Evening star., 1926-05-24
ANDREWS INSISTS
NEW DRY PLAN IS
! NOT NATIONWIDE
Order Making Local Officers
Agents Legal, But "Very
Dangerous" He Says.
CALIFORNIA SKEPTICAL
OF PROGRAMS SUCCESS
Attorney General Doubtful of Its
Legality-oficials See No
Advantages in 1t.
By tho Associated Press.

By tho Associated Press.
Rombarded by criticism from both
vets and drys, Assistant Secretary
Andrews today assured the country
he had no intention Of authorizing
State and local officials generally
throughout the country TO act as
prohibition agents.
The Government prohibition chief
reiterated that President Coolidge $
executive order making possible the
performance of such a function by
State, county and city officials was
intended, for the present at least, for
California only.
He defended the presidential or
der, however, as entirely constitu-
tional but conceded that it involved
como aspects which might be very
dangerous"
Commissions to Be Revocable.
The Federal commissions to be
given the local officials, he added.
would be issued with the under
standing that they are revocable at
any time.
Gen. Andrews expressed surprise
at the reception given the President S
order, which has been assailed by the
vets as an invasion of States rights
and criticized by some drys as rest
ing on a doubtful constitutional basis.
Giving authority to a man over
whom you have not got 100 per cent
control is very dangerous he said,
land | will he very loath to do it
The executive order was asked for
merely to meet q situation in Cali
forna, where some deputy sheriffs
have volunteered to police rural pre-
cincts in cooperation with the Fed
eral forces. l have no intention and
had none of extending this plan
throughout the country.
Thinks Order Legal.
However, I think the order is
perfectly legal and constltutionaly
sound"
The Secretary predicted that diver
sion of alcohol to bootleg channels
would he stopped within six months
if Congress would vote the authority
and the funds carried in pending ad-
miniStrati0n measures. including a
$4,000. 900 supplemental appropriation,
and the Goff dry bill, which would
make possible q reorganization of the
prohibition machinery.
A resolution directing the Senate
Judiciary committee to inquire into
W
legal WAS introduced today by Senator
King, Democrat, Utah.
The resolution went over under the
rules 1t recited that the order of the
President authorizing employment of
State. county and municipal police as
prohibition enforcement officers was
of dubious legality" and should be in
quired into.
Advocates of modification of the pro-
hihition law took the first step today
toward linking up the liberaliZing
proposition with the Goff bill, which
seeks to make enforcement of the
dry law more stringent.
Senator Edge, Republican, of New
Jersey, offered three proposals as
amendments to the Goff bill. They
will lie on the table to be called up
whenever the dry forces seek action
on the Golf measure.
Referendum Is Sought.
The first proposal is authority for
a national referendum to permit the
reople to vote both on modification
of the Volstead law and on the repeal
or modification of the eighteenth
amendment. On this proposal Senator
Edge takes the position that since
movements are under way in several
States for separate referendums, he
believes it would be wiser to nave the
same questions submitted to the en-
tire country rather than different
queries in individual States.
The second amendment would change
the definition of intoxicating liquor
from onehalf of one per cent as pro-
Vided in existing law TO "non-tntoXl-
eating in fact
The third amendment would give
the public the right to produce in the
home any beverage Notwithstanding
in fact"
While all three of these propositions
have been broached before, the pur-
nose of Senator Edge in offering them
TODAY as amendments to the new dry
enforcement bill is to make 1t possible
to get them before the Senate at the
same time that body is asked to vote
for Stricter enforcement.