The Daily Alaska empire., 1927-11-30
MAKE YOUR OWN SUMMARY.


 In the December issue of .Pian Talk pub lished in New York, the leading article is entitled; "shot In The Back and is written by United States Senator Edward I. Edwards Of New Jer- sey It is a plain unyarnished tale of the Tkill- ings by Prohibition officers, Federal sEsts and Municipal, of which, the author claims, there Is no way to obtain accurate count. ie has listed a total of 2S6, 152 by Federal agents and S4 by State and municipal officers. No nation wide search has been made he writes, bat 1t Is my opinion and the opinion of others who have been following the situation that Prohibition slayngs must run into four fgures-an these slayings brought about by the officers of the law"
 All through the article the phrase .4shot in the back" runs like sinister refrain. Admit ting that Senator Edwards is no advocate of Pro hbition, that he is of its bitterest official foes he is not an irresponsible individual with out standing in his own community or the nation And the charges he brings against the system shackled about the country's neck are serious enough to disturb any conscientious citizen who is concerned about the manner in which the na- tion is governed and its laws enforcd. He admits frankly that occasions have arisen and will continue to do so when Prohibition officers like all others charged with law en- forcement will find it necessary to shoot But he charges that officer is compelled to shoot his man in the back in self-defense. He charges that the average Prohibition agent is unfit to hold any official position declaring pointbank that flew self respecting men would have any thing to do with the enforcement of Prohibition He has depicted what probably are the worst phases of enforcement But that such side does exist that men such as he describes are per- mitted to perpetrate the deeds he rectes not only with the sanction of law, but defended by public prosecutors when they charged with crime, is proof that Prohibition has developed philoso- phy of law enforcement which was never known before in the history of the United States. Space prevents extensive quotation of Senator Edwards article But his concluding paragraphs are revealing In them he said:
 When Proh b ion Commissioner Haynes wrote book he greatly exalted the sportsmanship and aim of the Pro hbition agents. On one page he tells how an agent held q mother at bay and threatened to kill her boy if she made move. On another page of the book he writes this pastoral bit: 'It is night. The moon shines down lonely road that winds from hills to sleeping city. From far down the roadway comes the growing roar of unmufled motor. An automobile whirs into view, flashes past and is gone. The bootlegger and his fellow criminals are on their way Another roar--the enforcement officers are in pursuit Presently the bark of rife then pistol shots. There are dead, dying wounded
 Within a week after the publication of this thrilling drama a young boy on his way home from church with two companions shot by such gallant men as MT. Haynes describes
 This may seem rather glorious to MT. Haynes but to me it seems very sad
 These activities are nothing short of czarsm look over an incomplete list of 236 killings in the United States by Prohibition officers.
 Ten persons lie in their graves in Arkansas.
 Fifteen Tn lexas,
 Five have been killed in my
 State in New Jersey.
 Four are dead in Maryland
 Ten have been fatally shot in West
 Virginia.
 Nineteen gave up their lives in Geor-
 gia
 Twenty-three are dead in Virginia & where George Washington kept his
 still.
 Seven have perished in Mississippi.
 Three have died violently in the & State where William Penn declared
 eternal love to humankind.
 Thirteen rest in New York grave yards.
 Fourteen are forever still in Florida
 Eight are dead in Alabama
 The dark and bloody ground of
 Kentucky leads all the other States
 with 27.
 These are only a few figures of the
 great established number. Only mere
 fraction.
 To sum up his portrayal in Shot In Tn .< nack" is virtually impossible. Even the autho xecoGniSed this fact for. in closing. he wrote
 All through this article have been *zla 1ooking forward to summary at the
 ond but Q summary somehow seems E -<e> md mo shall let yOu