Evening star., 1923-10-08
Dry Enforcement Conferences.

Almost three years after the consti.
tutional amendment and the Volstead
act became effective the National Cap
ital is to be the stage for two impor-
tant conferences to determine what
steps must be taken to bring about
better enforcement of the anti-liQuor
laws. The first is to be conference
on citizenship in the interest Of pro-
hibition, suggested by two sections of
the Federal Council Of Churches,
which opens next Saturday. One week
later the second conference is to bf
held, called by President Coolidge. At
that conference the governors of aE
the states are to meet the Chief Execj.
tive to discuss ways and means CT
promoting the enforcement of the law.
In d measure, the mere holding of
these national conferences so long af
ter the country went dry is sad
commentary on the manner in waich
the law has been enforced. But in a
greater measure they are a wa'5iing
to the lawbreakers that the govern
ment, state and federal, is preparing
to exert greater efforts than ever be-
fore to put down "rum-running" and
bootlegging. The VETS are likely to
find within a short time that the senti-
ment developed for modification of
the liquor laws within the last year
has reached it's high-water mark, and
that the tide is setting the other way.
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N the so-called wet states today.
If these conferences are to be Of
any benefit. however, in the matter Of
law enforcement something practical
must emanate from them. One sug-
gestion that strongly appeals as a
measure of preventing bootlegging is
the substitution Of Jail sentences for
fines in all cases. A fine Of $400 or
s500-and those are among the large
fines imposed-means little to a rum
dealer whose profits run into the tens
Of thousands of dollars each year. But
q Jail sentence is a different thing. 1t
leaves its mark that is not easily
erased.
Last week Gov. Pinchot of Pennsyl-
vania and the representatives of the
Department of Justice ordered 1900
saloons in Philadelphia to close. Re
ports as to the effectiveness Of this
drive vary, but all declare that many
of the saloons have continued in
operation in fact, practically all of
them, and the counsel for the Retail
Liquor Dealers Association-save the
mark-has been quoted as saying that
only four had closed, and the others
had decided to 'sit tight" Philadel.
phia. 1t seems, presents a real test
case of the effectiveness of the pro-
hibition law.
Recently Attorney General Daugh-
crty announced that since the nation
wide prohibition law became effective
in 1920 more than 10000 cases involv-
ing violation of the liquor law had
been terminated, and that there had
been 72,4S9 convictions; that fines had
been assessed tota!ing $12, 1867. $50, and
that Jail sentences for the last twenty
three months totaled more than 5000
years. Further, the number of CON
victions has steadily increased. The
dry forces. it appears, have been ac-
tive. But it also appears that the SEN
tences imposed have not succeeded in
checking the flow of liquor.
Should Great Britain adopt prohibi-
tion--and there are signs that even
tually she may--it will be interesting
to observe how that law-abiding ma
ton carries out the law. The punish
ment of law violators in Great Brit
ain is far swifter than in the United
States, due to the fact that the court
procedure is quicker, and that the
endless delays and technicalities found
in American courts are absent.
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