Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-12-28
The Prohibition Report.

Law Enforcement Commission is to
make preliminary report on prohibi-
ton enforcement soon after Congress
reconvenes. The loud shouts emanating
in recent days from Capitol Hill de-
manding an early report by the COM
mission either have been effective in
bringing a decision of the commission
TO make such a report, or they have
been unnecessary because the commits
sion planned a report anyway. In. the
light Of several circumstances, it is
probable that the commission was about
ready TO make a report and would have
done so without all the uproar.
In the first place, President Hoover is
not the man to appoint commission
to do a job and then go off and leave
the commission to dawdle along for
months and years. No one has ever yet
accused the Chief Executive of Sinking
work or permitting others to Shirk it.
with any basis for the accusation. 1t
was noticeable, also that after Senator
Harris of Georgia had issued his first
blast attacking the Law Enforcement
Commission and demanding an jmme-
date report, he Gained down consid-
erabIy following an interview with the
President. While no details OF the in
terview have been revealed, it is entire
" probable that he learned then that
a report of the commission was under
way and would soon be submitted
The report of the commission, It is
understood, will deal with four angles
of prohibition enforcement. 1t Is no
mere coincidence that these recon-
mendations of the commission parallel
the recommendations of President Hoo
yer in his annual message to Congress,
delivered when that body met the first
week of December. To any unbiased
mind it must be clear that the Presi-
dent and the commission have been
working together and that he had the
benefit of the advice of the commission
before he sent his message to Congress.
The four recommendations made by the
President in his annual message include
~ a proposal for an immediate con-
centration of responsibility and strength
ening of enforcement agencies of the
Federal Government by transfer to the
Department of Justice of the Federal
functions of detection and to q con-
siderable degree Of prosecution. which
are now lodged in the prohibition bu-
reau in the Treasury; ca a proposal for
"relief Of congestion in the Federal
courts by modifying and simplifying the
procedure for dealing with the large
volume of petty prosecutions under va
rious Federal acts; 90 a proposal Tor
"a codification of the laws relating to
prohibition, to avoid the necessity
which now exists of resorting to more
than twenty-five statutes enacted at va
rious times over forty years; and "a a
proposal for recognizing the various
services engaged in the prevention Of
smuggling into one border patrol under
the Coast Guard" The Law Enforce
ment Commission, in its report, will
make similar recommendations.
Prohibition and its enforcement ad-
mittedly are great problems even after
almost a decade of the Volstead act.
The Law Enforcement Commission has
before it. a huge task. Its report Is
coming along in orderly fashion. Doubt
less the critics of the commission and
of tbe administration will seek credit
because the commission is about to
make a report on prohibition. But the
country will not doubt in the end that
the President and the commission are
functioning as promptly as possible in
accordance with the Presidents promise
to tackle this vexing problem Of prOhi-
bition enforcement.
One of the recommendations made by
the President and which is also to be
made by the commission looks to the
removal of the prohibition enforcement
unit almost entirely from the Treasury
Department to the Department of Jus
tice. Attorney General Mitchell q dry
Democrat, will be the head of prohibit
ton enforcement under such circum-
stances in the same measure as Secre-
tary Mellon of the Treasury Depart
ment may be said now to be its head
Once this change has been accomplished
the Senators who have been demanding
that Mr.. Mellon relinquish his job OF
prohibition enforcement will be out OF
o topic Of conversation.