Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1922-08-14
PROFLICATE PUBLIC
REAL SHEET ANCHOR
. OF BOOZE INDUSTRY

continued From First PaEe)
fcations OF acknowledging Industry
ana the "ffrontery with which ,ha,
.awisss trade is conducted An In.
oustrN hootlegging assuredIy ba,
become II Is desired to set forth
the monumental difficulties of thro,.
t'ns 1t. The articles will tell of IN.
systematic warfare Major Row
haynes. Federal Prohibition Commits.
sion"r, and hts na,ion-wide co,,.
coadjutors ar" waEing in m. f.oo
OF aim"s, masquerade" odds. ssainst
traffic that is striking AT tho roo,.
OF Jaw. order, authority and royern
i"eht' The Aug"an sta hles cleansed
ny hercuies w"r" as bed OF sweet
S"''''hE roses compared To tho ioh
Major Haynes has undertaken. Tho
nhtion iE fortunate In tho oIrrun
stapce that IN. Federal Prohibition
Iou missioner ia ared with tho sn,r,,
oi Nhe crusaders. not as a birotcd 10
1ii"N"r in prohibition but as a zoaro,
IN the cause Of the Constitution. II.
Is oent upon bringing home to tho
people that phase Of his problem
'ohn"ent that Americans instinctive
~ are aw-r"spcctcrS, Major HAYNES
sees the primary danger IN the fnr,
that the very ones most hIphiy n,
ror"d under the law may prov. i,dif
f"rent I" law and fan to anrr.c;,,.
'hc demands II makes upon them"
IL Is apparent to even n blind man
mat violation OF tn. national ,rh
''"'e lunor laws has become tAc
'"""ohcst "fensc in the country.
win automobile thcf,s-a correlated
branch of bootlcgging-a close SOC.
"nd. The solicitor general Of Tho
United States. James NJ Beck ,o,d
the American Bar Association tina,
in the Federal courts alone ,h
we're pending in 1921 approximately
"o'po' cases which arose under IN.
prohibition statutes Mr. Reck add
eo mat the estimated annual profits
from prohibition violations reached
H'o""oo' 600. Men who thus violate
the laws for sordid gain" the solicit
or-general explained. ARE not like.
" to otey other laws. and the 70.
spect for Law among all cIas.es
steadily dtmirishes as our people b..
come familiar with and tolerant to
wholesale criminality. Whether IN.
moral and economic results overba!-
ance this rising wave of crime tim.
will tell"
prohibition InfractIonH Dominant
II blind man cannot actually SEQ
the violations. he perforce must hear
OF them. for prohibition !nfrac,ion,
are overwhelmingly the predominant,
topic OF American conversation. In
clunroom. corner grocery, Pullman
smoking compartment. office, home
HhoP' nrawing room, at tahle-cvery-
where-liqnor iawlcssness is the in
cessant theme. You cannot esc,ne
II. IT has obliterated the weather ne
the stock subject OF small talk. If
man is deaf as well as blind. tho
universally ~ bookkeeping can eas
iiN he impressed upon him through
ms sense OF taste. or even his sense
%! smell. for Illicit drink is omni-
present and plentiful. II is only the
quality that varics-ranging, rough
~, from old stuff TO plain KNOCK
out. ASK where IL al comes from
and one is told that illegal SNUG
Cling out OF bond is RAMPANT that
liquor Is streaming across all our
seatoards and frontiers. and emery
ing IN quantity either from home
prewerics or the thousands OF stills
mat have sprung M throughout the
country, principally in urban centers
Three years ago we associated
'moonshine" with romantic and mac
cessibie Businesses in Kentucky
Tennessee. Virginia or the Caro,inas
Today the bulk of "moonshine" Is
stead of being a picturesque noun
taineer Of uncouth exterior. is a dap
per crook in a limousine. His prod
uct Is often called white mula."
evidently because Its Kick" Ia so
deadly that men have been known
not to wake UP after sampiins It.
Who's your bootlegger" has he
come almost as familiar a saluta.
ton as the good morning greeting.
II you confess you are without a
purveyor Of the forbidden fruit, the
confidence most likely next to be
Vouchsafed is: II can get YOU all
you want" A vest-pocket memo-
randpm book is produced, an adj
dress and, probably telephone num-
Der communicated. and You are now
join the Grand Army of Complacen,
Conn!vers. Thus In general, are
bootleggers manufactured. coudoncd
and sustained. II Is the old business
of supply and demand and the most
elementary economics that bootleg
gers Will thrive and prosper just 80
long as customers exist and multiply.
Enforcement may be frightened up.
as IT Is being frightened up. Courts
may mete out continuously more
drastic punishment. But the obscrva.
lions OF the present writer tend un-
mistakenly to show that the real
sheet, anchor OF the Bookkeeping in
dustry is the rink-consuming profit
gate American public. All au,hori-
ties agree that INSCRIPTIONS and
cunning men In the Industry Will
continue to make q mockery of en-
forcement, by hook or by crook. up
til the business is checked Mt It's
thirsty source.
There iIl-sittle virtue In blinking