The Waterbury Democrat., 1931-08-05
Sen. Reed Brands
 U. 5. a Bootleqger
Operates Speak-Easies, Takes Cut From Runners and
 Finances Homemade Wines for Mrs Willebrandt

the prohibition bureau in Norfolk, Virginia, and vicinity, violated every law of decency and morals, as well as the statutory law. A director of the Virginia Anti-Saloon league made complaint against the Nor folk police officers to the federal prohibition bureau in Washington, and agents sent from Washington took instructions from him. He furnished money to the agents to buy liquor, and stored 1t in his own safe. These agents without delay established negro speak-easy in a remodeled stable and employed a negro bartender and a criminal to help them operate it.
 By September, 1880, we find a negro speak-easy, also operated by criminals, in full swing at Indian bition agents to trap policemen.
 "For ten years the federal gov ernment has been pleading with state officials and members of local police departments to take over the burden of prohibition enforcement. But 1t resorts to the lowest and most despicable criminal methods known to the human race to en- trap these local officers and have them railroaded to jail.
 ."It seems absolutely impos- sible for the federal government to keep out of the bootlegging busi- ness," from Senator Reed con- tinues. However. it remained for the administration of Herbert Hoover to finance the business as a natton-w wide project, with the tax payers money. One of the early of- ficial acts of President Hoover was to call a special session of con- gress to pass farm relief bill which authorized the federal farm board, under certain conditions, to extend financial help to needy farm CTS.
 "The first group of farmers to claim attention of the board was the California grape growers. Loans were made up to January 19, 1881, fornia grape control board, which grapes available for home wine- making. Of this sum, $2,555,33O was lent directly to Fruit Industries, Ltd, whose proncipal business is the production and sale of grape concentrates for the sure and easy manufacture of wines and cham pagnes containing 12 to 20 per cent of alcohol.
 "The loans to the grape growers were made after, negotiations with la prominent attorney from San Francisco, who only a short time Inn >EH v>t n 1 h bert Hoover. Gruit Industries, Ltd, has as it's general counsel and legal guardian Mrs. Mabel Walker Wille- general of the United States, gained her experience in prohibition mat ters by sending people to jail for Violating tn law which, according to the literature of Fruit Indus- tries, Ltd, issued in accordance with her feed advice, permits the production and use of heavily alco- holic wines in the home.
 Although successful in appre- hending the gill-flask toter, the rural stiller, the government upon its own record of on-performance stands convicted of its inability to reach the big fellow, the barons WHOoc ulolilCIiCo dtC OI6dhASCu lOt mass production; whose fleets of store speak easies serve millions of arsenals of machine guns, and from whom a word decrees life or death to their subjects. Like the micro lscopicalIy organized eyes of certain insects, prohibition agents evident ly cannot focus upon beings so vast las these.
 "Yet another group of federal employees seem to have better luck in materialiZing these shadowy mill lionaires of the underworld. Paid from the same treasury and under Identical civil-service discipline and Uncle Sans income-tax collectors with surprising frequency drop in upon some alcohol overlord who had thought that everything was
 jake
 However, the authority of these public servants-is limited to assess ing and collecting the governments statutory share in the bootlegger'a profits. By the same statute they are prohibited from making public the nature or the llIeBdl DusiHeSS, on the information obtained from their Investigations the bootlegger can be prosecuted only if he fraud ulently withholds the governments
 cut in his nefarious income and enterprises. It must shock even a
 big business bootlegger, who has fixed police. magistrate and en- forcement official, when he real izes that hv the supreme law of the land the government is his se- cret partner. demanding: Va gotta
 femme fin omit. too.'
 "Racketeering and criminal boot
 logging are the sisters of prohibi- ton. And the government. unwill- ing or powerless to protect. correct
 or punish, Is content to take such
 earningsl"