The Topeka state journal., 1922-03-07
TOPEKA STATE JOURNAL
Information Bureau
EREDERxc ,. HAsKEN. Direcesr.
WaahlnGtOn, d. O.
LIQUOR AND THE LAW,

that it is a clear Indication that the
people of the country are against
liquor. Yet no impartial judge con-
tends that there is not a treIp pendous
quantity of booze consumed every day
in all parts of the country Nature
! seems to be on the side or the vets
as alcoholic drinks can be made from
I so many things and in so many ways
The explanation which appears to
| come nearest the truth is that the
American people are against the sa-
loon Any modification of the Vol
| stead law which would permit the sa-
loon again to flourish comes in. for
| opposition from the prohtoit1onlsts'
! from the apparent antipathy or the
public to the restoration OF the OLD
| systeun and from the bOotleggers, OF
! course. Probably the most ardent sup
i porters of the eighteenth amendment
are the Illicit distillers and pedd!ers
/ of liquor. The fortunes they gather
would be impossible under any system
where liquor could be legally dis
pensed.
Corn Iikker." once confined to the
mountain regions, where the natives
distilled their own stuff partly because
of an obsession that they mad a God-
given right to put the produce OF their
! little corn patches to any use they
chose without consulting the federaA
or state authorities or paying taxes,
is made practically everywhere now
Prohibition Commissioner Haynes ad-
nnits that even in the big cities this
distilling of corn occurs, but he says
that this is a temporary problem
and not one of the great, outstanding,
fundamental problems.
South Used to Prohibition
In parts of the South making corn
liquor is an old custom. and the liquor
has been brought into many Of the
cities there for years-for most of the
southern states were legally dry
long before the eighteenth amend
ment to the constitution became ef-
fective- In one southern city, not
many miles from the mountains where
corn disthling has gone on since the
days of the colonies, the product is
brought to the city in speeding auto
mobiles. If pursued by the police the
rum runners will throw their cargo
overheard if they find it impossible
to escape, and the worst that can hap
pen to them then is conviction Tor
fast driving. Sometimes the spot at
which the liquor is thrown over. is
carefully r-arked, and some of it may
be retrieved ana brought in later. This
may be and probably is true of many
other cities.
A great difficulty with which the
enforcement officials have to contend
is 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
is made to head off smuggling, but
II Is. OF course. lulpOSSlple 10 WaLCn
the thousands and thousands OF little
harbors where small boats may put in
under cover of darkness without much
chance of detection. A veritable army
of men would be needed on the Can
adian and Mexican borders to make it
possible to say truly that no liquor
comes into the country over the Dor.
der.
Attracted by the huge profits. con-
scienceless men have put. together
ranfEnnTTrE W q
liquor. Wood alcohol and a variety
of other poisons enter into the make
up of these death-dealing potions.
After nearly every holiday celebration
still publish reports of the hospital
cases due to bad liquor. Blindness
and death are the inevitable results
of wood alcohol consumption in any
considerable quantities
Mr.. Haynes Is Confident.
Prohibition Commissioner Haynes
is optimistic of eventual thoro en-
forcement of the dry amendment. 1t
is no secret that for a long time the
legalized Withdrawals of whisky from
bonded warehouses were in some
cases put on the market. The COM
plete figures up to the end OF the last
fiscal year, June so, 1921, show that
since the prohibition amendment be-
came effective a little less than eigh-
teen months before. 81, 900, 900 gallons
of liquor were withdrawn on permits. |
Commissioner Haynes said recently |
and that the rate of Withdrawals has |
been reduced considerably.
Charges of violations OF the Vol |
stead law are many, and there have |
been numerous convictions. The fig
ures show that in the last fiscal year /
1852 convictions were secured. and /
acquittal resulted in only 755 of the /
cases tried. In many courts. how |
N1.as Ia
dously. and very many cases-have not /
yet come to trial.
This tremendous percentage of con-
vietions does not seem to deter the /
bootlegging fraternity much In this
city recently one man was arrested /
three times within the space of n /
month. showing that he continued to /
operate right after being caught. |
They have the mental attitude typical |
or the criminal class Every old-time /
and yegg has. tucked /
away somewhere, sum OF money /
which he will not lay a finger on even
4 down and out. This is fall money
the Zee for a. good lawyer to defend /
him in court if he is caught. The /
average boetlegger, after getting |
apparently figures that the 1
worst that can happen TO him is to
have fine assessed against him. and /
that 1t behooveS him to keep at his 1
trade and pile up all the money he
can. pending his trial.
Many of the bootleggers are not |
playing fair with their patrons Find
ng that they can command such high |
prices. they are not satisfied even
with these, but doctor their product so
hat the actual return is still greater
4 dispatch from one of the West
indian Islands was published recently,
describing how Scotch whisky is mixed |
with other ingredients so that the
-aste is not impaired very much, but
he cost of the product to the boot
egger is very much less. This syn
hetic Scotch is made up with some
1f the real whisky, some creosote
iome alcohol, and a lot of water. The
bottlng is done, according to the
iispatch, before this mixture IS
brought into the United States by way
II some Of the obscure little natural !