The New York herald., 1922-01-17

Georgia and South Carolina-which
is also wet The groups will be con-
sidered in the order named.
"Chicago to-day is without doubt
tho wettest spot in the entire country"
wires THE NEW York HERALD corre-
spondent.
"Grcnt Ffow Through Detroit"
Detroit is probably the greatest
port Of entry for liquor in the coun-
try" writes the Detroit correspondent.
Whisky in Indianapolis or for that
matter in any city in Indiana is easy
enough to Obtain" wires the Indian
apolis correspondent.
And in Ohio, during the last fiscal
year, the Federal agents made more
arrests, 1884, than they made in any
other State in the Union.
But, it would appear from the cor
respondence, even in Chicago there
are mitigating factors, for the report
says:
Municipal and State officials OF
Chicago and Illinois. unanimously
agree that during the two years reign
of the Volstead act crime and health
conditions have been considerably i'm
proved. While the efficiency of the
Chicago prohibition agents Office (Fed-
eraD has been practically nil, because
of the lack of cooperation on the part
of the Chicago police force and open
hostility on the part of the United
States District Attorneys office, crime
records have volplaned almost 20 per
cent. In 1920 arrests in Chicago num-
bered 94,453, while in 1918, before pro-
hibition, they numbered 110,619.
"Policc Help Bootlcggers.'
"There are $500 saloons operating
in this city at present and practically
every onesof them is cheating Boot
logging has been raised to such high
plane that even Police Chief Fitzmor-
ris admitted in a public statement a
few weeks ago that practically one
half of Chicago's police force of 5000
men was working hand in glove with
the bootleggers.
Beer flows wherever there are Gus
toners for it. Whisky sells wholesale
at s134 case and so cents a drink
is the standard retail price across the
bar. Upward of 1000 bootleggers and
runners operate their own board of
trade and control the market in Chi
cago and throughout the State
The correspondent quotes the various
officials. including Mayor William Hale
Thompson, as determined to break
up the business and close the saloons,
and points out that the Federal pro-
hibition office has but one agent for
every 12S,000 citizens in Chicago alone.
He also has some interesting figures
on enforcement.
According to figures furnished by
Charles A. Gregory. Prohibition En-
forcement Chief for Illinois, there have
been arrested and reported to the
United States District Attorney,
Charles Clyne, for violation of the ma
tional prohibition law in Chicago and
Illinois, ISIS. This covers the period
from January. 1920. to December !,
1921 OF the total, 215 cases we're dis
missed by the Prohibition Commits
sioner, $50 convictions were obtained,
there were twenty-five acquitals and
there remain pending 2,245 cases"
"whfsI<y Leading Commodity
The correspondent also recalls some
OF the scandals that have resulted from
attempts to enforce the prohibition
law, particularly the 100000 case in
which Mike de Pike" Heitler figured,
and In which Federal officials State
officials, prohibition agents, deputy
sheriffs, police officers and even the
Mayors OF several small towns were
implicated. He concludes:
whisky Is one of Chicago's lead
ing commodities. Practically all of the
bonded stuff comes from Kentucky.
There has been steady supply for
the last three months and the fixed
price to the saloon keeper is s134 a
case
Located as II is on the Canadian
border" writes the Detroit corre-
spondent, Detroit Is probably the
greatest port OF entry for liquor in the
country. BY this is meant not the
city Of Detroit alone but the whole
district between Port Huron and the
mouth OF the Detroit River at Am
herstburg, Ont, a distance OF approxi-
mately eighty miles. Here is "a booze
runners fairyland, in which the
smuggling of liquor has become a
scientific industry.
"of course there is no way to ac-
curately estimate the amount that
CROSSES the river every twenty-four
hours, but 1000 cases is conserva-
tive figure. Prohibition officers admit
without argument that their force Is
too small to cope successfully with
the problem that confronts them, the
figures showing that for every five
miles Of border territory they have
an allowance of just one man. They
also say that they expect 10 dam
this flow Of liquor--not to stop it,
within two years, but they do not say
how they are going to do It,"
"He1p of Cnnada Needed
Hut the correspondent also quotes
Prohibition Director James r. Davis
as saying: with the active support
or the Canadian authorities in sun