The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-10-21
GOVERNORS BACK OF ENFORCEMENT
(Continued From Page 1l


 cause of temperance.
 The first six points of the CO., operation program were offered by MT. Coolidge after he had told the governors that mo provision of the eighteenth amendment or the national prohibition act contem- plates any surrender of state re- tives of the departments of justice, labor and treasury had reported on the efforts being made to obtain strict enforcement of the statues. The seventh point, that relating to educational activities along temper Governor Preus of Minnesota.
 The President in his address, deliv- cred at the conclusion of a luncheon at which the governors were guests of the chief executive, dwelt at some length and with considerable empha- sis upon the dual responsibility for law enforcement.
 Laws Held Perfectly Plain
 The constitution and the laws are perfectly plain" he declared. and the directions which they contain to the President and to the governors are equally plain. The country ought to stand just what duties the laws have imposed. It ought to comprehend that when laws have been made there is and can be no question about the duty of executives to en- force them with such instruments and by such means as the law pro- vides for securing enforcement"
 Mir. Coolidge told the governors that prohibition enforcement was not a political question and could not be made one, and added that prog in daalinO with Q n problems only could be made "by their frank and candid considera- tion." Such problems. he asserted, "are not going to be answered as a result of political intrigue" and "are not going to be determined by the extremists on either side"
 Concluding his address, MT. Cool idge called upon Attorney General Daugherty to present the views of forcement of the three types of laws under consideration; Acting Secre- tary Henning of the labor depart mont to discuss means of co-opera- tion in the enforcement of immigra- ton and naturalization laws; Prohi- bition Commissioner Haynes to tell of the efforts being made to make the prohibitory laws effective, and Chief Mutt of the narcotic division 
 governors what steps might be taken to bring about better enforce ment of the narcotic statutes. The discussion which followed, however touching only upon prohibition, the governors not bringing up immi- grafton and narcotic enforcement. Groesbeck starts Discu.sion
 General consideration of the pro- hibition question was started by Governor Groesbeck of Michigan who with Governor Mabey of Utah, had been selected by the state ex- ecutives to respond to the Prest- dents address.
 The Michigan governor com mended the spirit of the President address and pledged to the chief ex- the authorities of Michigan" Gov ernor Maby expressed similar views and Governors Hardee of Florida and Trinkle of Virginia urged that the laws of the land, including the prohibition laws, be upheld from the standpoint of good citizenship.
 President coolidge F then called for informal discussion of the confer ence objectives and Governor Ritchie with a declaration that the federal government ought not to en- force law in opposition to the attitude of the people of state, brought the first departure from the even tenor of the conference. The Maryland executive asserted that his state is paying more in taxes for the purpose of law enforcement than the federal government was expending in Maryland and made a plea for the recognition of the rights of the state.
 Cri4 fof nf pifNhfa n were followed by Governor Smith of New York, according to reports that came from behind the closed doors of the conference, denounced in un- reserved terms the tactics employed by some federal enforcement of Smith said, were doing their best to enforce the law despite the in- ternational border, and the fact that the state contained the country s largest port of entry.
 Neff In Hot Reply.
 The declarations by the New York and Maryland governors brought a prompt and heated response from Governor Neff of Texas, thus pro- viding the only fire works" of a what had been expected by some to be lively conference.
 Down south we once tired to get
 
 ernor was reported as having said We tried to get unrestrained state rights; we tried to get away from tho power of the federal government to enforce the laws of the union and we fought valiantly and per sistently and with as an inspired zeal as ever motived the heart of man--but we could not get away.
 'If the honorable governors from Maryland and New York now feel the pressing necessity of establish ing state rights, 1t is only because it is patent to them that the fed. eral constitution Is not being en forced in their commonwealth re- gardless of the conduct of the law. fully established enforcement agency, the state government. | they fear their state rights are lost or may be lost, they have only themselves to blame. They hay, |