The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1922-02-17
COULD STOP RUM
BUSINESS EASILY
But Financial Reasons Pre-
vent Garage Men from
Taking Hold
STATE ENFORCEMENT
OFFICER SPEAKS
Collins vi. Graves of Rutland Tells of
Prohibition Work in Vermont at
Mems Meeting in First Baptist Church
Compliments Judge Howe.

| IrOnDitlOn MOfh IN vermont at
Mems Meeting in First Baptist Church
Compliments Judge Howe.
IF the garage men through the state
would take hold of it they would stop ii
very quickly" declared Collins NJ.
| Graves. prohibition enforcement officer
for Vermont, in discussing the prohibition
enforcement question following his talk
before the Mems Union of the First Bap-
| tist church and guests in the social rooms
! of the church last evening. But they
don't want to do it because it would hurt
their own business he added.
Mr.. Graves's headquarters are in Rut-
land. In opening his talk he declared
that no law had created the profound
sensation and opened up a wider field of
discussion since Lincoln freed the slaves
=, than the enactment of the NolStead act.
, He went on to tell of the criticisms which
have been made of it and its passage.
(which have been put forth by the liquor
Interests and gave several sets of fgureS
Icomparing the number of distilleries and
brewerieS. the amounts of liquor made and
consumed and other phases of the queS-
ton before the act went into effect anu
since: the increase in savings bank de
posits. the increase in the average length
of life. and the Improvement IN LABOR
efficiency on Monday mornings.
| There is one stand the people must
take. he said. and that is in favor OF law
and order The respect of law IS essen
tial and without that respect liberty, lfe
and property are insecure. The chlet dan
ger today. said the speaker, lies in the
Indifference of the public to the enforce
ment of any law Here he spoke of the
increase in crime in the last decade,-ot
robberieS. embezzlements. train hoid-upS.
etc. and said that il is a condition that
might we'll be viewed with apprehension
and alarm. If we fiatter ourselves that
We have solved the problems OF self-gov-
ernment it is a joke. All VIOLATIONS
should be reported to the proper authorl-
ties. rather than that people should take
the stand that violations are something
i'm which they are not interested. 100
many are interested in private affairs anu
not enough in the public affairs, said Mr..
Graves In referring to the oft-repeated
statement that the Nolstead act cannot be
enforced. the speaker declared that 1t
could be enforced. but its enforcement
will depend on the cooperation OF every
man and woman who has faith in the
| Following his talk Mr.. Graves gave an
ouportunity for the members of the audi
ence to ask questions and the number OF
Questions indicated much interest IN the
subject
/ ii was brought out that the number of
assistants had been increased from hVe To
nine men. bat il could readily be seen
that this number was all too small when
the proposition of covering Id roads
which lead from Canada into tins state Is
considered 1t never is safe. Mr.. Graves
said TO send out less than three men to-
cether The difficulty is not with the
hootlegqer but with the good citizen
Shn inf
compared with the New York border. the
enforcement officer declared that I'VE are
lily white" In speaking of the penalties
he said he felt Vermont was fortunate III
having Judge Howe.
/ Asa rule the rum runners use the bet
ter class of automobiles for transporting
liauor. although some of the Canadians
Euse Fords. and the cars are equipped with
good tires and Il good spare. Cars con-
itaining n woman and some golf sticks also
| frequently are found TO be carrying booze.
! Mr.. Graves said it was useless for the
officers to hang to one road more than SIX
ihourS at time, as the bootleggers have
n rapid system of transmitting informa-
tion.
When asked if Canada was trying to
help the United States, Mr.. Graves re-
piled: They might do more.
The principal market for those passing
through Brattleboro was said TO be IN
Boston. although some goes TO Spring
field. New Haven. Cambridge and Bridge
port Very little is left in this state. That
a large percentage of the yiolatorS are
foreigners was emphatically asserted.
Jamaica ginger is the biggest curse the
authorities have to deal with, said Mr..
Graves. because anyone can sell Jamaica
ginger without breaking the law, and the
federal enforcement officer has no power
TO prosecute. That power lies wholly
Within the hands of the states attorney.
lie spoke of the physicians of the state.
saying he had tremendous amount OF
respect for them in the way in which they
are trying to live up to the law. and added
that he had had trouble with only three
in the state. He told of the granting of
permits to physicians and druggists and
the way in which they are checked up.
To care for the cider permits alone it re-
quired one girls steady time for three
months. More cider permits are granted
in Vermont he added. than in any other
part of the United States.
When asked how many men il would
take to look after all the roads crossing
the state border to Canada Mr. Graves
replied that 800 men would do the work
and close it up tight Twenty-h five of the
roads are main highways and these are
watched more or less by customs taen
but the other 100 are backroads The
speaker declared that he expected II
heavy rush of business as soon as the
iseason opened.
/ During the course of the discussion Mr.
Graves told several interesting personal
Iexperiences since he took up the work.
/ Before the talk the Bible school orches-
ira rendered selections. Rev. DR. Clark
. T. Brownell, pastor of the church. offered
prayer, and Miss Margaret Morse sang
two vocal solos, which were heartily ap-
plauded
At the close of the meeting refresh
manfs of sandwiches ,laughuutS wafars