Milford chronicle., 1924-12-05
SOME PLAIN TALK
Abstract Of Address OF Governor
PinchOt At The Methodist Mems
Conference, Columbus, Ohio,
November 18th.

critical point. In the Civil War i
was Gettysburg; in the World Wal
it was Verdun. In the conflict thai
all men of good will are carrying or
in America today against the moral
laxity that has crept into our body
polite, the critical point is the
Eighteenth Amendment"
Bishops T. S. Henderson, Cincin.
natl, E. L. Waldorf, Kansas City, q
H Hughes, Chicago, F. J. McCon-
nell, Pittsburgh, and J. C. Hartzell
were present together with the dis
trict superintendents and eminent
leaders of the church.
"The attacks on Verdun and
Gettysburg were openly made by
men who so earnestly believed in the
cause for which they stroVe that for
it they were ready to sacrifice their
lives" said Governor Pinchot. The
attack on the Eighteenth Amend
ment is based on nothing higher
than greed or appetite, is pursued in
darkness by the most contemplate
of methods and has behind it no mo-
tive that a self-respecting American
can do other than despise.
"The criminals who break the
Eighteenth Amendment for their
pleasure or their profit can never
win. We know that we shall beat
them in the end. But the harm they
do in the meantime is enormous.
For there is one aspect of the case
which we cannot for an instant af-
ford to overlook. 1t is this-the NOR
al integrity of the people of the
United States is at stake in this con-
flict
"If we cannot enforce the Eigh-
teenth Amendment, if we cannot
compel obedience to our fundamen-
tai law, if we cannot hold the criti-
cal point, how can we expect to keep
the rest of the moral line? If we fail
in the greatest moral test ever laid
upon us as a God-fearing nation,
how can we maintain our self-re-
spect, how can we save our soul?
"The Eighteenth Amendment will
never be repealed. It will stand so
long as alcohol is a menace to the
human race. There is no fear of any
successful attack upon the Volstead
Law. That law will never be weak
ened until the fight for enforcement
is finally won in the United States.
And when that time comes the de-
mand to weaken it will be dead.
Least of all need we fear the
parlOr politicians who, inspired by
their desire for personal indulgence
assure each other, wine glass in
hand, that the people Of the United
States are against the Eighteenth
Amendment. Their talk no more af-
fects the course of public action than
the twittering Of sparrOws in a tree.
Every year that passes sees the
Eighteenth Amendment stronger in
the respect and confidence of the
American people than it was before.
Every year that passes sees it bet
ter Obeyed.
Better obeyed, yes, but still far
from satisfactorily Obeyed. Law en-
6Orcement, so far as the Federal En-
forcement Service is concerned, is
universally regarded as joke, and
a bitter and brutal joke at that. The
Eighteenth Amendment will never
be thoroughly enforced until the
men in charge of its enforcement
are in sympathy with the law; un-
til the Enforcement Unit in Wash |
ingtOn makes an honest effort, which |
it never yet has made, to do the |
duty for which the people Of Amer
lea maintain it,
"In my own State of Pennsylvania
for example, the disgraceful failure
of the Federal Enforcement Unit is
a willful failure. The first Enforce
ment Director to be appointed for
the Republican machine in Pennsyl-
vania was nOtoriously wet and no
toriously crooked, and no man in
his senses ever believed he was put
there to enforce the law. Nor did he
enforce it. Within two and one-half
months after he took Office, fraudu-
lent permits for the release of over
100000 gallons Of whiskey and alcO-
hOl were issued through his conniv-
ance. THAI was more than three
years ago. He is still unpunished.
'But in spite of the failure at
moral sentiment in
America is steadily crystallizing
against the unlawful traffic in
drink. So far, however, public in
1ignatiOn has been directed mainly
against the man who sells Illicit
liquor, and very little against the
nan who buys it. In actual fact,
he latter is by far the worse Of {
ender of the two.
cit is the money the buyer holds z
)ut in his hand that is the sole in
.entive to the whiskey runner, the
Dootlegger, the brewer who breaks Z
he law, and the maker Of denatured
.lcohol who pours his poison into
ur body political in enormous q
treams. Until now, however, too
title of our attention by far has z
cen given to that particular law
reaker who by his purchase Of IL
egal drink hires others to break +
he law.
"I am aware that large numbers
Z persons otherwise held to be re- c
pectable not only break the law
but induce others to p
reak it by buying illegal liquor. 1 z
now that some of these persons are u
hurch members, prominent MEM
ers of the most exclusive clubs, in b
uential in business, and otherwise "
ighly conspicuous in their commun-
les. know also that they deserve y
le contempt Of every honest Amer q
an Citizen, and particularly Of the
Of Christian Church q
J throughout this land. ID
"These men have the impudence TO
ck out those articles of our Con- q
tuition which they will obey, and ct
lose which they will not obey. Dur -