Evening star., 1923-06-25
Declares, in Denver Address,
Readiness to Assume Bur-
den If States Continue to
Shift 1t to U. S. Shoulders.
CONVINCED PROHIBITION
WILL NOT BE REPEALED
Cites Spectacle" of a State Multi
flying Own Authority-Scores
Buyers of Illicitly Sold Liquor
as Arousing Resentment of
Millions Less Rich.
BY DAVID LAWRENCE.

BY DAVID LA"RENSE.
DENVER. Colo. June 25.-President
Harding today appealed to the Amer
lean people to stop drinking intoxi-
eating liquors. And the President
went further than he has ever gone
in any prohibition speech, arguing
that there are literally American
millions who resent the lawful pos
sessions of the few, the lawless prac-
tices of few and rebel against the
denial to the vast majority"
Mr.. Harding made himself 100 per
cent dry, politically and otherwise. in
his formal address at Denver, and,
while he didn't mention Gov. AL
Smith of New York by name, he made
it very plain that he thought the
recent repeal of the Mullan-Gage
law was likely to prove one of the
historic blunders of political manage
ment."
There remains no doubt after the
President finished speaking that he
is absolutely convinced the eight
eenth amendment will never be re-
would dare to advocate repeal and
that whatever changes are made
some day in the Volstead act will
represent the sincere purpose of eff
fective enforcement rather than mod
Grafton of the general policy"
Makes Moral Argument.
The PRESIDENT did not make legal
but a moral argument. His comment
on AL Smiths action in signing the
repeal bill in New York state was
nIt hu To-
He did not attempt to answer the
contention Of the New York governor
that the volstead act itself is not in
keeping with the spirit of the eight
eenth amendment and that a Presi-
dent of the United States actually We
toed that measure without being
called a nullificationist. Mr.. Harding
simply insisted that when a state
deliberately refuses to exercise the
powers which the Constitution ex-
pressly confers upon 1t. 1t obviously
fying state authority. the end of
which we are reluctant to conjec-
ture."
Mr.. Harding, moreover. called Gov.
Smiths action an abandonment rath-
err than an assertion Of state rights
disputed by the "wets" in New York,
who believe 1t much more in keeping
with state rights to refuse to enact
legislation concurrent with the VOL
stead law because they think that
statute is itself a notification of the
intent of the Constitution in prohib-
tting the sale of Intoxicating" liq-
uors. The "wets" will never agree
that one-half of 1 per cent of alcohol
represents the lower limit of "intox-
icating' beverages
Sees Lnw Here to Stay.
But the chief executive wasn't dis
posed to argue the technical phases
of the matter. He feels that pro-
hibition has come to stay and that
as long as the Volstead law is on
the statute books it should be en-
forced and that the states ought not
to relax and put the burden on the
federal government lest the latter
be compelled at large expense to
create a federal police authority"
Perhaps the most striking para
graph in the Denver speech-cer-
tainly nothing like 1t has come be-
fore from the lips of the President
or any other high official charged
with the enforcement Of the pro-
hibition laws-was his direct appeal
to people who have hard liquors in
their possession to set an example to
trose who haven't by giving it up
altogether.
Whatever satisfaction there may
be in indulgence" said the President.
whatever objection there Is to the
so-called invasion of personal lib
erty, neither counts when the su-
premacy of law and the stability of
our institutions are menaced. With
all good intention the majority sem
timent of the United States has sought
by law to remove strong drink as
a curse upon the American citizens.
but ours is a larger problem now to
remove lawless drinking as a menace
to the republic itself"
May Follow Bryan PIea.
That phrase "lawless drinking.
will probably become the slogan of
new campaign on the part of the
"drys" and it would not be surprising
to see President Harding and other
high officials accept the plea of Will
liam Jennings Bryan. who asks that
everybody in the government of the
United States from the President
down take the pledge to abstain from
drinking intoxicants. Mr.. Bryan's
appeal has long gone unheeded. but
the Denver speech gives Ii added mo-
mentum. for the people in President
Harding's circle, have begun to real
ize. indeed, that one Of the unfortu-
nate aspects of prohibition is the
popular suspicion that high officials
have plenty of liquor either from pre-
volsteadian. days or from friends who
do not inquire into the date of manu-
facture or origin too closely.
Waves of criticism like that, how
ever. waited in the direction of the
White House for some time and the
President took occasion today to let
the public know he knew just what
they meant
Many citizens" said the President.
mot teetotalers in their habits, law
fully acquired stores of private stocks
in anticipation of prohibition, pend
ing the ratification of the amend
ment and the enactment of regula-
CONTINUED on Page 4. Column a.
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