mexico and from the islands
near the Florida coast. We need
more men here. The Texas bor-
der itself is 1.500 miles long and
we have only IS men to cover the
entire states Of Texas, New Mex
leo and Arizona. z
Another problem is that ari
ing from the sale of patented
and proprietary medicines. In
this connection we are making
mistake in the beginning of our
work.
"We issued in the first place too
many permits and in the second
place our standard for medicinal
proportions was not high enough
to render them unfit for beverage
purposes.
"1he problem can easily be met
and is being met now, iii the way
OF taking many medicinal prepa-
rations off the market entirely,
and compelling others to be more
highly medicinated in order to
render them unfit for use for bev-
erage purposes.
Another problem arises in con-
nection wit hthe manufacture of.
alcohol used extensively i'll our
industries. This will continue to,
he ca and the act itself provides