The independent. [volume] (Elizabeth City, N.C.) 1908-1936, 1922-07-14
CAN'T TRUST SHERIFFS
TOENFORCE PROHIBITION
According to Prohibition Officers Our Sheriffs
Are Handicap in the Enforcement of
Prohibition Laws

That 70 per cent OF the,
Sheriffs of this state are un-
trustworthy in the enforce4,
ment of prohibition laws, and
that TO request aid of the av-3
erage sheriff in the apprehen.
sion of illicit distillers is equi-l
, valent to warning the suspect
outright, are some of the sem
sational statements made inf
an interview given this news
paper by Prohibition Officer
f. r. Jackson, now operating
in this section with a squad
under the direction of Officer
w. J. Manning. y
Mr.. Jackson says that fully % per
cent of the shrriffs are either hos-
tile 10 the enforcement Of the law.
or will notify distilcrs, of the pres
cnce of officers Asking aid of Al
sheriff in experimenting distillers US
ually results in the escape of the
suspect. Politics is probably the
biggest motive in this. for in officer
JackSOn's opinion a candidate for
Sheriff has no opportunity for elec-
tion if he opposes the liquor elementx
He also raped many of the
preachers. WHO. instead of trying to
find information to use in the appre-
hension of bOotleggcrs and distillers.
are forever flaying the officers for
their laxity in enforcing the law!
I'VE prohibition officers" says MFR.
Jackson. "cann0t enforce the law
without the cooperation of the pub
lie. Fully 90 per cent of the arrests
we make are the result of infOrma-
ton given us by some citizens.
"It has reached the point now
/ where arrests are comparatively
easy. The apprehension of distillers
is becoming less difficult every day.
In some neighborhoods where peo-1
pie have rctrained from informing3
on a citizen who j. III the business.
We find there is little hcsitancy now.
for the distillcrs have SO outraged
ihr common d"cenHy If the commune
:'i'> ana mad. themselves so objco
lrnnabl" with iha.- trafIic. tha. the
fHblir haS brr?mr diSgustcd AZ l in
rEant.'
In the opinion of officer Jackson.
nothing 80 dcbases man as assoc
citation with the liquor traffc. The.
lure of easy Lronry first gets some
of the most intelligent mer in the
business, and after that they begin
TO excuse themselves. finally sinking
lower and lower in tho ranks If law
breakers until there is nothing top
low for them to stoop 10.
'Distilling has become to be so
much in vogue" he stated further.
that nearly everybody is ut it. and
it looks as if no man thinks farm
properly supplied without some sort
of d;Stilling apparatus. Many wio<
are considered among the best in the
community are in the business to
one extent or another"
Asked if there was much hazard
il the enforcement of prohibition5
laws. he stated: "AlOst every one
We catch are good sports. There Il
little danger of an officer getting
shot, for they realize that he has no
right to shoot first, and they usually
, submit pcaceably. However the first|
. thing they ask is who the informant3
WAS. OF course we never tell who
the informant is IN
Officer Manning is stopping at thej
Raleigh hotel in this city, and all Z
one has to do. il he knows of any
one in the business, is TO stop and
tell this officer, and the information
will be treated confdentially. Nat
urally we do not want to 90 on anyA
wild-goose chase, said the officer, andi|
we want definite information, but no5|
one will ever know who gives it. n
THE most serious menace to en-R
fOrccment of the prohibition laws
are The diStillcrs and not the boot.
leggers, as is commonly supposed.
states officer Jackson. Therefore
we are not concerned so much with
the boOtleggcr and the fellow. who
I has small quantities. for when these
are caught there are dozens Of 9TH
ers somewhere else. The thing to
do is TO get the big distillcrs who|
are supplying dozens of boOtleggersx
If We only break them up for "A weeI
we are doing some good. even if oDlj
to give the hardware man chancd
to sell Il new still"
MANY big wholesale grocers haya|
sufficient evidence to convict large
part of the dstilIers." he saysfl
These grocers are getting too much}
money out of the business TO do this.
for they sell the supplies withoutt
which the stills could not 0peratfs
Many of your reputable grocers are,
. in way, in league with the. distiI-
!ers."
1t is no trouble to find men who
. want TO be prohibition officers, acs
cording to Mr.. Jackson, who says
the department has hundreds of APP
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