Evening star., 1926-04-20
Continued from First Page)

murder was going on in Pittsburgh
by representatives of the United
States Government; that only recent
ly n young man in Pittsburgh had
been shot while Federal prohibition
agents were shooting at an alleged
bootlegger.
AS matter of fact. Mr.. Baird said
two of his men We're chasing a Gar
supposed to contain liquor and fired
at the tires of the car in an effort
to stop it in an isolated street in
the city.
THE bullet ricocheted and passed
within the hearing of the young
man alleged to have been shot, but
otherwise did not injure HIM" said
Mr.. Baird.
Mr.. Baird said that President
Church had referred to the case of
a workman carrying q dinner pail
hibition agents.
Was Hunting Burglar.
Mr.. Baird said that an extra pro-
hibition agent, who had been on
the force only short time, had been
aroused about 2 o'clock one morning
| and summoned to aid neighbors in
| the capture of a supposed burglar:
that the agent had armed himself
I with his own weapon: that when the
| searchers had come upon a man with
a dinner pail under his arm he had
made a motion toward his hip, which
| the searchers thought menacing. The
| prohibition agent, he said, had shot
| with the intention of soaring the man,
| but had killed him
President Church, Mr.. Baird said,
| had left the impression that the
widow of this man was destitute. Mr..
Baird said that $30, 900 had been raised
! through the newspapers in Pittsburgh
to be turned over to the widow.
! Mr.. Baird also attacked the testi-
mony given by President Church re-
garding the raids made by prohibition
| agents on restaurants in Pittsburgh,
declaring that they were made in an
orderly way and after search warrants
| had been obtained. and that guests
! in the restaurants had not been man
handled.
Was Detailed to Pittsburgh.
Mr.. Baird told the committee that
the position of prohibition director in
Pittsburgh had not been sought by
| him, but that he had really been de-
| tailed there by his superior officer in
| the United States Steel Corporation.
He said that he had made an effort to
built up an honest, intelligent and ef-
| fective force of agents and that he
| was proud of the force, which he said
! would compare favorably with any
| constabulary in the country.
Referring to the charge made by
President Church that Mr.. Baird was
attempting to make spies out of the
students of the universities, Mr.. Baird
said that it was IAN absurdity."
Church Opposes Change.
The Methodist Episcopal Church,
Bishop William Fraser Mcdowell, res
ident bishop in this city, is strongly
opposed to any change in the Vol
stead enforcement act unless the
changes are intended to strengthen
the law.
Bishop Mcdowell declared that peo-
pie who have violated the laws and
Constitution of the United States have
no right to come before the commit
tee and urge changes in the law. He
said:
I'VE come also to declare that peo-
pie who have freely violated the laws
and Constitution of the United States,
some of whom have sworn to defend
the laws and Constitution of the
United States and have violated these
laws as was said here the other day,
without compunction Of conscience
have no standing in this court Law
breakers are not in position to be law
makers or to be law members V
come also to declare that laws should
not be made either by lawbreakers
or in the interest of those who have
nouted the laws which they seek to
amend. The propositions to amend the
existing law are made in behalf of
bootleggers, booze dealers and booze
consumers who have steadily broken
the laws established by due process.
They are the agents of the traffic
whose principle was stated a few DAYS
ago by one of the great dailies of the
country as being based upon two
things, stimulation Of trade and re-
sistance TO all restriction"
Statement Arouses Reed.
This statement reused Senator Reed
Of Missouri. wet" member of the com.
mittee.
DO you know any one who has ap-
peared before this committee who has
broken the law" Senator Reed de-
manded.
II mean just what I have said" re.
piled Bishop Mcdowell. THE imprint
of your paper, bishop" said Senator
Reed, lis that among those who have
come here advising a change in the
law is a lawbreaker who is engaged
in the liquor business"
Il have not said that" replied the
bishop. He would not, however, mod
ify his original statement
Reads Official Position.
In his statement to the committee,
Bishop Mcdowell read the official dec
laration of the General Conference of
the Methodist Episcopal Church as
follows:
The eighteenth amendment to the
Federal Constitution was adopted by
a larger majority than was given the
original Constitution and was rati-
fled by a larger number of States
and larger proportion of the States
than that given any other amend
ment to our fundamental law. 1t is
not a mere remedial statute or a bit
of police regulation. It is a concrete
statement, in terms Of advancing
civilization, of an enduring principle
of human government. 1t voices q
universal law, that only a sober peo-
pie can make a growing, progressive
and Christian nation. There can be
no successful challenge cf the pro-
priety of Incorporating in the basic
law of q nation the abiding underly-
ing moral convictions of it's people.
Though the traffic in intoxicating
drinks has been prohibited by the
action of a great and sovereign peo-
pie, the forces that fattened upon it
are striving to reinstate their nefari-
Gus trade. Under the guise Of a cam
patgn for beer. and light wines the
attempt is being made to restore the
traffic in Intoxicating beverages.
Free Government at Stake"
1.-THE real issue before the American
people today is. whether the prohibi-
ton amendment and the Federal pro-
hibitory law are to be nullifled by
iaw-defying minority which insists
upon fiagrantly showing it's contempt
for the emphatically expressed and
properly recorded will of the American