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Show NEWS REVIEW OF CURREHTEVEHTS Center of Stage in Capital Held by Prohibition Enforcement. By EDWARD W. PICKARD nrtOllir.ITION was again the dom- Innnt toilc In Washington, displacing dis-placing the tariff and the naval conference confer-ence In London. Somewhat hurried by political pressure, the Wickersham crime commission made a preliminary report and In submitting It to congress con-gress 'resident Hoover made recommendations recom-mendations for legislation designed to facilitate enforcement of the dry laws. Then the fireworks started. The commission's report was thus neatly summarized by the Boston Herald: "In effect Chairman Wickersham and Ids associnles say: "Whether the Eighteenth amendment and the Volstead Vol-stead act are wise legislation or not, we do not choose to say. The law Is here. Conditions In the courts and elsewhere are such that enforcement under ideal conditions has not been responsible. Set up some new machinery ma-chinery for enforcement, try It a while and ultimately we may have something some-thing to say on prohibition as prohibition. prohibi-tion. We defer judgment meanwhile.' " The four major recommendations made by the commission were: Unification of enforcement under the Department of Justice. Machinery for speeding up prohibition prohibi-tion cases In the federal court. Codification of all statutes relating to prohibition. Amendment of Volstead .act to facilitate fa-cilitate prosecution of padloci Injunctions. Injunc-tions. Here Is what President Hoover asked of congress : Reorganization of the federal court structure so as to give relief from congestion. Consolidation of the various agencies agen-cies engaged In prevention of smuggling smug-gling of liquor, narcotics, other merchandise mer-chandise and aliens over our frontiers. Provision of adequate prisons and reorganization of parole and other practices. Specific legislation for the District of Columbia. Legislation to give United States court commissioners enlarged powers In minor criminal cases. Transfer of prohibition machinery from Treasury department to the Department De-partment of Justice. IN THE house these recommendations recommenda-tions were referred to the several committees especially concerned, and there was an apparent disposition to push the administration measures through in quick time; but it was thought they would encounter much opposition op-position in the senate. The constitutional constitu-tional lawyers In both houses were prepared to fight especially the commission's com-mission's plan to permit United States commissioners to handle petty prohibition cases on the grouud that It deprived citizens of their constitutional constitu-tional right of trial by jury. Mr. Wickersham explained that this was a misapprehension, the plan merely assuring the defendant a speedy trial with the right to appeal to another court in which he would be tried by a jury. The wets In the house organized for the coming battles by electing J. Charles LIuthicum of Maryland leader of the bloc. Previously Representative James M. Beck of Pennsylvania had declined the post, explaining that while he opposed the prohibition law, he believed it to be "the manifest duty of the administration to enforce it." Representative La Guardia of New York made a surprise attack on the drys when he raised a point of order on the prohibition provisions of the pending Treasury department appropriation appro-priation bill and offered a resolution to declare the Eighteenth amendment Inoperative. La Guardia set forth t lie proposition that only ten of the state legislatures ratified the Eighteenth amendment within seven years, as required re-quired by Its fiird section. The others, he said, ratified merely the joint resolution, which later became the constitutional article. Hence, he argued, the amendment and its en forcement legislation automatically died three years ago. ALL this hullabaloo coincided with the tenth anniversary of the advent ad-vent of national prohibit ion, and at the same time the Anti-Saloon league opened Its twenty-fourth annual convention con-vention in Detroit. The leaders of the organization announced plans for raising a "war chest" of $00,000,000 for use during the next ten years and said they were determined to rout utterly ut-terly the organized forces that seek repeal or modification of the Eighteenth Eight-eenth amendment and the Volstead act. General Superintendent F. Scott McBride in his address assuming a rather remarkable knowledge of the Creator's ideas, declared "The league was born of God. It has been led by Him and will fight on while He leads." Dr. A. J. Barton, chairman of the executive committee, said: "The Anti-Saloon Anti-Saloon league Is the most hated and feared organization in America. The wets are more and more amazed at the strength of our organization. In a pitying and patronizing way they announce that we are dead or at least moribund. The wish is fattier to the thought ; they know that we are very much alive." rS THURSDAY the senate, by a majority of ten votes, rejected the proposal of the Republican regulars for an Increase in the sugar tariff. The amendment of Senator Harrison Har-rison of Mississippi forcing the retention re-tention in the tariff bill of the existing exist-ing rate of 1.76 cents a pounds on Cuban sugar, was adopted, 48 to 38. The finance committee bad proposed a rate of 2.20 cents on Cuban sugar and the bill passed by the house put the rate at 2.40 cents. The Western independent Republicans, Republic-ans, who combined with the Democrats Demo-crats to knock out of the Republican bill all rate increases except those on agricultural products, split on the sugar duty. Senators Borah of Idaho and Norris of Nebraska, leaders of his bloc, were among those voting against an increased rate. GOVERNOR GREEN of Michigan, acting on recommendntion of Arthur Ar-thur D. Wood, commissioner of pardons par-dons and paroles, has commuted the sentences of the five victims of the state's former "life for a pint" law, reducing their terms from life imprisonment impris-onment to 7'4 to 15 years, In conformity con-formity to the amended statute. The sixth sentenced under the former law committed suicide in his cell. Oscar G. Olander, Michigan's commissioner com-missioner of public safety, announced that the state police would be provided pro-vided with fast automobiles equipped with machine guns and tear bombs to stop rum running between Detroit and Chicago. The officers will wear bullet proof vests. In Providence, R. I., a special grand jury called to consider evidence In the slaying of three men aboard the rum runner Black Duck by coast guardsmen guards-men reported to the Superior court that, after thorough Investigation, it had found no indictment, SECRETARY OF STATE STIMSON and the rest of the American delegates dele-gates to the naval limitation conference confer-ence landed at Plymouth Friday morning morn-ing and were speedily carried up to London. There Mr. Stimson spent several hours In conference with Prime Minister MacDonald, and on the two following days he talked confidentially confi-dentially and at length with Premier Tardieu of France and Dino Grand!, Italian foreign minister. Presumably these conversations did much to clear the way to a tentative agreement in the conference, which was to open Tuesday. To the advance guard of the newspaper news-paper correspondents from all over the world Mr. MacDonald said Great Britain Brit-ain would propose the abolition of battleships bat-tleships and submarines, not with any great hope of obtaining total abolition, aboli-tion, but in the strong hope of securing secur-ing a drastic reduction In these forms of armament and their possible extinction extinc-tion nfter a term of years. He favors reduction by categories rather than global tonnage, but France and probably prob-ably Italy are committed to the latter plan and it Is believed the Cui.'ed States Is ready to accept it. The French and Italian delegations were reported still far apart on the question of naval parity. However, fair minded observers In London were convinced that all five of the delegations were sincere In their desire to obtain results re-sults of real international value and that while each of them would Insist on adequate national defense, all were against the principle of armed supremacy. su-premacy. Therefore there is reason for optimism. jP El.EGATES of the allies and of J ' Germany In the conference at The Hague finally readied an agreement agree-ment on the several questions of sanctions and formulated two declarations dec-larations on the subject to be part of the Young plan protocol, the way to the signing of which was thus cleared. Germany agreed that in case she wilfully defaulted - any of the Young plan provisions any creditor nation na-tion might appeal to the court of international in-ternational justice and if that court gave an affirmative decision, the creditor cred-itor power or powers should resume "full liberty of action." That, of course, means the possibility of armed intervention or occupation, and both the Germans and the British hesitated to sign it, but this was necessary to prevent utter failure of the conference. confer-ence. Paul Moldenhauer, German minister of finance, had already promised prom-ised that the Reichsbank would participate par-ticipate in the financing of the world bank for reparations, though Hjalmar Schacht, president of the Reichsbank, had fought stubbornly against this. Agreement was reached on the date of German payments, the fifteenth ot the month, as demanded; on the moratorium mora-torium question, with the provision that at the end of any period of suspended sus-pended payments the amount postponed post-poned becomes payable immediately, and a special advisory committee is to determine whether Germany's economic eco-nomic life is endangered when moratorium mora-torium is asked. SENATOR CARAWAY, chairman of the lobby Investigating committee, reported to the senate denouncing tariff lobbyists, especially those of the sugar interests, as a set of grafters "fattening "fatten-ing upon the donations of credulous business men, who might as well give their money to a palm reader or a crystal gazer." He estimnted that the sugar lobbyists, both high and low tariff, had raised more than $400,000 in their campaign to influence congressmen. con-gressmen. The report said the committee com-mittee had found no Impropriety nor anything open to censure or criticism on the part of the President . THROUGHOUT much of the Mississippi Missis-sippi and Ohio river valleys flood conditions were increasing until they threatened to be the worst in years. Vast areas of farm land were inundated inun-dated and many towns were isolated. Southern Indiana especially suffered, and extremely cold weather added to the distress, there and elsewhere. The severest storms of the winter swept over the North Central states, and the heavy snowfalls extended even to Portland, Ore., and southern California. Still worse in destruction of life and property were the great gales that prevailed in England and northern Europe. About fifty persons were killed and many Injured, the majority ma-jority of deaths being due to the foundering of vessels. G ROVER CLARK returned to Piep-ing Piep-ing from a six weeks' inspection trip in the Wei river district on behalf of the China International Famine Relief and reported that thousands of persons are dying daily from famine and exposure. He declared two millions are doomed to die within a few months and that there was no hope of saving them because of transportation difficultie? and fear of bandits. POPE PIUS XI issued an encyclical severely criticizing co-educational methods and declaring the right of the church and family to take precedence over the state in education of children. The state, he said, should have charge of military education for the common good, but should avoid an excess of so-called physical and millts -y Instruction. Instruc-tion. Though especially a part of the pope's controversy with Mussolini, the encyclical was translated Into several sev-eral languages and sent to the church throughout the world. The Italian press accorded it the severe criticism of complete silence, which brought forth an angry rebuke in the Vatican official organ. Osservatore Romano. |
