The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-08-12

V z coOct, Hss4nheroN, DC.
 social prestige or political influence,
 he is a criminal giving assistance to
 those forces of profiteering criminal
 ity whose business it has been to prostitute statesmanship and de-
 b2uch citizenship.
 That is a strong statement. But It Is no stronger than what is being said in thousands of American homes;
 in clubs, universities, offices, shops, banks; in colleges; on the streets; on
 the farms. And there lies our assuF- ancc.
 1 Bar Association Warning.
 Nor is it alone the point of view 1f the public servants charged With
 the enforcement of our prohibition jaw. The judicial section of the American Bar association recently presented a report suomltted pS Judge Charles A Wood and unah!- mouslv adopteG as a warning to pri-
 yate citizens and public officials who
 are encouraging lawlessness anu blocking enforcement one p"1a graph reads as follows;
 "When. for the qualification or | their appetites or the promotlol ol their interests, lawyers, bankers great merchants and manufacturers; and social leaders, both men anu l women. disobey and scoff a t this law
 or any other law, they are aiding the 1 cause of anarchy and promoting moo violence, robbery and homicide, they l are sowing dragons teeth, ana theE | need not be surprised when they ma | that no judicial or police authortty can save our country or. humanity 1 from reaping the harvest.
 Our Secretary of State has Volceu
 the same conviction with character ! istic clearness and patriotism. l "Everybody is ready to sustain the l law he likes" he declared. That IS l not in the proper sense respect iop 1 law and order. The test of respect ! for law Is where the law IS upheld | even though 1t hurts.
 | President Hardipg's Attitude i No American, perhaps, has seen the | situation more clearly and dlscerned | the perils that lie in national drlltS | more definitely than has the Presi- . | dent of the United States. Nor nave l I seen any statement of this great l factor in our national life that goes straiehter home to the individual l citizen than the Presidents following | words:
 "Whatever breeds disrespect for ] the law of the land, in any pafucu- i lar department of our community re- ! lations, is a force tending to the gen l eral breakdown of the social organl- | zatiou. If the people who are known | leaders. as directing influences, as | thoroughly respected and respectable l members of society, shall, in thelr re- ] snectiVe communities, become known ! for their defiance of some part or l the code of law then they need 1o !
 be astonished if presently they ma hl that their example IS followed DA others. with the result that the law | in general comes to be looked upon
 as q set of irksome and unreasonable
 restraints upon the liberty of the ln-
 dtvidual.
 Every law involves more or less of this elment of restraint NedtlY i every individual will find some part i of the code that seems to nm an 1 unreasonable inhibition upon ms per | sOnal freedom of action. our ohlE safety will be in inculcating an at l fitude of respect for the law as, on | the whole. the best expression that | has been given to the social asplF@T ] ton and the moral purpose or 'he 1 community
 Hard For Aliens to nderstnnd' | There can be no question that the | President nas put his finger on thu spot where heaviest responsibihtN l lies. Those who would find excuses l for violations and violators, or Whl would discourage those charged WlIl l prohibition enforcement, make mtci | of our foreign population, was doubt 1 ful heads and declare that we Shat l never be able to break througl | longc generations. It is perfectly true
 thar II is difficult for the alien tC l understand the prohibition Jaw De
 cause of the fact that he mas peer reared under Institutions that were 1 firmly established long before man
 kind knew there was an American
 continent. Yet the astonishing iac' remains that nowhere are the oene'
 fits of enforcement showing moro
 clearly than in the congested dis
 tricts of tenements, narrow streets
 and teeming foreign life. The prob
 lem is being solved there.
 No; the greatest problem does nol 1 lie among the ignorant and the For
 eigner. Governor Clifford Pincot Of
 pennsylvania bluntlS identified the
 element that does most to obstruci
 enforcement.
 Tt g not he says "the solemn
 ass who gets up in assemolage and | solennlV announces that 'prohlDItlor cannot be enforced. 1t is not the 1 flappers and 'sheiNs, who rather | take to the idea tnat II IS clSNeF ana | deVilish to break the law, 1 don't mean | those, either, of permanently i'm mature minds who seem to be con ! gcnitally incapable Of thinking there | is anything more sacred than a cock
 tail before dinner. These folks do ! some harm, but not much.
 i 'The real harm $ done by able ! influential people ot the community 1 who set themselves on tne side of ! the bootlca ser and as7;rst the law, ! All that is necessary to strai@hten
 them out is to have them come tO
 a realizing sense 92 what tEey are doing"
 This rrsli2atlon is growing and spreading, steadily and with aston ishinc rapdity. of that there is nc 1 shadow of doubt. And there lies : the great promise Of the futute. ] World Is Watching America. The salvation of America is up tc this hour ard at thIs LOur has been | the middle stiatNm Of society. That great body of intelligent, dependable i Conscientious, patriotic men ant
 women, who were responsible fol
 this legislation enforced. l believe
 that that great, watchlul majority is
 holding the law enforcement agen-
 cies responsible fo, the fullest eXer-
 tor and Cu-Upe ration. And because | much .s expected, much will be aC. .-------------