Evening star., 1925-07-05
P|NCHOT AGAIN HITS
MELLON DRY RULE
Flags Secretary for His Ere
fusaI to Garry Out Du-
ties of Office"
By the Associated Press.

PORTLAND, Greg, July 4.-Secre-
tary of the Treasury Mellon has re-
fused to carry out the duties of his
office in the enforcement of the pro-
hibition law" Gov. Pinchot of Penn
sylvania declared in an address before
the convention of the United Societies
of Christian Endeavor tonight.
The bootleggers are bold" Gov.
Pinchot said, because they know that
the Government of the United States
has never yet determined TO put an
end to their criminal traffic. They
know, you know and 1 know that the
Treasury Department could have set
its foot down at any time and re-
moved this scandal from the good
name of the United States
Secretary Mellon has for four
years had the power and the money,
and by driving politics out of the
enforcement service he could at any
time have had the men. He has re-
fused to carry out the duties of his
office, and far too many of the good
people of the United States have open
ly or tacitly supported him in that re
fusal, because they figured that Mel
Ion was good for business.
Secretary Mellon. for the better
part of a generation a whisky distiller
and whisky distributor, and only
within the last few weeks divested of
his interest in millions of dollars
worth of whisky. was chosen to en-
force this law and accepted the re-
sponsibility for enforcing this law.
The result. and the natural result. is
known to every man and woman who
cares to think.
Declares Situation Scandal.
81 hope most earnestly that the ap-
pointment of Gen. Andrews as head
of the law enforcement service of the
Treasury Department means that this
abominable situation, this scandal
which by the shameful failure of the
Government itself has outgrown every
measure, is about to be taken in hand
honestly, vigorously and with the in.
tention of getting results. When that
happens the day of the bootlegger will
rapidly draw to its close
The responsibility for "open def.
ance of law" also rests partly on "the
citizens who have tolerated it when
they could have stopped it, for in such
matters the people have all the
The criminal elements of our popu.
lation," according to the governor
are banded together from one end OF
this country to the other to pour
poison into the mouths of our people
to instill disrespect of the law in the
souls of our people, and te~held up
the hands of every anarchist, bolshe.
visit or other enemy of our institu.
tions. No such widespread defiance
of the will of the people has ever been
known in America, and no such flood
of poverty. crime, disease and death
has ever before flowed from such de.
fiance."
Warns of Power Monopoly.
Gov. Pinchot also discussed the
giant power problem, saying I'VE are
at the beginning of a new electrical
civilization which will be as different
from that of steam as the age OF
steam was from the ages which went
before it,
He warned that giant power would
mean a monopoly, of which there
must be effective public control -
The governor in opening his speech
attacked those people who believe
rightly and whose personal lives are
blameless," but who refuse to fight for
their beliefs. "A huge part of the
blame for the evils which exist in our
body polite rests squarely on the
church-going people," who. in Roose.
velt's phrase. mean well feebly," the
governor said.