Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1923-10-15

Amendment.
Washington, Oct. 14-The prohibi-
ton law, measured by the respect ac-
corded it, has failed. Governor Pin
chot of Pennsylvania told the citi-
zenship conference here today. be-
cause mo sincere, intelligent and
concerted nationwide effort had been
made to enforce it." because federal
agents have collected brides and be-
cause politics is at the root of the
evil.
No one less than the president of
the United States himself. Governor
Pinchot declared, could meet the
present emergency because the presi-
dent alone can bring all government
forces into a concerted attack on vi
olators.
Honest prohibition enforcement
agents, the governor charged, were
handicapped, because the most ele-
mentary principles of good business
management have been disregarded
in the organization of the govern
ment for enforcement work"
Assailing the manner of organiZa-
ton by which authority descends
from the president to the secretary
fthe Treasury and thence to the
commissioner of internal revenue,
Governor Pinchot declared:
What is needed is an organization
in which responsibility is definitely
conferred: one in which the buck
cannot be passed and over which the
chief executive of the nation can eX-
ercise immediate direction and con-
troll. Such an arrangement should
be only temporary for the president
already is heavily burdened and
nothing should be added to his load
without reason.
But the fact is that the attack on
the constitution and laws of our
country is one of the most serious in
our history Disregard for all law is
more effectively spread by the fail
IRE of the enforcement service than
in any other way. All these facts
taken together furnish abundant
reason for treating this matter as of
sufficient importance to enlist the ac-
tive direction of the president him.
self. He alone. in my opinion. can
meet the emergency"
f"There is another reason why the
president should take personal
charge. Not only has the political
hamstring of the federal enforce
ment service had its seat in Wash
ington. but it is notorious that DISC
bedience to the eighteenth amend
ment has been fragrant in the CART
toll city WASHINGTON has set the
bad example: it is for Washington to
repair the damage.
I'VE must insist on the complete
separation Of politics from the en-
forcement of the eighteenth amend
ment The issue is clear before us
and the outcome is assured. No hand
of criminals ever has or ever Will de-
feat our government and our reo-
pie"
President Coolidge attended to-
nights session Of the conference.
William Jennings Bryan and Henry
J. Allen. former governor Of Kansas.
were the sneakers tonight Mrs.
Mabel Walker Willebrandt. assist
ant to the attorney general in charge
Of prohibition enforcement. was q
speaker with Governor P!nchot at
the afternoon session.
Woman Judges Views
WASHINGTON, Oct. 13-CallinG u1on
the Christian men and women OF the
United States to enter politics, JUS
tee Florence L. Allen of the supreme
court of Ohio, Columbus declared
this afternoon at the Citizenship con-
ference, which is in session here to-
day, tomorrow and Monday, that
thee is a widespread lack of respect,
not only fer the prohibition laws. but
also for all laws. She stated that
this disrespect is due to two things:
the determination on the part or
many persons not to obey laws which
they do not line and technical and in
efficient court procedure. Both. she
declared, can be rcmedied only by
public opinion.
AS Judge Allen has served her
state and nation in many capacities,
her friends claim she has right to
urge others to enter politics. Begin
ming her public work on the editorial
staff of the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
she has been interested right along in
social work. Studying law. she was
admitted to the Ohio Bar in 1914, and
practiced actively until 1919, when
she was appointed assistant county
prosecutor Of Cuyahoga county, Ohio.
A year later, she was elected judge
of the Court of Common Pleas by the
greatest vote given any judicial cam
didate for that court. She was the
first woman to preside in n first de-
gree murder case. Elected in 1922
as associate judge of the supreme
court of Ohio, she was the first wom-
ar in the world elected to sit in a
court of last resort
Points to Washington Influence
Washington. Oct. Mysterious
influences" at Washington interfere
with the efficiency of the local en-
forcement squads and stop the prose-
cution of powerful offenders against
the prohibition laws, according to the
Rev. DIR. Charles Reed Zahniser.
executive secretary of the Pittsburg
Council of the Churches, in an adj
dress on THE Responsibility Of the
United Christian Churches and Re-
ligious Organizat ions for the En-
fCrcement of Prohibition Laws" at
this mornings session of the Citizen
ship conference.
He proposed that finding
committee be appointed in Washing
ton to keep the churches informed
of the situation.
The Rev. DR.. Zahniser declared
that persistent publicity is the one
great weapon of the Christian
churches.