The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1925-09-17
PLACES BLAME
UPON FEDERAL
GOVERNMENT
Cost Nearly 20 Million 10 En-
force VOlstcad Act Past
Year
EXPENSE MOUNTING
Situation in New York City
Described as ''WOrSt in
Country"

Washington. Sept. 17.-p
urc to apply adequate remedies to
curb diversion of Industrial alcohol
and manufacture of "high-powcrcd"
beer was laid at the door Of the fed
cral government tonight by the Re-
search and Education Department Of
the Federal Council of Churches in
making public an additional section
of its report on the social conscqucn
ces of prohibition.
There is no visible reason why
the Illicit removal Of alcoholic beer
from 'brcwcrics' cannot be cffcctual-
ly controlled" said the report. "Thc
beer problem would seem to be Who'll
ly soluble. although it has been one
of the scandals Of the prohibition
regime.
"Thc diversion Of industrial alcohol
presents at present the hardest task
of enforcement. Yet there is no OK
cusc for the abuses that have devcl-
ped, and there is no reason why the
government cannot, with reasonable
diligence, control the situation"
Discussing at length other enforce
ment problems, the report declared
that smuggling continued to present
many difficult aspects, although the
total amount thus being brought
into the United States at present "is
not great enough to make it more
than minor phase Of the enforce
mcnt problem" that the homcbrew
industry had been virtually climin-
atcd that statements with refer
cncc to the growth of an illicit wine
industry have been much cxaggcr-
ated"; that small scale manufacture
of bootleg whiskey still els extremely
prevalent in some section" and that
annual Withdrawals Of liquor from
bonded warehouse have been re-
duced to ''inconsidcrablc quantities"
What 1t Costs
The report also contained a com
pilation of costs Of prohibition en-
forccmcnt placing tho total for the
present fiscal year which ends next
July at Sl9,319,S17. This figure
included Coast Guard expenditures
occasioncd by the operations against
! rum running. The expenditures Of
the prohibition officials themselves,
including operations against both
| liquor and drug offenders, were list
ed as having climbed from S2,O59,77l
on 1920 to Il high water mark Of
SO, 1882 in 1928 and were given as
81 500 lG for 1924 and $6,631 .213 for
the first nine months of 1925.
In forewOrd, the report cited
statistics as to the effect of prohi-
bition already made public. and con-
tinucd:
1.-The common and plausible answer
to all these statistical statements is
that prohibition has produced lin
tied results because we have had only
very limited measure Of enforce
mcnt-that the incffcctivcncss of
the prohibition regime, insofar as it
Is ineffective, is due to Il lack of
|f0rciblc administration Of the law. 1t
is needless to dwell upon the extent
of reinforcement Of the prohibition
laws. It's more serious aspects are
we'll known and freely admitted. 1t
would be idle to contend of course
that anything like the amount of liG
uOr is consumed in the United States
that was consumed prior to 1920.
No statistics are necessary to war
rant the assumption that with scores
of thousands of saloons closed so far
rs the free and public sale of liquor
is conccrncd,-and the vast majority
of them closed altogethcr-thc liquor
traffic has been enormously reduced.
Frequent attempts have been made
to estimate the percentage Of such
reduction, but there j., no valid or
authoritative basis for such cst;-
mates.
Challenge Of Present
Moreover. the challenge Of the
present situation is independent Of
the relative Cytcnt IF pnSt nrnI iii
ton and c-prohibition drinking
The problem is chiefly a moral prob
tcni, arising out Of the widespread
violation Of the law. It is note
worthy that even in those inland
areas where there is evidence Of
growing success in the enforcement
Of, the law the characteristic evils
arising out Of its violation arc found
in disquieting measure. From con.
sentative. fairly homogeneous com.
munities Of the west and south come
tales of persistent violations. The
seizures of liquor stills in southern
states reach an astonishing figure,
and even the smallest communities
arc not free from the illicit business
or the social and political effects
that universally flow from it. The
evil effects Of the continuing traffic
seem to be away out of proportion
to its actual quantity.
"Thc situation in New York City
is perhaps the worst in the country
from the view Of the administration
Qf the Law. The, new United States
district attorney has been obliged to
sweep out qf his office all such minor