Milford chronicle., 1929-01-25
THE NINTH ANNIVERSARY
OF PROHIBITION
1t Will Not Do to Cry ~All's Well"
But 1t Is Succeeding And the
Success Grows

,. hJ0NNNoc NHAOHo
A desperate drive is being mac
g to put over" the belief that prob
!, bition is a failure. The wet pres
i loses no opportunity to refer to tn
! u breakdown" of the law as if the a
legation that prohibition has broke
down is generally accepted as fact
To say that prohibition enforce
:, ment is satisfactory would be insir
: cere. Most of the difficulties of e1
forcement are due to the obstructiv
. tactics used by opponents of the Law
f 1t is absolutely erroneous to sa
, that prohibition enforcement ha
, "brOken down." On the contrary it
a relative success and is becomin
| more successful. The sources of il
legal liquor are: l. Illegal importa
, ton from across seas; 2. Rum run
: ming across the border; 8. Diversion
, of industrial alcohol to the bootlei
trade; 4. Home brewing, moonshin
ing and the production of "alle.
beer"
The present status of these vari
GUS factors of the general enforce
ment situation are as follows:
l. Smuggling from across sea!
has been dealt with efficiently. Run
row is no more. The treaty witt
Cuba and effective Coast Guard
measures have greatly curtailed the
smuggling of liquors along the
Southern coast. Some liquor is still
coming to the Pacific Coast from
Belgium and elsewhere in Europe
via the Canal. Friendly nations can
if they will, almost entirely stop this
by requiring returns from ship mas
ters showing delivery of cargoes to
the ports for which they were clear
ed.
2. The running of liquors across
the border is nuisance and a scam
dal. 1t is probable that twenty-five
million dollars worth of liquors at
Canadian prices are being brought in
across the Northern border by mo-
tor cars, lake and river shipping,
and in railway cars, which are di-
verted from destination. This mat
ter is under discussion with Canada
at the present time and satisfac-
tory agreement is essential to the
interests of both peoples. There is
absolutely no reason why either gov
ernment should tolerate the use of
it's territories as a base for hostile
operation against the laws of the
other country. It is not One-sided
question, as American criminals
have been a source of annoyance to
Canadian officials.
8. The diversion of industrial al
cohoI to the bootleg trade at one
time furnished most of the supplies
for the illicit dealers of New York,
Pennsylvania, New Jersey and per-
haps one or two other Eastern
states. The situation today is at
least fifty per cent better than it was
two years ago. This source of trou-
BILE was nothing less than disgrace
full, for the reason that it has been
due in large part to the interference
by wet politicians with the admins
tration of the permit system. Phila-
delphia has been the chief center OF
this unholy trade and it is safe to
say that an intelligent and honest
state administrator could have wiped
out the whole business within few
months if left entirely free from po-
litical pressure. 1t is believed that
the intelligent, relentless efforts of
Commissioner Doran will solve this
problem once and for all within the
r,ax,f fuoluo months
4. 1t is impossible for anyone to
know the extent of home-brew1ng,
home wine-making and the produc-
ton of "moonshine" liquors and "al-
ley" beer. 1t is probable that the
production of beer at home, never so
very extensive except in certain
communities, has declined greatly
owing to the difficulty in producing a
satisfactory product. Wine in con-
siderable quantities is produced by
Italians, Greeks and other immi-
grant groups. Moonshine whiskey
or "corn liqdop" is produced in the
swamps, backwoods localities, and
most of all in the slums of the cities
where we also find considerable pro-
duction of high-powered beer under
exceedingly. filthy conditions. The
production of moonshine and alley
beer is directly due to ineff1ciency or
worse on the part of local police and
other authorities. 1t is doubtful if
such production is decreasing and
equally doubtful that it is increas-
ing. The situation is better in some
sections and worse in others. The
people will have to be aroused to
the fact that the suppression Of
these evils is not primarily feder-
al concern; it rather calls for the
vigilance of good citizens who are
interested in the integrity of their
local governments. The alleged
breakdown" of prohibition admin
istration in various cities and coun-
ties is only phase of administra-
tive ineficiency in city life.
The prohibition law is fortunate
q ling at the head Of the Prohi-
5.RasDr. James M. Doran,
s - acquainted with
nment, versed in
u the prohibition law
Sinistration, intelligent
ed. He pours into his
Eth of nerve energy and
has the entire confidence
friends of the law, but