The Washington times., 1922-11-01
SINNERS
TH|SYEAR ARE
MOSTLY WET
Daugherty's Woman Aide Tells
of Senators Being Among
Those Asking Favors.
BY WILLIAM SHEPHERD.
We'll Known Magazine WriterJ

BY WILLIAM SHEPHERD.
We'll Known Magazine WriterJ
| Copyright. ls2., by cosmopolitan News
Seryice.)
Unprecedented pressure Is be-
ing brought to bear on the De.
partment Of Justice In behalf OF
big boOtleggers. Mable WILLIE
brandt, Assistant United States
Attorney General, Is standing the
brunt of this attack. Her office Is
besieged by politicians.
Every year at election time.
politicians try to show their power
back home by calling privately
upon the Department Of Justice
10 release some evil-doer Of poll
tical influence in their home dis
tricts.
Prospectives To he wotter.
This year the evildoers involved
are. in the main. violators OF the
prohibition law. Congrcssmen ana
even Senators are among those who
/ ask the Department OF Justice TO
forgive the sins OF bootleggers; any
politician who seeks the underworld
vote in his district must seek II by
| the liquor route. just AZ he did In
| the days of the saloon.
On the very inside. in Washing.
| ton, Congressman and Senators are
not generally dry In party affairs.
no matter how they vote or how
they talk or how they drink or
don't drink. There 10 little doubt
/ that the new crop OF Congressmen
and Senators who will be elected
next week and installed next March
will be even we'ter than their
, predecessors.
Two years ago. when members
OF the present congress ran Tor
office, they had their usual pre-
! requisites Of appointing the favor
ties to certain positions.
But today. In this campaign. the
| Congressman and Senators have an
added pre.requisite-an extra Job,
/ or perhaps, a dozen Jobs-to give
away. This extra lob Is that Of
! prohibition enforcement officer,
within the confines OF the Congress-
mans or Senator's district.
"IIl bet there aren't half a dozen
Congressional or Senatorial candi.
dates, among the 1000 and more
men who are running for places
in Congress or the Senate" said
wise politician, who haven't been
asked and haven't promised to give
! the Job Of enforcement officer or
{ prohibition detective or Government
booze sleuth to some person or per.
sons in their district in this cam.
paign. I've been out in the field
and l know what I'm talking about.
II the thing Keeps up the way It's
going. we're going to have crooked.
wet. prohibition officials scattert d
all over the land. put into oftice
through prediction promises
First Dry Election.
This is the first Congressional
election that has been held since
prohibition was federally attempted.
| The Congressman who gets into
off, .e this time must let the poll.
tic Al bosses at home know how he
st ,nds on the question Of having
jim Jones or some half dozen Jim
Joneses, selected BY the bosses. ap.
! 1 Ointed In the prohibition bureau"
Members of the last Congress had
9. busy hand in the selection OF pro-
nibition officials In their home dis
| tricts. There isn't a Federal peni.
tentiary in the United States that
! doesn't contain some crooked politi.
cal official who was endorsed for
office. in the first place. by some
member Of Congress" I was reliab bly,
informed today.
Some time ago I was given an op-
| portunity to run through basketful
Of applications for Jobs as prOhibi-
ton officers. They were small
sample of the daily run OF things In
a certain prohibition office. On the
back of each application was the
endorsement Of some Congressman
or Senator. As a matter OF fact. on
the back Of each blank. there is a
space for endorsement" in which
the public official or political leader
| or party manager or other person.
age. writes his name.
Congressman and Senators. at
that time-a year ago-were visit
ing the offices of Prohibition Com
missioner Royal Haynes at the rate
of about six a day. They came with
requests of many sorts. some for the
release OF whiskey from bond. some
for mercy to prisoners. some to ask
advice or information, but in most
cases" so a subordinate told me at
that time, "they come to try to get
somebody a Job In the enforcement
department"
Casualties Too High
Along toward the latter end Of the
summer Congressman and Senators
began to try to sidestep the task Of
helping Royal Haynes choose en-.
forcement officers. The casualties
in Haynes forces were too high; too
many Congressman had selected men
who had later turned crooks and
been put behind the bars.
Most of my associates" a Con.
gressman from the west told me,
/ ARE making the rule that they
will not take any part In choosing
| or endorsing for appointment any
| man who wants q place In the
| prohibition bureau. It's been pretty
dangerous work for some of my
| colleagues, and they realize that
they arc playing with fire"
Even volstead himself is afraid
| Of the personnel Of the prohibition
department, 1t is not known