Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-12-26
DRY PLANS WOULD
CUT CANADA PORTS
Unified Border Patrol Also
Urged in Program to Be
Submitted Soon.
Continued From First Page.)

/ WOIkS SCTeHSL0 10 Ills arm.
He continued that IF there is any
proposal before Congress which will
help this particular feature of the
situation, that also should be speeded,"
but he added that he knew "of no pro-
posal which will reach the condition as
I see it in this particular matter"
| The text Of the Mitchell statement
was:
| Il cahnot for the honor of hundreds
OF devoted public servants allow to pass
| without protest a wholesale charge of
indifference to prohibition enforcement
which has been leveled against United
| states attorneys, marshalS and other
officers of the Department of Justice
and appearing in the press this
morning.
These men are generally known in
their own communities as men o. in
tegrity and courage, doing their best
TO enforce the law. There have been
weak spots. We have been working
hard to eliminate them.
Work Under Great Handicaps."
From contact with the department
over period of years, can state that
there never has been greater zeal and
activity in the enforcement of law than
at lILc pIeS6IlL IlIne.
These men are working under great
handicaps. Those in the department
connected with prohibition enforcement
nave been for months past busy on
measures for improving personnel, re-
lieving congestion in the courts, re-
organizing the enforcement agencies
and meeting the multitude of problems
arising in the effort to improve con-
ditions. When Congress is ready to
consider and adopt legislation to carry
out the administrations recommended
tons for more adequate law enforce
ment machinery, those whose duty it is
10 enforce the law will be able to ac-
compllSh more. There has been inn
provement in the last six months.
There has also, under the Presidents
leadership, been a change in public
attitude toward law observance.
All agencies in the executive service
ton have been too conscious of de-
termlned and unceasing pressure from
the President for enforcement to leave
any room for indifference. Such de-
flciencies as exist in prohibition en-
torcement are not due to lack of will
to enforce the law either at the top or
the bottom"
The text of the Doran statement was:
My attention has been called to a
statement by Senator Borah, in which
he says that the prohibition law. in his
opinion, VIII never be enforced by the
present personnel.
Fears Effect on Morale.
With all due respect to the Senator.
1t seems to me that such a sweeping
condemnation of group of public
servants who are honestly and con-
sc1entiously endeavoring to perform
-
bound to have a disheartening effect
upon the morale of the service. This
is not to say that in a large organiza-
ton such as that of the Prohibition
Bureau there are not weak spots. tt
is not to say that administration is not
susceptible to improvement, but to say
that prohibition cannot be enforced
with the present personnel comes
periously near to saying that it can
not be enforced at all. Based on my
% years Of experience in the Govern
ment service, I can affirm that on the
whole we are not likely to find a more
loyal and conscientious group of men
than are now serving under me. In
this connection it should not be for
gotten that they are now chosen from
Civil Service lists, based on open COM
petitive examinations in accordance
with the reorganization act recently
passed by the Congress. and it is hard
to believe that in the future the Con-
gress will authorize looking elsewhere
for new recruits.
Moreover such sweeping statement
overlooks the very marked progress
which has been made in this particular
neld OF law enforcement which is set
forth in detail in my report to the Con-
gress and which is amply supported by
facts.
''Importart as is the problem of per-
sonnet. 1t " not the only problem. AS
see 1t. aside from the cooperation of
private citizens, there are other. factors
involved in the enforcement of the pro-
hlbit1on laws. First, there must be the
viii to enforce. No one, I think. will
deny that under the present admin
istration has existed a whole-hearted
determination to enforce the law. This
has been evidenced by the clean-cut
declarations of the Chief Executive.
which in my judgment have not only
mad an inspiring effect on the morale
OF public servants, but have met with
very genuine response on the part of
private citizens. No one in my bureau
has any doubt as to the position Of this
administration on this point
Reorganization Plan Drawn.
But given the will to enforce, given
a suitable personnel taken from civil
service lists, there still remains the
problem of the most effective kind of an
administrative Set-up, and this relates
not only to the enforcement of the law
within our borders, but to the shutting
on Of the supply Of Illicit liquor from
without our borders"
Acting under instructions from the
PRESIDENT, IN the course Of the last few
months an exhaustive study has been
made, not only Of the best means to i'm
prove the administration of the law,
but OF the proper relation between Fed
eral and State enforcement forces. AS
result OF these studies, there has been
prepared and will be submitted to the
Congress plan of reorganization which,
in my judgment, will promote the bet
ter enforcement Of the law.
moreover, the Treasury Department
Is prepared to submit to the Congress a
program looking to the more effective
prevention of smuggling on our land
borders by establishing a limited num-
Der OF points of entry and providing for
| the guarding of the area between these
points by unified border patrol under
the Coast Guard, in so far as our water
| frontiers are concerned. / understand
that Admiral Billiard has submitted a
program looking to the STRENGTHENING
OF our Coast Guard fleet not only on the
ocean, but on our inland waters, which
has met with the approval of the Treas
ury Department.
In conclusion, affirm that genuine
progress Is being made in the enforce
ment of the prohibition laws, that the
personnel in the Federal prohibition
service is steadily improving in morale
and efficiency, that my observation leads
me to believe that under the leadership
of the President there has been a much
more helpful attitude on the part of
the public, and finally. in so far as ad-
ministration is concerned, a program IS