The Hartford republican. (Hartford, Ky.) 18??-1926, 1921-10-21

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would have no choice and would have
to put UP with whatever was given to
him, like in the army. OF course no
hard-headed person wants any such
disptnsatlon as that
Most men would be willing to
fight I'm defense of their home. but
who would fight in defense OF
boarding house? The home, as the
socialists say is the very stronghold
of the capitalistic system; and that's
why they hate the home and the fam
lily life and religion and all that goes
ing contempt for law" asserts the
Providence News, which believes
that, instead of "appropriating mil
lions OF the peoples money for an
army OF prohibition agents the Vol
stead Law should be amended so as
to make II ~ agent for temperance
and not sham proposition for pro-
hibition." At present, contends the
Albany Knickerbocker Press, the law
plays into the hands of the bootleg
ger. the moonshiner and the liquor
dealer; they do not want the law
changed any more than the Anti
Saloon League does" Either repeal
law or enforce IT," is the terse adj
monition of the Boston Globe. In
New York. intimates The World, 1t
will either be necessary to install
three enforcement agents to family
so that they can stand guard in three
/ efght-hour shifts, or hire the entire
population of the city as special en-
/ forcement agents and set every man
TO watch himself" Continues The
World in one of its many editorials on
the subject:
"The Eighteenth Amendment aud
the volstead Act have proved once
more in the United States that people
will not obey an unpopular law.
They have proved also that Govern
ment can not enforce an unpopular
law JIst as the citiie's Of a coun-
try are CORRUPTED by the existence of
statute which nobody obeys unless
Volstead law is sometimes enforced,
but, in the communities in which pub
lie sentiment is hostile II receives on
ly perfunctory and superficial atten-
ton.
"When the most spectacular law
/ on the statute books is ignored by the
guardians of the law as a source OF
income It is small wonder that all
law fails somewhat of the respect In
which IL was once held. A country
can not possess two eodes--one to be
broken, the other to be obeyed."
But, asks the New York Evening
Post. IL New York is the "wettest
spot in the country" and "the au-
thorities can not count upon assist
ance from the public in enforcing the
laws" chow does 1t happen that the
wet candidate for Mayor did not re-
ceive more votes at the primaries?"
Continues The Post:
prohibition has no place in
municipal campaign. but Judge
Haskell insisted on giving 1t place.
His. platform, for all its technical
mitigations, was wet platform. If
an overwhelming tide of resentment
gainst the prohibition laws is really
sweeping thru the city, here was the
chance for an unmistakable protest.
But Haskell received only one vote
in every six cast IN the primaries, and
two-thirds of his votes came from
Brooklyn and represented local pride
and not wet sentiment. AS in the
case of the much-advertised antipro-
hibition parade on July A, the wet
public hesitates to come out into the
open; and the suspicion arises wheth-
er that public Is as large as is COM
monty supposed.
ut may be argued, and with good
deal of force, that men are against
prohibition who will not speak out
openly against 1t. 1t might be said,
cynically but with much truth, that
there are men who are not opposed
to the prohibition laws so long as the
laws remain dead letter, This
habit of passing laws for printing in
the statute books, and not for en-
forcement, Is common American
vice But II this is true of local
sentiment on prohibitions, then the
answer is that prohibition enforce
ment takes on even more importance
than is involved in the specific
problem. II becomes test of the
operation of democracy"
AT the present moment, declares
William II. Anderson, New York
State Superintendent of the Anti
Saloon League. there is wide /,
spread conspiracy, backed up by most
Of the newspapers in the larger
cities. 10 dfscredit prohibition and its /