Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1930-01-13

bv the Hoover commission to be:
Division OF enforcement between
the Treasury and Justice depart
ments.
Disordered condition Of federal
legislation involved in enforcement.
Possibilities Of defeating paddock
injunctions by means OF ~concealing
ownership OF property used Tor
manufacture and sale OF illiclt
These figures speak for them
selves.
Further Study Needed
TO adjus. the machinery Of fed
eral administration. as 1t has grown
I'D for other purposes, to this huge
problem Of enforcement OF prohlni-
ton Is not easy, and will require
much further study. Unification,
Capitalization Of responsibility, n
means Of ensuring cooperation BE-
tween federal and state agencies as
things TO which We must come, quite
apart from the ~exigencies OF en-
forcement Of prohibition, but which
can not be achieved overnight"
Replying TO those who have as
sailed il for a failure to hold pub
lie hearings on the prohibition ques-
ton, the commission reported TO
President Hoover that 1t conceived
il TO be more useful 70 make a
careful study Of the whole question.
securing information from the res
ponsible officers Of government and
from printed reports, as well as
from hearings before committees OF
congress, before embarking upon
public hearings"
Summing up its four recommend
ations for legislative enactments, the
commission said:
we think they could not in any
wise interfere with any ultimate pro-
u gram which we may have TO rec
ommend, and would in the mean
time advance observance OF the law.
Congestion Blamed
Congestion Of petty prosecutions
in the federal courts leading 10
wholesale disposition OF sccumu-
lated cases under circumstances
impairing the dignity Of and in
Turing respect for those tribunals.
without prejudice 10 any uItl-
mate conclusions" the report SAID,
I'VE think that in the interest OF
promoting observance of and res
pect for law. the national prohibit
ton law may well be strengthened
and its effectiveness increased in
these important particulars.
AS to observance, the commission
declared that 1T is wholly impos-
sible to set off observance OF the
prohibition act from the large
question Of the views and habits
OF the American people with res
pect 10 private judgment as 70
statutes and regulations affecting
their conduct"
1--WE must not forget the many
historical examples OF large-scale
public disregard Of Laws in our
mast" the report said. adding that
I'VE must bear in n'nd the Pur-
itah's objection TO administration.
the wing tradition Of a right OF
revolution the conception OF ma
tural rights. classical In u pol
lev. the democratic tradition OF
individual participation in sover-
ignty."
$4,000 Arrested
Asserting that as TO enforcement
there were no reliable figures 10
chow the ( OF the problem. the
commission said the reported ar
rests in the last fiscal year OF up
wards OF eighty thousand persons
from every party OF continental
United State Indicates a stagger-
ing number Of what might be call
ed focal points of infection"
Attention was directed that there
also were 1900 miles Of boundary
and shore lines for the United Sta
ties at every point Of which in
lection is possible"
The number OF smuggling roads
from Canada Is reported as at least
LOCO. II was added.
ITO deal with an enforcement
Hroblem Of this size and spread"
Continued on page seven).