The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1930-10-17
Mr.. Woodcock on Prohibition

Mr.. Amos w. Woodcock, who holds the powerful post
Of prohibition director for the department Of justice,
has issued a little brochure on the prohibition question
which is attracting q great deal Of attention throughout
the country just now.
It's title is 1.-THE Value of Law Observance" and it is
defined by the author as "a factual monograph" It
contains some 81 pages and is interesting reading. re-
CARELESS of ones attitude toward the prohibition ques-
ton.
Although primarily interested in prohibition, of course,
MI. Woodcock goes q good deal into the theory Of law
and deals in some detail with pure food and drug laws,
health and sanitation laws, anti-gambling laws and laws
prohibiting prostitution as being in the same category
with the prohibition law. MI. Woodcock refers to them
as Flaws that, by their very nature. restrict personal
liberty"
Through his entire book, Mr.. Woodcock displays the
attitude Of the common-sense rather than the ~fanatical
dry. He thinks prohibition can be made to work, but
frankly admits that it must have more public support
than it is now getting If it is to be wholly successful.
And in line with that idea, in a discussion Of the stat
ute law, there appears the following statement:
when the theory Of statute law IS examined it appears
that frequently a law is written upon the statute books
Of a state or nation before the subject that is to be con-
trolled has become a custom Of all of the people who
are asked to observe the law.
"This situation is the basis of some of the criticism
directed against the national prohibition act. The theory
advanced by legal authorities is that greater progress is
mace py an aggressive people When their lawmakers lead
rather than follow public opinion, but this very attitude
opens the way Of criticism Of any law that is not deemed
satisfactory by all Of the people.
There are certain major economic activities in the
development of the United States, for example, that
show the effect OF the statute law on the United States
as a nation, when 1t proceeded ahead Of public opinion.
1.-THE early decisions of the United States Supreme
Court regarding common carriers illustrate this Develop
ment. The present growing body Of statute law, dealing
uAht1 ra01ilof{or M nootrol of ovoro,,tj o~A A..
another case in point"
II Nj. Woodcocks theory is correct, there may be the
nub Q. the whole prohibition business. He intimates that
the prohibition law may have come too soon and before
q large enough majority Of the body polite was prepared
70 endorse II. BY inference, he paints for us a picture
q the lawmakers leading their people as did the law
makers and the lawgivers of old.
It is = rather startling spectacle, to most Of us who
are used to seeing lawmakers straddle fences-and
sometimes two or three fences at once. The theory
which most Of Us have learned is that statutory law
comes Into teing because Of a public demand for it. Mr..
Woodcocks brochure lets us know that sometimes this
Is not the case.
There are . number Of other things of interest In the
Booklet. Among them Is Mr.. Woodcocks statement that:
80 one examining the work Of sincere and thorough