Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-04-02

Release by the Senate judiciary COM
nittee of the statement on prohibition
by Chairman Wickersham Of the Presi-
dents Law Enforcement Commission
has inspired much public comment,
particularly on that portion which deals
with the severity of the Jones law and
the commission cflair1nan's belief in a
possibility of measurable enforcement"
of prohibition.
"FIis testimony, with its matter-of-
fact analysis Of present conditions, sue
cess and failure up to date and means
for betterment," according to the Phil
adelphia Evening Bulletin. went to the
very point of the prohibition question
for great many minds. His opinion,
for which his investigation should have
peculiarly qualified him, is that prohi-
bition can be reasonably enforced To
the opponents of prohibition that may
be q confession of the impoSsibility of
strict enforcement. To the drys it will
be stimulant to greater effort. BY
the middle-of-the-road people it will
be read in connection with the further
statement of belief by the chairman of
President Hoover's commission that the
great experiment is now to undergo its
fair and complete test, and that final
judgment on it cannot fairly be rem
dered until the new organization under
the Department of Justice has had its
opportunity"
'He does not mention" remarks the
Flint Daily Journal, "the all-important
angle Of whether prohibition Is worth
keeping, in view of the tremendous
crime wave In America. The prestige
which has come to the opponents OF
prohibition recently has been largely
Through persons of importance who
have been forced into changing their
dry views because of the 'offshoots' Of
enforcement. The drinking side Of the
argument has dropped into second place
with these men and women. We shall
await o Qualification Of Chairman Wick
erShan's statement. since undoubtedly
his view Of the future Of enforcement
is important"
Giving force to his criticism of the
Jones law, the Grand Rapids Press OBJ
serves that The would not leave to any
Judge the right to send petty offender
to prison for term ordinarily applied
to the greater felonies," and that paper,
makes the further suggestion: why
not q Federal 'habitual criminal act
for prohibition violators, reserving
heavier terms for those repeatedly con-
victed of commercial violations of the
law and the heaviest terms for habitual
violators engaged in large-scale opera
tons? Gould not scale of fine and
imprisonment penalties be set up in
the Federal law to render unnecessary
what Mr.. Wickersham regards as the
present excessive judicial discretion in
The matter without destroying the value
Of the sitter Jones punishments?"
\ \ y
Taking the position that, as chairman
OF the commission, Mr.. Wickersham
looks at prohibition from Within" the
st. Louis Post-DiSpatch concludes that
ne goes through the droll pantomine
OF seeking to discover how it can be
enforced, and in that solemn, make-be-
heve says that until 1t has been given
tair test, no one can say absolutely
whether the law can or cannot be
enforced. Similarly, If pressed" con-
t1nues that paper, "the Governor OF
Kansas would hesitate to say that with
out fair test the law which makes it
misdemeanor not to kill grasShopper
on sight can or cannot be enforced"
Suspicion that Mr.. Wickersham "is
leading up to some real wicked revela-
tons concerning the enforcement crew
he processes TO- defend" is voiced by
the Tulsa World, which repeats that
"he Is good lawyer and he is leading
up to something unpleasant" That
paper also offers the query: "Whose
hand, or what hands, are restraining
the proper enforcement of prohibition?
The chairman demands a free hand for
the Attorney General. He denies that
political influences are restraining the
or making it Intellectual.
If the officials are honest and really
trying to enforce the law, what Is the
necessity for transferring them to the
legal department, which Is already suf-
fering from a restraining hand? Whose
hand? What and who are the fayorites?"
4 kA%
Reference to the Department of JUS
tice Is called by the Manchester Union
Ibis chief recommendation In the in
crest Of efficient operation" The Prov
idence Bulletin concludes: "1t Is obvious
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