Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-07-18
GOVERNORS MOVED
BY WET-DRY ISSUE.
Wickersham Letter Charged
With Stirring Up Hot
Controversy.
BY DAVID LAWRENCE.

Special Dispatch to The Star.
NEW LONDON, July 1S.-When
George w. WickerSham wrote in long
hand to Gov. Roosevelt suggesting that
the States bear their share of the
burden of prohibition enforcement, he
could hardly have realized what he
started among the governors. OF the
several States.
what looked ut the outset to be a
formal conference on abstract questions
of State administration suddenly turned
into a political and controversial atnnoS-
phere in which the participants natu-
rally gave more concern to the impress
sion back home than TO any solution
here of the Vexatious question OF pro-
hibition enforcement.
Nothing can be settled in govern
ors' conference anyhow, but the airing
of views Is none the less significant.
The wet governors would never have
Ventured to start a prohibition debate
but with the authority of such an
eminent person as George w. Wicker
sham, chairman Of the Presidents en-
forcement commission, they felt fully
justified in talking about every phase
Of the subject.
Opponents Aligned.
Wet governors were not permitted,
however, to hold the stage because the
drys felt equally bound to uphold their
side of the argument. The question of
what a State should or should not do
to enforce the law appears to the South
ern and Western governors TO be one
sided-they consider that the eighteenth
amendment imposes an obligation on
a governor Of q State to enforce the
Federal laws relating to prohibition even
though the State itself may have no
enforcement act
Former Governor Smith took the
position that governor is bound to
enforce Federal laws. Under those cir
cumstances the governors of North and
South Carolina felt that a resolution ap-
proving the Presidents efforts to enforce
the law could hardly be opposed by any
body.
There Is another point, however, on
which the governors found it easier to
divide and that is the revision of exist
ing laws so as to divorce the Federal
Government from the actual job of en-
forcing the law within the State so far
as distribution and sale are concerned.
This is concrete formula, which most
OF the governors thought should be
studied further before any crystalised
opinion could be developed.
Richie vs.. Cooper.
Gov. Ritehls Of Maryland had his
speech prepared two days ago and Gov.
Cooper Of Ohio undertook the other side
of the debate. The opportunity for dis
cuSsion was not provided by the drys,
but by the governor Of wet State,
Franklin D. Roosevelt. who saw in Mr..
Wickersham's personal letter a chance
to bring prohibition to the fore as the
dominant question of the governors
conference.
He approached it. however, from the
point OF view of crime and contended
that the letter from Mr.. Wickersham
was a solemn obligation upon the gov
errors to examine the question.
Mr.. Roosevelt was asked by newspaper
men whether there was any possibility
that the WickerSham letter may not
have been intended for publication, but
the New York governor said there was
no doubt in his mind about 1t, because
he specifically asked Mr.. Wickersham
for advice and suggestions to lay be-
| fore the governors conference and that
the letter he received was in response
to that request.
Certainly the prohibition issue super
seeded everything else at the governor
conference and gave it political twist
on which the vets made most capital.
| 1t Is always the efforts of the wet side
| to get up an argument on prohibition
and while there was relatively little
comfort in Mr. understands suggestion
that the States take up the question OF
enforcement, the idea Of reopening the
whole matter Of how the law should be
enforced Is a distinct trump card for
the vets. The drys have long main
tanned that the status quo was desirable
and that any modification OF the exist
| ing laws. except to strengthen them
would bring in o food of amendments
that would tend to weaken the enforce
ment structure.
VETS Score Point.
The vets have scored another point
long after the drys had considered that
| the sentiment of the country on pro-
hibition was more or less mixed, the
| vets have succeeded In forcing the
issue to the front whenever possible.
| They have driven home the idea that
enforcement is inadequate, but as yet
! they have not succeeded in convincing
many people on the dry side that en-
| forcenent has had q thorough trial
| The whole argument on the wet side
| has been that at no time will enforce
ment succeed because Of an adverse
public sentiment. 30 the controversy
has become q vicious circle-the vets
say the law cannot be enforced and
the drys say the vets will not let the
| law be enforced.
| Under the circumstances, while the
debate here is interesting and signif1-
cant of the importance of the enforce
ment issue, 1t has not added very much
to the controversy which the Presidents
Crime Commission has been ordered to
investigate.