The Bozeman courier. (Bozeman, Mont.) 1919-1954, 1923-10-24
NEWS review OF
CURRENT EVENTS
President and Governors Discuss
Ways of Enforcing the
Prohibition Law.
LLOYD GEORGE ON GERMANY
BY EDWARD W. PIcKARD

TIOW our laws can be enforced, es-
II pecially the prohibition law, is
exercising the minds of a great many
Americans these days. A citizenship
conference on the subject has just
been held in Washington under the
auspices of the Federal Council Of
Churches of Christ in America, and,
81 FIR rs tho volstead act is concerned,
tie addresses of some of the eminent
cOnferees developed a decided differ
ence of opinion. Governor PinchOt Of
Pennsylvania, calling the present state
Of things whisky rebellion" bluntly
laid the blame for the lack Of its sup
preston at the doors of the White
House. He charged the federal en-
fOrcement service with inefficiency and
held It responsible for the flood of IL
legal liquor that is pouring into local
communities. He said the government
agents. In his belief, not only winked
at violations of the law but in many
cases acted as graft collectors. He
held politics chiefly responsible for
the BLACK disgrace" asserting that In
state after state the bills of the domi-
nant party-Democratic or Republican
were paid for years by the liquor in
t~erests; and he did not spare the sup
pOsedly respectable citizens who pat
ronize the bootleggers and thus main
tain the industry.
1.-THE President" declared Mr.. Pin
chof Uis tho onlv man who can meet
the present emergency. 1t is idle to
suggest that the laws cannot be en-
forced. That the government Of the
United States, the most powerful ma
ton on earth, with the people over
whelmingly behind it, is powerless be-
fore a few thousand, or a few hundred
thousand, Of asserted l~awbreakers Is
simply unthinkable. The fact Is, we
have never really tried"
Some people, notably former Gov
ernOr Allen of Kansas, disagreed with
this announcement of Pinchot's, and
a good many of the Presidents warm
est supporters thought the Pennsyl-
vanian had unfairly broken the "gen-
tlemen's agreement" to permit the
President to demonstrate his ability to
run the government satisfactorily be
fore any other Republican hats should
be cast into the nomination ring. They
said PinchOt, recognized as a presi
dental possibility, was trying to put
Mr.. Coolidge on the defensive.
Mr.. Coolidge himself, however. die
not appear in the least worried over
the situation. Im~perturbable as usual
he waited for the opening Of the con
ference Of the governors of the state:
In Washington Saturday, and then SCI
before that gathering what he thinks
Is the cOmmon-sense view of the prob
lem Of prohibition enforcement. With
out replying directly to Governor Pin
chOt's charges, he pointed out that al
extraordinary change in the habits o
the American people cannot b
wrought in a few years; that compIet'
prohibition will require time and
long process of education that to i'm
prove conditions there must be a gen
eral tightening up of all government
agencies, federal, state and municipal
Before going to Washington the gov
errors met in West Baden, Ind. There
too, they discussed prohibition, an
many of them, especially those frOT
the South. expressed the opinion ths
the dry law should be enforced by tn
states rather Thar by the federal go
eminent.