Pueblo chieftain., 1922-03-05
LIQUOR AND THE LAW
BY Frederic J. H.skin

BY Frederic J. Haskin
| WASHINGTON, D. c.. March a.
| The question OF liquor remains the
Invest topic OF the day in the general
conversation OF the men on tho street.
on the train. in his club Judging from
would be thought that the public
sentiment OF the country were strong
| iy opposed to prohibition. yet when
the matter comes to a vote In this
locality or that. the dry vote seems to
comes out on top.
fered. but none Of them 10 fully satis-
factory. Ardent prohibitionists say
that 1t is a clear indication that the
people of the country are against
liquor. Yet no impartial Judge contends
that there is not = tremendous quaint
tity of booze consumed every day in
all parts of tho country. Nature seems
to be on tho side Of the vets. ~ alco-
holic drinks can be made from SO
many things and In 20 many ways.
come nearest the truth Is that the
American people are against the sa-
loon. Any modification OF tho volsteAd
law which would permit the saloon
again to flourish comes in for opposi-
tion from the prohibitionists. from the
apparent antipathy Of the public to the
restoration Of the old system, and
from the bootleggers. OF course. Prob
ably the most ardent supporters Of
the eighteenth amendment are the
The fortunes they gather would be
| impossible under any syetem where
LIQUOR could be legally dispensed.
Corn likker." once confined to the
mountain regions. where the natives
distilled their own stun partly because
Of an oosession that they had a God
rven right to put the produce of their
| little corn patches to any use they
chose without consulting the Federal
or state authorities Of paying taxes. is
made practically everywhere now.
Prohibition Commissioner Haynes ad-
mits that even In the big cities this
disulling of corn occurs. but he
says that this Is 4 temporary problem"
and not ono Of the great. outstanding,
fundamental problems.''
SOUTH USED TO PROHIBITION
In parts Of the south making corn
| liquor In an old custom, and the liquor
has been brought into many of the
the southern states were legally dry"
| long before the eighteenth amendment
to the Constitution became effective.
In one southern city, not many miles
from the mountains where corn distili-
Ing has gone on since tho days of the
| colonies. the product IL brought to the
city in speeding automobiles. II pur-
sued BY the police the rum runners
will throw their cargo overheard II
the hnd It impossible to escape. and
the worst that can happen to them
then 10 . conviction for fast driving
Domstines tho spot at which the
liquor 10 thrown over In carefully
marked. and some Of II may be re-
trfsved and brought in later. This may
De and probably is true Of many other
cities.
A great difficulty with which the
enforcement officials have to contend
10 the fact that the United States has
such an enormous stretch OF coast line
and two great land borders stretching
for thousands Of miles. Every effort
IL made to head off smuggling. but
IL 10 Of course impossible to watch tho
thousands and Thousands OF little har-
bors where small boats may put in
urder cover OF darkness without much
| chance of detection. vcritablc army
OF men would be needed on the Cana
dian and Mexican borders to mako II
possible to say truly that no liquor
comes into the country over the border.
Attracted by the huge profits, con-
scienccless men have put together
| poisonous substances which pass as
liquor. Wood alcohol and a variety of
other poisons enter into the makeup
OF these dcath-dealing potions After
nearly every holiday celebration in tho
larger cities. the newspapers will pub
TO bad liquor. Blindness and death are
tho inevitable results OF wood alcohol
consumption in any considerable
quantities.
Mr. HAYNES 1s CONFIDENT
Prohibition Commissioner Haynes 10 |
optimistic OF eventual thorough en-
forccment OF the dry Amendment. 1t IL
no secret that for a long time tha |
leGalized Withdrawals OF whisky from |
bonded warehouses were in some |
cases put on the market The complete |
figures UP to the end OF tho last fiscal |
year. June 30. 1921. show that since |
the prohibition amendment became |
effective little less than IS months |
before. 100000 gallons OF liquor were |
withdrawn on permits. Commissioner |
Haynes said recently that this sit
uation was looked into and that the |
ratio OF Withdrawals has been reduced |
considerably.
Charges OF violations Of the vols.e cad !
law are many, and there have bccn |
numerous convictions. The figures |
show that in tho last fiscal year H. |
ee3 convictions were secured. and ac-
quittal resulted in only 755 OF the |
cases tried. In many courts. however.
the cases havc piled up tremendously. |
and very many cases have not yet |
come to trial.
This tremendous percentage OF con-
victions does not seem TO deter the |
bootlegEing fraternity much. In this
city recently ono man was arrested |
three times within the space Of a |
month. showing that he continued to
operate right after being caught. They |
have the mental attitude typical of
tho criminal class. Every old-time safe |
blower and yesg has, tucked away |
somewhere. q sum Of money which he |
Will not lay finger on even II down |