Evening star., 1934-05-03
MORGENTHAUSAYS
BOOTLEG WILL CO
Ready to Take Responsible
ity May 10if Given Funds,
He Says.

BY the Associated Press.
Secretary Morgenthau said today
he was ready to take the RESPONSE
bility" of wiping out bootlegging when
the Treasury assumes the enforce
ment job on May TO-
We've been working very hard to
get ready for May TO-" Morgenthau
told newsmen. We've had people in
the field from this Office studying the
branch Offices and we'll be ready.
IF Congress gives us the necessary
money, I'm ready to take the respon-
sibility Of doing the job"
May 10 is the day on which the
alcoholic beverage unit of the Justice
Department will be combined by
executive order with the Treasurys
Bureau Of Industrial Alcohol.
The new alcohol tax unit will con-
sist Of 1900 enforcement agents and
an equal number of tax collectors.
supervisors and regulators of the
legitimate industry.
We've been running a test cam
paign Of the consolidated forces in
one CITY," Morgenthau said We've
been getting the kings out in prep
aration for taking over the job"
Morgenthau declined to name the
city.
Arthur ]. Mellott of Kansas City,
KanS., will direct the new tax unit.
Low Tax Agitation Quieted.
The White House apparently has
quieted-at least for the present
on liquor as an aid to the legalzed
liquor industry.
President Roosevelt has made It
plain he prefers other methods Of
attack on the growing bootleg trade
than direct tax relief TO legal manu-
facturers and dispensers of liquor.
The mounting cry against alarming
conditions with regard to liquor since
repeal echoed in the Senate yesterday.
Senator Borah Of Idaho, a veteran
prohibition advocate. said "You can
never cure bootIegging by reducing
taxes" and demanded a cut in profits
OF the liquor industry. Senator Walsh,
Democrat, Of Massachusetts,. a repeal
ist, added that the country would not
stand for a return" to pre-prohibi-
I1OIl IO4lllllOlLo dllQ oCLldJOI
Democrat, of Texas, co-author of the
eighteenth amendment. said the Fed
eral Government again must take
charge.
Suggestion of Choate.
The suggestion Of lower taxes to
curb bootlegging was made recently
after Joseph Choate, Federal alcohol
a6r 1fefr
to a big-Scale outlaw trade.
Should the reciprocal tariff bill be-
come law, there was every expecta-
ton Mr.. Roosevelt would employ his
negotiating powers to cut liquor duties
where trade advantages could be
gained.
The Borah speech stirred up the
first Senate debate on liquor since
repeal of the eighteenth amendment.
His speech, saying drinks had been
served to children in Chicago, drew
from Senator Walsh a statement that
the Nation would not stand for a
return to old conditions.
Walsh said conditions in some parts
Of the Nation were worse than before
prohibition, and called upon those
who supported repeal to encourage
temperance in order to preserve the
personal liberty and States rights for
which We fought"
Much worse than the saloon has
returned and is here apparently to
stay" Borah said. las far as the
enforcement of the code is concerned,
as far as supervision of the liquor
traffic is concerned. there seems to be
no effort to prevent the kind of
drinking which is going on in this
country to very marked degree II
all the large cities"
Chicago Clipping Read.
He read a clipping from a Chicago
paper, which he told newspaper men
later he had made an independent
check on, reporting that children
were being served drinks without
question, children were serving and
mixing drinks and the children we're
the entertainers for those who were
drinking"
Borah told the Senate he could not
read some Of the article into the
Record, it was so revolving.
THE way the liquor code is being
enforced" and considering the Sordid
hands into which it has been placed"
he added, lis protecting the most
heinous form Of crime and immortality
that could possibly be conceived and
before We talk of lowering taxes upon
those who are undermining and de-
stroying the youth. the childhood Of
the country, let us know whether or
not they are fit to operate those kinds
Of institutions at all
Il venture to say that at the present
time these people are reaping a profit
far in excess of what is called q
reasonable profit in any business.
Before we reduce taxes, let US know
about the profits of those in the buSi-
Eess Of selling liquor If Choate would
place beside his request for reduced
taxes a statement of the profits en-
joyed by those selling legal liquor,
he would find the fault not in the
taxes but in the unconscionable
profits"