The Republican., 1925-08-13

lowing communication which appear
ed in the Baltimore Sun on Thursday
of last week, the correspondent of
the Sun being the Rev. F. R. Bayley,
of Baltimore, who was not afraid to
give utterance to his thoughts and
convictions, the surprise being that
| The Sun published the article at all:
To the Editor of The Sun.
Sir: No one acquainted with the
bitter hostility of The Sun toward
prohibition was surprised to see its
biased write-up of the killing of the
Italian bootlegger at Havre de Grace,
followed by an equally prejudiced ed
itorial, but not everyone who is har-
dened to your tactics would have sup
posed that you would descend to per-
sonalities of a peculiarly nauseating
kind. After throwing large handfuls
of mud at Mr.. Crabbe you say he is
untitled for the job. Pray, when did
The Sun get the right to appoint
superintendent of the Anti-Saloon
League? One easily imagines that
one of the John Philip Hill or the
Klecka type, if he We're free to take
the job, would about suit you.
Your write-up of the unfortunate
occurrence at Havre de Grace was in
line with your policy of propaganda
in the news columns, a practice no
longer followed by reputable news
papers. For example, you were care
full to state that the bootlegger was a
World War veteran, but you did not
state, as did your contemporary, that
the officer was also an overseas vet
eran and that he and the other opera
tive Immediately rushed the wounded
man to the hospital. You shed copi-
Gus tears over the dead boOtlegger,
but you have no tears for the fifty
families who were impoverished ev-
cry payday by his vile trade, some of
whose fathers may well have been
poisoned if he had not been stopped
You bring in the Sheriff of Hartford
county with his opinion that the Vol
stead act is responsible for fifty speak
easies in the county, but you have
nothing to say about a Sheriff who,
knowing these places, fails to enforce
the State law against the sale Of IL
quor. | get around Hartford county
a great deal and | can tell you there
is q resentment slowly but surely Tis-
ing against the Courthouse crowd for
its liberation of violatvrs of the liquor
laws. Some day that gang will learn
that the majority of Hartford county
people are decent, law-abiding folk
who do not want their county over
run with the OffscouringS of Balti-
more. The killing of County Commits
sioner Clarke has shocked them
awake.
But to return to your editorial. Your
first sentence, which sets the key, is
a gem: "No person Of responsible in
telligence maintains that violation Of
the prohibition laws is either legally
or morally a serious crime Well, the
United States Government does. Isn't
that rather responsible and intelli-
gent? How did the editor of The Sun
climb to the position of judge of other
peoples diligence? "Upon what
he hath grown so great" All right,
line up John d. Rockefeller, Jr, Judge
Gary, Henry Ford, Senators Fess and
prominent drys on one side and on the
gers, thugs and The Sun, and let any
ligent group.
Now, do not try to kill this letter
with headline saying that | condone
the Staying of the Havre de Grace
bootlegger. | do not. The officer will
be tried by the court and | am content
to leave it there. What | resent is
The Sun making itself Judge, jury and
Sheriff, cOndemning a man before his
trial, especially as you never yet have
condemned the killing of a dry en-
forcement officer. Let a bootlegger
get killed and you have Mysteries; let
a sworn officer be beaten and murder,
ed in the discharge of his duty and
you laugh and use it as an argument
against prohibition.
| fear we are in for trOublous times
before the forces of liquor anarchy
are conquered, as conquered they will
be; but (get this straight) if the law
is hounted, if men think bootlegging
joke and Sneer at the Government,
if robbery and murder ensue and if
men are killed in the effort of the Gov
ernment 10 enforce the law, then the
major criminal in the whole dirty,
disastrous. devilish business will be
The Sun and papers like it which
preach the doctrine that "No person
of responsible intelligence maintains
that violation of the prohibition law
is either legally or morally a serious
crime" F. R. BAYLEY,
Superintendent East Baltimore Dis
trict, Methodist Episcopal Church.
Baltimore. August 3.