The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-08-20
By ROY A. HAYNES
[. s. Prohibition COmmissioner.

& Co. Special to The Age-H -Herald.)
 The American conception Gf jus tiee includes neither field day nor bargain counter. With coveted eyes
 she sits in chaste and simple dignity, keeper of the scales in which are weighed the rights and wrongs of man. Before her all men are equal. Neither passion nor prejudice, hatred
 nor fear sway the calm majesty of her announcements.
 Such is the ideal that we of Amer ica have given into the keeping of
 Cur courts. Theirs is the function of interpreting the constitution and the law Having interpreted these, theirs, too, is the function of ad ministering justice. To him who has the guilty they say: Thus shall be your punishment"
 Whe our courts function in the spirit of this ideal-and, happily, the great majority do so function to- day-they constitute a bulwark against the forces of national disas- ter. When they fail to function In that spirit with respect to any par ticular law, they not only become derelict to a degree in the perform ance of their duty toward the so- ciety which created them and en- trusted them with a heritage beyond price, but, in effect, invite further breach Cf the statutes which they by
 their attitude bring into disrepute. Position of n Few Judges.
 Ie judge may say with propriety:
 T don't like the prohibition laws and refuse to take them seriously" another judge with equal propriety may say the same thing of the laws against murder, and third judge
 may say the same thing of the laws against burglary. Where else could
 oOt1rea of cf f1d11ct lead even tually but to the disrepute of all law?
 For the most part those who ad- minister American jHstice are men of high repute, fearless, courageous, scrupulous in their performance of
 duty, the highest type Of American citizenship. They preside, indeed
 over courts Cf justice.
 But there are few judges in the land who use their high positions occasionally to express their disdain of the Volstead act. Such judges are numbered among the outstanding ob- stacles of prohibition enforcement
 work It is time that they should take the prohibition laws seriously. It is their duty to administer jus | tice; 1t hardly lies within their prov ince to exploit personal opinions or prejudices frtm the bench. The su- preme court of the United States mas decided the constitutionality of the Volstead act. and that question should be considered settled. Long delay in bringing prohibition cases to trial and light fines upon conviction have contributed m no small way to the spirit Cf defiance in which bootleggers hold the law. Not long ago l questioned bootleg" ger known as an old offender, lie told me he had been arrested four l times, and added, with grin;
 always manage to get out all rlsht' In another case, a judge is reported tC have fined a second offender i cents, and when the defendant couldn't pay the fine, the judge put
 his hand in his pocket and paid 1t himself.
 that kind of justice?
 Field Days For BOOtIegsers. In some instances courts have con ducted field days" for bootegge-s, accepting pleas of guilty and impos- | in such instances. Generally, boct- leggers have been quick to avail themselves of such opportunities. Approximately 15O cases involving violations of the prohibition laws were disposed of in that manner in
 four days by one judge. In each case fine was imposed; in no case prison sentence. The total of the fines amounted to about $SO ,OoO, or an average of $200 for each defend- ant. Among the bootleggers appear ing before this judge was one man who was reputed to have made more than a million dollars in two years of illicit trading in whisky. He paid fines, for himself and employees, amounting to $500.
 Another defendant who went to the so-called bargain counter of justice was a man upon whose property vas seized one of the largest stills ever
 found in the vicinity. His offeense was punishable by a maximum pen- alty of $1,000 fine and Imprisonment fo rone year. He admitted that he had rented the property with knowl- edge that the tenants intended to use
 it for the illegal manufacture of whisky His punishment was a fine
 of s250; two men who were found
 operating the still were fined $100 apiece.
 When seized the still was produc- ing moonshine to the extent of $500 worth daily, al bootleggers' prices. Small Fines In This Court.
 The owner Of notorious dive who pleaded guilty to selling wine to pro- hibition agents was fined $150. One habitual criminal, against whom there were elevenhmtaihmtaihm
 there were eleven counts in connec-
 ton with the illegal opration of
 roadhouse was fined $500. He also paid fines of S10O each for two em- ployes.
 Of the judge who imposed these fines local newspaper said: file was scintillating, caustic, epi-
 grammatic. His pithy comments brought smiles and even laughter rom the habitues who had dropped
 into the courtroom to see what was going on And the bootleggers who
 a moment before had stood in abject humility under the searching brighs- eyes and the whitening remarks of
 the court, left the room with smiles
 wreathing their faces.'
 At one session of this court. ac cording to local newspaper stand
 ing room only rules prevailed today
 as guilty distillers, dispensers and. dellverers of moonshine or the req .a | StuII trod on each others heels in
 their haste to enter the court, eater
 a plea of guilty and be fined"
 Eyen Innocent Insist on Plead
 lhs Gliity," one newspaper an
 nounced in headlinlng Its account of
 one day's proceedings in this court In sharp contrast with such bar gainsP in justice was the pronounce
 ment of a federal judge in another nearby state.
 ' . h'ue up my mlnQ that per
 sons who sell liquor are going to
 Jail,' this judge was quoted as say
 ing There will be no getting away
 with fines. They are going to jail every time can send them there 1
 am going to stop this liquor selling
 if have to fill all the jails in the
 state"
 | hundreds bootleggers awaiting sentence faced the judge at one time. Others, unable to get into the crowd ed courtroom stood In anxious little groups in the corridors.
 As the defendants came before him, one by one, the judge pronounced | jail sentences. The sentences were pannra llv dnMs, m I, ri sc,tn-