Watauga Democrat. [volume] (Boone, Watauga County, N.C.) 1888-current, 1926-09-23
LINNEY PRAISES
SHARPE'S WORK
District Attorney Says Dry Official
Has Put Curb on Liquor Traffic
in Western Carolina

IN w eStsfn NarOiIna
Defense of the prohibition admin
istration of Ben c. Sharpe, eighth dis
trict dry chief, was made in Char
lotte last Thursday by Frank A. Lin
ney, of Boone, United States district
attorney.
In an interview with newspaper
men. Mr.. Linney declared that I'M
provement in the control of the IL
quor industry in western North Caro-
lima had been outstanding during the
past six years and added that the
major portion of the credit was due
Mr. Sharpe
The Charlotte Observer of last Fri
day quoted Mr.. Linney as follows:
"Of course, am willing to concede
that the weakening Of the forces un-
| der Mr.. Sharpe's direction was an
encouragement to the bootleggers in
the western part of North Carolina
and elsewhere in the district to be-
come bolder, but l think the forces
at his disposal done quite we'll and
4 Vas 5hey are very efficient
at is my opinion that most of the
liquor in the western part of the
state is brought in by runners from
the coast. Of course there is prob
ably some liquor making in almost all
the counties of western North Caro-
! lima, but it is so inconsiderable as
compared with what has been the
condition in the past that there is
no denying the Improvement has
been remarkable.
Il think the improvement in con-
ditions is due to two things, the
/ growth of strong sentiment against
it and the activity of Mr.. Sharpe's
! forces.
Formerly, distillers flourished
everywhere in the mountain country
| because public opinion did not frown
on the practice. Now, public opin-
/ ion trown rs on the manufacture Of
liquor and the handling of liquor in
any form, with the result that the
bootlegger is regarded as much an
enemy of society in the western part
of the state as he is anywhere in the
world
"There may be much clamor about
the failure of the prohibition laws to
prohibit, but | believe | know differ
emily. One great criterion that comes
to my mind is the fact that there is
practically no public drunkenness
now throughout the western part of
this state | can well recall, as can
others, that it used to be quite the
common thing that there would be
three or four fights at public gath
erings due to liquor.
"Now | very seldom see anyone in
public under the influence of in
toxicants. The change is really re-
markable and is due mainly, be-
lieve, to the abrupt and complete
change to sentiment with regard to
IL.
There may be ,Gnau centers in
some parts of the state where the
public cares little one way or an
other about prohibition, and to read
some of the larger daily papers in
the country one might get the idea
that prohibition was breaking down.
Such, in my opinion, is far from the
fact and especially is fact in west
ern North Carolina.
"Most of the liquor drinking IN
western North Carolina, in my opin-
ion, is done by the higher grades of
society and the smart young people,
or young people who think it is
smart to drink. Many of them are
in the younger social set. Drinking
is going out of style, | think, with
the masses of common people, who
after all are the hope of sciety, and
7 think it will get out entirely"