The Guardian And Evening Star, with which is incorporated the West Coast Times. MONDAY, JUNE 16, 1930. PROHIBITION IN AMERICA.

Hokitika Guardian, 16 June 1930, Page 4

The Guardian And Evening Star, with which is incorporated the West Coast Times. MONDAY, JUNE 16, 1930. PROHIBITION IN AMERICA.

Th!h jironouncem'ont of ,Afr C. W. •<\ ickorshain on c.ie r|iiestion that in the United States overshadows all v,■ther issues—the Prohibition ques-tion-—will not. says an exchange come altogether as a surprise* to those persons who have been following tne trend of public thought in America I hat Air Wickorsham should have made his declaration, however, is somewhat astounding. The National Commission on Law Enforcement, of wilich Mr AVickon-nam is the chairman, was sot up by President Hoover over .. year ago, and in August eleven com m.ittons were formed for the stuti,\ of speeial crime problems coming within the scope ol ill commission’s terms ol relcreiice. To Committee No

with Mr Wiekersiiam at. its beau, 101 l the task of studying Prohibitum, the only law singled out for a. special ’iiive.‘|jga/..ioi:. The committee ha,now had ample opportunity of innkuij. a. comprehensive survey of its specific .subject., and iL may be assumed that Air AA'icker,sham’s opinion that Prohibition has lailed lias been reached alter a great deal of cogitation and investigation. It would lie fantastic to suggest Unit bis si a lenient was hasty and ill-considered in \ iew of the t ime that pie committee has spent in its ai!ij ll iry. Air Wickershiuii’s address ><uiljmiis other reports from the Unileil Stales which would seem to iiidieale tlmi public opinion is changing in is allilude to Prohibit ion. and more particularly in regard to ihe eiiforeemoit of ihe Eighteenth Amendment. A poll reecn! |y con iiirled by t lie Literary Digest, a reputable piper with a national circulation, revealed that

1.0 per rent, of llmse, imarly lien liiillion in ii u in Iter, who returiicil veting pa pci wore in I a vonr of repcal ol I be j : ohibii i, hi laws, while a coij sulci able .seel ot voters cX prusset | I lieni' iJvos in favour of modi.''mat ion of bras. • Anoiiier very signilieanl i mlical ion of t he i res d of public Ihniiglil was pnujded early this year when Air (*. K. (jrnl l ;i iii. .Mr AnKteadV successor as head of Ihe Judiciary omimtl.ee o| Ihe American House of Ib-presental ives, aimoiineed i hat. his Lummittee was to lurid public hearings

on seven bills for repeal or mollification of the Eighteenth Amendment. The •significance of this procedure is not lluu there is any pcs ibiliiy of Hie ■■ ommil tee. on which “Frys" mil number "Yu is” in file ratio of nineteen 'o lour, appmv.ng any of the hills, bid- in Ihe fact that this i.> the first time since constitutional prohibition came into eifecL in 1024 that the ‘"Dr.vs” ia tin- House have given the 'Wets ail opportunity of being heard -Mr Graham, in mailing his announcement'. emphasised the fact that lie U;iii no desire to see a reversion to ‘he old, pre-Prohibition conditions in 'be I nited States; but he believed 'hat a new system of liquor ioai.ro] might he devised which •‘would not be Prohibition and would make the iaw eiilorceahle and practical.” Mis '"ala e: n :s with the law, and his opinion is taut the law, as it stands,

d < oudiicivc to {lie worst abuses. AN hat a sorry Mate this country is in to-day!” lie said. •'‘Revenues have •(alien oil. Crimes have multiplied. We arc under the reign of the bludgeon and of force.” It is not difficult to find Air Graham’s responsible view supported by Mr Wiekerlnun, who is equally competent 7o speak on the subject. Air Wickerhan lias also found that the over-stressing of the penallies imposes for breaches of the Prohibition law has defeated its own ends, and liis judgment is in favour of more moderate and rational methods of obtaining lemperan e in the United Slates. This is the view of very many American c tizeus who have not the feast wish to see a return to the system of the “open bar.” with its maidlord abuses, but who do desire that the liberty of the subject shall remain inviolable—who favour, in other words the ititrodu tion of a .system whereby a respectable person does not become a law-breaker because he elects to drink alcoholic liq-uor. After ton years in operation the Prohibition experiment, however lofty 'is purpose, seems to be ineurr.ng increasingly authoritative criticism as a failure. The complaint of the people is not. ‘ li.it the Prohibition prohibits the .sale and consumption of liq-or—though n does not—but that tin* measures under which the attempt is being made to create a “Dry” America are harsh and unenfonicablc.