Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-09-26
BY MARK SULLIVAN.

BY MARK SULLIVAN.
The net result of the connection, I'M
thinkingly started by Senator Howell
Of Nebraska last Saturday, Is to bring
out conspicuously what was only quietly
understood before, namely. the progress
that Washington has made in respect
for law during the past few months.
The very apparent tendency OF wash
ington at this moment Is toward greater
! respect yet. This condition is only to q
lesser degree the result of any change IN
intensity of prohibition enforcement.
| To a larger degree, 1t is an outcome OF
the atmosphere of the Hoover admins
| tration.
A word to describe the whole effect
/ of six months of the Hoover adminlstra-
! ton In all fields would be "tonic"-pro-
vided that word does not PROVIDE 700
much opportunity for wit when used In
connection with prohibition. Every
aspect Of Washington has the e1ecS Of
| having been scrubbed and given the
| benefit of sun and fresh air. An ex-
ample, outside the present discussion. Is
| lobbying. Lobbying exists always.
Periodically it accumulates and Grows
bold until it smells bad. Then sonre
action, or some steady influence, usually
'
as at present. the effect Of disinfectant
and insecticide, attended by the scurry-
| ing of creatures that work In darkness.
! Morale Is Changed.
In the case Of prohibition, respect In
! Washington for this law and all law
| has come as a change in morale due to
transformations, and for the most part.
unspoken influence emanating from the
| White House The evidence of the new
morale is very plain. Among other
places it appears in circles sometimes
! described as having social Importance"
! Washington is a city in which rank
| legitimately bulks large, because OF ia
miliarity with rank in Army, Navy,
Government offices and diplomacy. AS
a consequence, the example OF the so
| cially important" weighs rather more
here than in most cities.
| 1t is a fact so well known locally As
| to be almost sensational that Washing
! ton families who had always served
| liquor have ceased doing so during the
past few months. From their actions
and from other evidence, it Is certain
| that in the coming social season., as
| it is called, dryness will be the vogue.
| To go back nine years. Washington.
! Immediately after prohibition came. in
| 1920, was for a while satisfactorily dry.
There was mood OF respect Tor the
Law, due in part, perhaps, to the then
near memory of the war and the emo
! tions that went with it. The judgment
Of many qualified persons is that II that
| early respect for prohibition at the seat
| of government could have been pre-
served, we would not have encountered
our more recent troubles. The same
/ Judges tend to blame the Harding ad-
ministration in considerable part for
! the breakdown of the early respect.
Much Pre-War Liquor Then.
! It became rather well known that
some highly placed members Of the easy
going Harding administration had not
| changed their drinking habits with the
coming of prohibition. At that time
there was still much pre-war liquor in
the country and 1t was felt that some
members of the Harding administra-
ton worked the "pre-war" abb rather
hard. In June. 1928, President Hard
ing, with a panied realization OF what
was going on, Enthusiastically made o
public statement that he would never
again drink liquor. Harding's act OF
sincere ferVor. came too late BY that
time the breakdown of morale in Wash.
ington had occurred. 1t is Just now
being restored
Senator HowelPs unthinksble over state
ment Saturday was made in speech In
shipping laws in the importation OF
opium. When his attention Was called
to what he had thoughtlessly said, he
honorably RETAINED from claiming to
have evidence which he had not The
one specific point he made was about
the importation of liquor for foreign
embassies in Washington. With regard
to foreign embassies, the outstanding
fact is that at this moment there Il
within the diplomatic world degree
Of voluntary difference to President
Hoover's position such as never existed
before It is a respect which no one
ever dreamed would come about. wnicn
could not be brought about by law and
which could only arise out OF voluntary
regard for our Government and Presi-
dent.
There was immense force in the
action taken in May by the most dis
tinguished diplomat in Washington, the
head of the British embassy, who made
! a public avowal of sympathetic cooper
alton with President Hoover. As q
matter Of self-imposed obligation he
announced in effect that no more liquor
would be imported by the British en-
bassy while he is ambassador. Any
. such step taken by the British Am
. bassador has q force in Washington
such as would not be realized by per-
sons not familiar with the city. 1t has
force by virtue Of the prestige Of the
British embassy among embassies. II
has further force because Of the me
personality of Ambassador Howard, and
! the extraordinary esteem in which ne
! | is held. It has some weight with Other
! foreign embassies, and it has excep-
tional weight with Americans especially
the ones sometimes characterized a.
socially important"
Protect Embassies,
Senator Howell and some others think
. the foreign embassies can be coercec
r by the shutting off of shipments Of
: LIQUOR to them. The Overwhelming
4 Judgment of lawyers is that this coun'
try cannot interfere with the 1mpor'
: tation of liquor by Ministers OF foreign
governments. II this is the law II
. must be interpreted in the light Of thu
3 Hoover administrations position which
is one Of respect for all laws, includ'
/ ing inconvenient ones. 1t Is as in
i cumbent on us to protect foreign EN-
/ basSies In laws guaranteeing then
rights, as it is for us to enforce the
prohibition law where the prohibition
law applies.
In any event there is enormous weight
/ in what the Hoover administration ha,
accomplished In this particular hele
through voluntary tribute to the al