New-York tribune. [volume], January 18, 1920, Page 9, Image 73

About New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924

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Prohibition G^i^rid^TOlJ^Enforced, Officials Sa?
__L_.-2.P_. n*_r?_rl *W _a ?? r _r__._-._r_ Di,?_J_ _.*?* ._,_... _ _ _ ~ " ' ??-__-^_-_ _ _/
Swift and Severe Punishment Is
Promised Violators of
the "Dry" Law
?v?_S**V?3#f?Je
,I.i-_V_._ *.*__-?.
I,.. ?.rit-_-*>u<_
f|<^-S_-?_ii^?^I
"Not Taking Anything, Thank You, John"
^?5S-|-_?_KjJ_? 7f^"?^>
? '^^sMi-*^^ .
Kitchen Stove Still WiU Be Im?
mune From Raids, but Let
the Moonshiner Beware
8y TheodoTe M Knappen
Washington^ D. C.
SOME drinkers of other days
scaled the water wagon in a
single leap. Others favored
the tapering off method.
r*grl_ Sam, the collective American,
?kose the latter. He took fifty years
w do it, and reached the zero yes?
terday
Bjtherto his efforts have heen
*9?_-Brd gradually reducing his allow
uce of alcoholic stimulants. Here
?t?r his efforts will be directed
ttvard keeping himself from falling
jf fhe wagon. The long years of
iptation for legislative restriction,
redaction and abolition of the na?
tional booae allowance are over. We
lave become by constitution and law
tnation of teetotalers; now comes
the era of keeping the resolution, a
laohition of a sort and magnitude
lever paralleled in history.
Prohibition has been written into
(he organic law of the land. Is it
ta be a dead letter, like at least one
other amendment to the Constitu
tioa, or is it to be enforced to the
jult! And if all law officers every?
where do their conscientious duty,
is the new law the sort of law that is
enforceable, or is it null and void
In fact, as King Canute's decree
igainst the tides? Time only can
inswer the latter question authori
Utively, but there are plenty of men
2 authority who undertake to say
?at the law is enforceable and that
irery effort will be made to en
lorce it.
Prohibition is not to be permitted
? be the great national and inter
ttional joke of the times, the most
?lossal piece of massed hypocrisy
ace men began to have morals and
?ral codes.
John Barleycorn is legally dead,
ad the men, organizations and so?
la] forces that brought about his
iemise purpose to see that he is
ta?ed so deep and so securely that,
___Qfh his animation be only sus
pe__ed and he shall turn in his tomb
***"__ convulsive writhings, it will
oaiy be to accentuate the final and
supreme agony of one of the oldest
ad most formidable of devils.
Piling rocks on the tomb of
Demon Rum are?
First?The government of the Unir?
ai States of America, acting through
i specially e_*abl:_hed unit of the
Internal Revenue Bureau of the
Tr-MTiry Department and also
4r__gh the Department of Justice.
Seeond? The governments of the
tetes and territories and all the
??Hal government ; within them, act
?f through sheriffs, police forces
?d prosecuting attorneys.
Third?The powerful Anti-Saloon
l*s_*ae and nineteen other national
?*?i "rigorous temperance and prohi?
bition organizations, all of which
?**** jo?, conceded, under the name
"f Use National Temperar, .e Council,
* feat conference in Washington
?"fceially devo'^d to th* consldera
?*? ?*tf the problem of making pro
libit?oa real, universal, vital and
M*_*e.
?miaally, we have had proh'bi
** ?h-ce July 1 last, even in those
*fw?Mof the country that were not
fewady "dry" by local enactment,
??those in the; government and out
^ are charged or have charged
with the enforcement of
* kw, now that the constitutional
,**tt*?ent is effective, declare that
?'?'?Wtiix months are but the twi
a__i
? m to the full day compared
*? *hat ia to come.
kpw
? Teetotaler
J* national administration of
? inhibition act is in the hands of
?fckBda. Daniel C. Roper, Com
^Wt of Internal Revenue, is 8
r**t teetotaW and prohibition
???aa ra__ed in a South Caro
**?ty that hasn't had a saloon
'** ?? bordera for aeventy -five
* He la an austere churchman.
**t?l*B prohibition with re
?*.
"A*
!|^^??^)*0,, peraonally a prohibi
?TL l ****** Mr* Eoper th<'
1^^* church memlitr," was hi?
S^****11 *ith no thought of
?????J** qoeatior., but with the
__^?*ft that ?weh a atatt-fnent
?JJt ?pliad that he wa? a pro
g?j? 1** going to enforce the
JJ.*W??tiona that you will
g*? doty," i -.zplalni-d, "bat
?P* ?tttad upo? to under
take the enforcement of something
that, though.written into the law, is
as much beyond its power as the
succession of the seasons?"
"I do not think so," was the
answer. "It is my firm belief that
this law can and will be enforced.
To my mind the constitutional
?amendment and the enforcement
j law do not run contrary to human
? rature. I do not beli?ve that ages
of habit or heredity have rooted a
recessity for alcoholic drink in the
human constitution. Neither do I
believe that there is in this country
such a great mass of inveterate
opposition to prohibition as an en?
croachment on the rights of man
that despite all our efforts the law
will become a dead letter. The
human race has been for centuries
the victim of a great delusion and n
bad habit. The American part of
the race has now decided to break
its bonds and reform, just as thou?
sands and millions of men have done
for themselves in these last fiftj
years. We can and should rid our
selves of alcohol just as we do wit!
the narcotics. I know that then
are millions of people who energeti
?ally hate prohibition, but I knov
also that millions of slaves o:
whisky welcome prohibition.
"Also, I know that the overwhelm
ing majority of the American peoph
respect the rule of the majority am
are firmly law-abiding. They wil
insist on the new departure having ?
fair trial. If they consider it is ai
experiment, they want it at least ti
be a thoroughgoing and honest ex
p?riment.
Can Be Enforced
i
"Honestly, I believe that after i
little while we shall enforce tb
prohibition law as well as the law
1 against larceny are enforced. Then
has always been stealing and then
j always will be, but I know of nobod:
| who is not an anarchist who is ii
favor of repealing the laws agains
theft because after six thousani
years and more of such laws thej
are still violated. The prohibitioi
law will be violated?extensively a
first, slightly later on; but it wijl
broadly speaking, be enforced ant
will result in a nation that know:
not alcohol. My own opinion is tha
we sha!! be immeasurably better of
without liquor.
"Il will be only a matter of tinm
until other nations follow our ex
;?mpi?. National teeotaiism will s
increase our efficiency that the;
can't compete with us and keep oi
drinking. A great European mer
chant was in my office a short tim
asro and he told me that from hi
? bservations in the United State
under such prohibition as we hav
had in the recent past, geners
prohibition would so raise the stanc
prd of our industrial efficiency thu
Europe would have no choice but t
fellow our exampie or else be hopt
lessly outclassed.
'Ardent prohibitionist that I an
however, I can say that it is not m
intention to act like a fanatic in er
forcing this law. It amounts to a
enforced revolution in the habits c
millions of people; it is a sweepin
innovation; it is a new order of s<
ciety. People must be educated u
to it, and they must first be mac
-?ware of the fact that the law is ?
joke?that it can be enforced an
that it is going to be enforced. The
must be broken in, so to speak."
To Finance the Fight
Congress appropriated $2,0O0,0C
for enforcement of the law by tl
Commiss;oner of Internal R?vent
and gave the Department of Justii
an additional $100,000 for the e
penses of the duties that will 1
imposed on it by its work in tl
courts. Mr. Roper created a Fe
eral prohibition division of his b
reau to deal with administration e
forcement and placed at the he*
of it John F. Kramer, of Man3fiel
Ohio, who is known as the Feder
Prohibition Officer. Like Mr. Ropi
Mr. Kramer is a believer in prohil
tion. He likes his job so well th
he almost wonders why he is dra'
ing pay for working at it. He se
no insuperable difficulties in enfoi
rig the law.
"There is no doubt about il
?aid Mr. Kramer, when I asked h:
if he rally thought the count
could be made bone dry in fact
well as in written, law. "I am r
going to fool myself inio bellevi
'hat we can eliminate all the seel
-nd prvate stills in the country,
S:eep every farmer from letti
;-5wec-t cider turn hard. We do:
purpose to make laughing stocks
ourselves or incur the persoi
hatred of people everywhere
raiding kitchens, sleuthing celia
nmtdling of chimney? und look!
for a Stall in every teakettle.
"Nevertheless, the law is going
\,t- enforced. There was never I
fore any law on the statute bo?
?.hat so massed the law enforci
fancies of the country behind
Th* amendment gives the state? 1
power to enforce it, and thirty-three
?of the states already were dry by
%heir own act. We will have the
cordial cooperation of their law en?
forcement officers. In fact, I believe
that we shall have effective coopera?
tion everywhere. In some states
the local authorities will lock after
prohibition enforcement so well that
we will have very little to do in
them. If weak r-pots develop we will
concentrate our own enforcement or?
ganization on them.
Experts on the Job
"The enforcement agents will have
under them about 1,500 officers, who
will be distributed among the vari?
ous districts, according. t?> their
needs. Many of these men have had
long experience in enforcing the in?
ternal revenue taxation laws and
are very familiar with the ways and
habits of moonshiners and other il?
licit dealers. In fact, pretty much
the whole of the personnel that has
dealt with the enforcement of the
excise laws in the past is now in
the prohibition enforcement unit; so
you see we are not altogether ama?
teurs. ' We are not lacking in ex?
perienced secret service men, or in
men of courage, force and resource?
fulness.
"The field force will be largely mo?
bile and will be transferred in part
from one' district to another, as the
occasion arises. In some sections
very few of the members of this
'flying squadron' will be needed. In
other sections the rigid enforcement
of the law will largely depend on
their efforts."
The Anti-Saloon League, the or?
ganization that was chiefly instru?
mental in realizing prohibition, has
not become torpid feeding on vic?
tory. It is commonly believed that
it has more money to reap the fruits
of victory than it had to attain the
victory. It has the law, and now it
purposes to have the men to enforce
the law. With those austere prohibi?
tionists, Messrs. Roper and Kramer,
in charge at national enforcing
headquarter?, the league feels that
its friends are not only at court,
but are the court itself, it. has no
misgiving? 'as to the way in which
its cooperation will be received.
"Anybody who thinks we are
asleep at the switch or that we in?
tend to be content, with an empty
victory is in grave danger of making
8 very large mistake," said B. C.
Dinwiddie, legislative agent of the
league. "The victory is ours, and
now we are going to see that the
fruits are duly garnered and pro?
tected. National prohibition gives
us an opportunity for prohibition
that prohibits, and we ure right on
the trail of the opportunity. The
meeting this week of the twenty na?
tional temperance organizations is
the beginning of a big national
movement to awaken the public con?
science and get the law-abiding sense
of the nation behind national prohi?
bition, After the Supreme Court
shall have finally dealt with the last
expiring efforts of the 'wets,' the
work of my office, the legislative
work, may fairly be considered
closed after twenty-seven years of
activity, but we shall now turn our
energies to making .he law a living,
operative thing
**I have no sympathy with this
talk about the people not wanting
prohibition and i_he law being un?
popular. Prohibition has been com?
ing on for more than fifty years.
Thirty-three state:, were 'dry' before
the prohibition amendment was
adop ed, and with each year of na?
tional prohibition there will be more
people for it. There isn't a gho.t
of ix chance that liquor will bo voted
back, and we shall exert ourselves
to see to it that the law is enforced
and respected. The fact is that even
a majority of drinking men are for
prohibition, and the slaves of the
drink habit are stronger for bone
dry prohibition than even those with
whom it is a religion."
Last Year No Sample
The sort of prohibition enforce?
ment that has existed since war pro?
hibition became effective last July
must not be taken as a sample of
what is to be in vogue from now on.
In the first place, the enforcement
act was not passed until October 28.
Before I hat time there was no spe?
cial "push" behind the enforcement
of war prohibition. With the pas?
sage of the enforcement ac., with
its penalties of fines as high as
$10,0-0 and imprisonment up to five
years, the Collector of Internal Rev?
enue was made responsible for pro?
hibition enforcement in cooperation
with the Department of Justice, but
he had no adequate machinery for
so large a job, and the special or?
ganization for enforcement was
built up with a view to permanent
prohibition, which became effective
at midnight last Friday night, rather
than to war-time prohibition. Then
the situation was muddied and mud?
dled by all sorts of litigious disputes
as to what intoxicating liquor was
and by a tangle of conflicting court
decisions, and thousands of dealers
were in lawful and unrestrained
possession of large quantities of
liquor, so that there were countless
sources for the illicit seepage of a
supply for bootleggers and other
clandestine distributers.
The desert was at hand, but there
were long peninsulas of humidity
and oniy semi-aridity projecting into
it, and oases were frequent and
highly humid. Then, too, the author?
ities, being human and being also
wise, were not overactive, even with
the enforcement agencies they had,
during this lust agony of the great
god Rum.
But it is different now. It will
take time to get the enforcement
machine into good running order,
but the country is fully embarked
on the desert life that is hereafter
to be ita permanent fata. By Fob
I ruary 1 every person possessing
; liquor of any description, except as
prescribed by the law, will auto?
matically become a violator of law. j
j Those now in possession of liquoi', i
; except private household supplies,,
must make full report of the same
by January 27. Thus every stock in
the- country that might serve as a
source for illicit merchandising will
be located and its owner will be sub?
ject to the closest kind of super?
vision to the end that such stocks !
may be used only for non-beverage
purposes. After February 1 the
sources of illicit liquors will be con- j
fined to illegal production at home i
and to the results of smuggling.
Under war prohibition moonshin
ing has tremendously increased, and
the revenue agents never gathered
| in so many illicit stills and brewing
devices as they have in the last few
months. Hitherto the mountain
"moonshiners" of the Southern
states have had pretty much of a mo?
nopoly of illicit distilling Their pur
nose was to avoid paying the excise
tax. Now, with the incentive of
having the whole of the market, such ;
as it is, at their command the moon?
shiners will doubtless spring yp in
all the remote, sparsely settled
timber and mountainous regions of '
the country, as well as in large
cities. '
Counting the family stills and
brewing outfits that have been in- \
stalled, there probably are scores of !
thousands of illegal gin mills al- j
ready in operation or being pre- j
pared. The home booxe factory will j
doubtless flourish to the end of time.
Even the drastic prohibition enforce?
ment act does not give law officers
the right of free run of every man's
home on the suspicion that he is
making tanglefoot or beer or home?
made wine. In some communities
in the country, as well as in urban
centers, whole population groups
will s".mund and support the illicit
comnv : .ai distillers, and the job of
finding them out probably will be as
continuous and as unfailing as
moonshine hunting in the North
Carolina or Georgia mountains. En?
forcement officers who have given
thought to the subject are inclined
to think that illicit stills will be able
to evade them more successfully in
the large cities than in the country.
Big Crop of Stills
In the country there is the tell?
tale smoke of the distillery fire and
the widely carried fumes of the
alcohol. In the cities smoke and
fumes may blend with the thousand
smokes and odors of congested life
and industrial activity. Little stills
may easily be installed in kitchens.
Revenue agents have already seized
hundreds of them all over the coun?
try. Some are permanently installed
>y plumbers, but others are small,
light and portable and do not cost
more than a few dollars.
A tin pail, some copper tubing,
some ice and a kettle for the mash
will set any man up with a home
outfit. Most of these outfits prob?
ably will escape detection so long as
the owner does not undertake tc
sell or widely distribute his product
On the other hand, after the noveltj
wears off most of them will b(
scrapped. Likewise with the various
home brewing projects, even thougl
they do not involve much more that
a formula and the raw material
The country will never be "wet'
from the ale, beer and whisky madi
at home, and the enforcement offi
cers are sure that the degree o
humility will not be perceptibly in
creased by the few commercial still
that will escape their attention.
The flying squadron of revenui
agents which has been such a terro:
to the mountain moonshiners in re
cent years, under direction o:
Daniel C. Porter, now established ir
New York, will be many times mul
tiplied and the chances are that ir
days ahead many a city moonshinei
will have bitter experience of these
tireless, fearless and determined
men. And if any of the gunmen of
New York should ensraere in moon
shining and bootletrginp: they will
find that for "pulling" first and
shooting quickly and accurately they
are outclassed by the men who have
been trained in the mountains and
swamps. The wilderness moon
shiner* ar? also to be hunted and
harried as never befor*?. It is prob?
able that observation ain.lanes,
equipped with military cameras, aril]
be brought into this work and witt
vie with the eagles '.n hovering over
mountain fastnesses.
Smuggling will retnrn with mnch
of its old-time romance fascination.,,
indeed, it is already here. Smug- ;
j'ing on a gigantic scale has (tone on
.cross "wet-dry" boundaries ever
s'nee prohibition began to brsnk ont"
m spots, and since war prohibition1'
went into effect it has become a big*!*
game on the frontiers. The Boc-..,
mudas, the Bahamas, Cuba, Mexico,
Canada and the little French islands
of St. Pierre and Miquelon, in the
Gulf of St, Lawrence, are already-^
successful smuggling bases. Witt"
whisky worth anywhere from $20 to
$50 a quart, the temptation j- great/ ?
and the rewards enriching. Accord,- ?
ing to circumstantial report-^**
"blockade runners" already appear. ,
regularly off the Florida coast at.^
preconcerted rendezvous, where they*;'
are met by motor trucks at night?
The cargoes are lightered ashore^n
loaded on the trucks, and by dawsi".
thousands cf gallons of whisky ara_>
scores of miles away. This is Amer*. -
ican whisky that was exported tot ?
the Bermudas or other bases at a. H
cost of about $8 a ca?e! >r.-.
Only Quebec "Wet" *
Canada is all "dry," except the*,.
Province of Quebec, though inter-.,
provincial commerce in liquors ?_.
still permitted; so Quenec, which i?^
very conveniently located with re?
spect to New Yorjf, is a promising
source of illicit supplies for the
northeastern section of the country.
However, the smuggling speculators
regard St. Pierre and Miquelon a_'
the ideal bases, especially for foreign
liquors and wines. The Breton fish?
ermen can bring the stuff out as
ballast from France?and Maine,
?as a very tortuous coast line.
All of this means a new field o?
activity for the revenue cutters, an?
if they are not equal to the job of.
guarding the coasts against booz?
infiltration, the enforcement unit
will likely put out a fleet of chaser*
of its own, which will, of course, b?'
"long, low, rakish" and very speedy.
Thus, while the dreamland ro-,
manee of the banquet table, the fes?
tal board a:id the bar will romance.
no more, for most Americans, boozs.
will continue for many a long year,
to be a source of stimulation through
the news, not to mention the host of
works of fiction that will now have?
to bring in moonshiners and liquor
smugglers before they can intoxicate.
the hero or the villain or produce:
the alluring environment of adven*
ture, villainy and crime that they
will otherwise lack in a drinkless,
saloonless, diveless land.
Making Ugly Babies Pretty
IF EDITH DOE, aged five
months, is not a raving, tear?
ing beauty sixteen years from
now it won't be the fault of
Miss Florence McKay and the other
nurses in the maternity ward at
Flower Hospital. Some people
might think a nurse too busy to care
for the future looks of baby pa?
tients, but a white cap and a print
uniform haven't taken the eternal
feminine out of Miss McKay. But,
I then, she's very pretty herself, and
perhaps that makes a difference.
Edith at five months weighs only
eight pounds one ounce, which is
less than many babies weigh at
birth. Miss McKay says:
"Visitors consider her rather
homely, but we've fussed over her
so much that we think she's real
nice looking." She has nice eyes
and an engaging smile when in good
humor, but when crying for her bot?
tle she resembles nothing so much
as? a young bird, all mouth and a
bone or two. Like so many East
Side babies, she started life under a
handicap. She was brought to
Flower Hospital with her mother,
who was ill and who soon died, leav?
ing the undersized, undernourished
Edith with a father who had no way
of caring for her, so perforce she
was kept on in the maternity ward.
i For a time it seemed as if she must
! follow her mother, but the nurses
i and doctors made up their minds she
! should live, and she did live*.
Now, Edith's ears were a great
worriment to Miss McKay. Their
shape was all right, but they be?
trayed a tendency to stick out at
right angles, and the one 3he lay on
most got doubled under the wrong
way, so that it almost began to flap
around toward her small pug nose.
Her devoted nurse saw that that
?ABY Edith doesn't
care if her ears
do stick out, but the
nurses at Flower Hos?
pital know it will
be different sixteen
years hence, so they
are "bending the twig"
in time
A
would never do. Being pretty her?
self, as aforesaid, with big, dancing
'eyes fringed with long dark lashes,
. and a mouth that smiles naturally
and masses of hair curling over
her own small ears, it hurt her
tender heart to think what Edith's
future beaus might say if she grew
up with flappy ears.
"And I'm afraid," she said, "that
the child isn't going to have much
hair to hide them." The chances
for Edith's crown of glory, indeed,
are slim at present. She practically
. .'I
is bald, and though the nurses ar?*,'
doing their best with discreet shamr.. ;
pooing to "bring on" the blond fua ?
on her small pate, they haven't.
had much success so far. So with?
the aid of court plaster Misa Mc*
Kay set out to train Edith's ear*
in the way they should go. Long
strips of the plaster hold them pain?
lessly flat, and will continue to d<?
so until they submit to training. J
Edith is alr?eady developing ?nto*
a sociable youngster, smiling bright?
ly, if toothlessiy, at the nurse? whan
they bend over her bed, and clinging**
rapturously to their arms when they'
take her up. -She spends most of^
her time in the little room off tht*^
ward that is lined with t:ny cage$n,
containing new-born babies, ?hose
mothers lie outside. To ail of them'
Miss McKay, Miss Horton in plump
and pretty nurse who adore? o?b?es>*
and all the other student nurses?
give due attention as to their futura
looks. Little pug nuKirb are fre- ?
quently and tenderly molded into
more classic shape, ?*nu the mottled
complexions with ?tritteA the huma?
young come into tne world are
anxiously watched io .-ec chat they
clear up property. The broies ?.re,
kept carefully lyi.i?? a.i their ^ideii
?lying on their ba.-k*. as so many.
mothers place tnem, is all wrong?''
and generally at Flower Hospital
you will find them on their right/
sides, so the heart ha? plenty 07,
room for action. .N'ot a few of.
these mate nity casr? are charity
cases frcm the tcvnrng Usnemen^
house region over mere but U?e? ,
are going to have their chance in
life. And if the drive Flower Hot?.,
pital is now making ?or funds ta?
bu y better equipment and enlarg?
the maternity and children's ward?
lis a succefii, there's no telling what*
a great effect Nurse McKay, besuty
specialist, may have on the coming
generation of young women
And, of course, ?he doesn't neglect
the looks of the boy babies, either.