Evening star., 1928-10-28
BY the Associated Press.

! UNery, was as IOIlOWS.
I shall begin tonight by disposing OF
some statements made by the Repub-
| lican candidate and some OF his prom1-
nent supporters which, in my opinion,
| are beclouding the issues and are in
| tended to miSlead the American public
| In his speech in Missouri last Mon
/ day night former Gov. Hughes, in dis
cussing the prohibition issue, said:
! I'VE have sham battle over prohibi-
| ton"
A sham battle? What does Gov.
| Hughes mean by that? Does he take
! the position that the American people
{ are not concerned about prohibition?
! Does he mean to indicate that they are
satisfied with conditions as they exist
| today? Further on in the same speech
he said:
IT 70 not say that the election of
Gov. 4 NTH would not greatly intensity
the demand for a change"
Nothing Sham About Issue"
Now, if my election will In fact in
tensify throughout the country de-
mand for a change in the prohibition
| law, by what process of reasoning does
Gov. Hughes believe it to be sham
! battle? If I understand the public
sentiment in this country Alright, there
| Is nothing sham about this issue. 1t is
| a real one and comes very close to the
heart and to the conscience Of the
| American people. It involves bribery,
corruption, lawlessnesS, intemperance
and violation of and disrespect for all
law. Leading men in the business
| world, presidents of colleges and uni
versities, clergymen of various denomi-
nations, men and women in all walks
of life, are openly and fearlesSly on
record, irrespective of their political
affiliations, in opposition to the condi-
ton in which the country finds itself
today as the result of the eighteenth
amendment and the Volstead act.
On this subject former President
Hadley of Yale University In the feweSt
possible words voiced the feeling Of
millions of right-thinking men and
women when he said:
1.-The object of the eighteenth amend
ment was to stop drunkenness and
promote public order. This object has
and its enforcing statute, the Volstead
act, have not only failed to secure
either of these results, but have failed
so conSpicuously as to produce dis
respect for law among private citizens
and public officials alike. For the last
ave years it has been the paramount
duty Of the party in power to recognize
this situation and deal with 1t intelli-
gently. This obligation 1t has failed
to meet"
Quotes Taft Statement.
Leaders of the American people who
had vision and knowledge of human
nature predicted what would result
from the attempt to write a police
statute into the fundamental law Of
the land.
Former President Taft in 1918 said:
"I am opposed to national prohibition.
am opposed to it because I think 1t
is mixing of the national Government
in a matter that should be one Of local
settlement.
'I am opposed to the presence of
laws on the statute books that cannot
! be enforced and as such demoralize
the enforcement of all laws
81 am not in favor OF a national
amendment which should force II or
Is great States into a Sumptuary system
which the public opinion and the real
practices of the people of those States
would not support"
To my way of thinking, he seems TO
have hit the nail exactly on the head
when he said:
1.-The regulation of the sale and use
Of intoxicating liquors should be re-
pertinent and improve They have the
full power and the Federal Government
has helped them by making 1t a Fed
eral offenSe to import liquor into their
borders If they forbid it. If the power
of regulation is irrevocably committed
to the General Government, the next
generation viii live deeply to regret
It."
President Wilson, referring to pro-
hibition, said:
"You cannot regulate the morals and
habits Of a great cosmopolitan people
by placing unreasonable restrictions
upon their liberty and freedom. All
such attempts can only end in failure
and disappointment. In the last
analysis, in these matters that seek to
regulate personal habits and customs,
public opinion is the great regulator"
Refers to Hoover Statement.
All this must be known to Mr..
Hughes, and am unable to say by
what process of reasoning he believes
that constructive, policy put forward
by me to meet the situation which
these great leaders foresaw is sham
battle. 1t is a fair question to ask
whether Mr.. Hughes himself is salts
fed with the results Of prohibition in
this country. -
Let us see If Mr.. Hoover knows any,
thing about it. AS far back as 1918,
when food administrator, he said:
If we stop brewing, the saloons of
the country will still be open, but con-
fined practically to a whisky and gin
basis. ANY true advocate of temper
ance and of national efficiency in these
times will shrink from this situation,
for the national danger in it is greater
than the use of some four million
bushels Of grain monthly In the
breweries."
He further said:
ut is mighty difficult to get drunk
on two and three quarters per cent beer.
It will be easy enough If we force a
substitution of distilled drinks for it."
That is exactly what prohibition has
brought about.
While there are no public saloons to-
day, no person of any common sense
will deny the fact that hard liquor can
be procured in any part Of this coun-
try and is being illegally transported
and illegally Sold.
Says Senate Made Study.
We have the sworn testimony Of the
officials Of the Government to make
good this statement. Exactly what Mr.
Hoover warned about 10 years ago Is
taking place in the United States today.
Still he says it is "a noble experiment"
and Mr.. Hughes says that the man who
offers a suggestion to cure these evils
is carrying on a sham battle.
Mr.. Hoover speaks about appointing
a commission to find out what abuses
there are in the administration Of the
prohibition laws. The Senate studied
this whole matter only short time
ago and they have before them the
sworn testimony of the head OF the
prohibition enforcement agency in the
whole country; and quoted from it at
great length IN speech that delivered
| in Milwaukee.
~ Iyoa,,or rl1oxuc from his NUN iinS