Evening Star Newspaper, November 29, 1931, Page 84

THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. C, mnm ®, TO1. tand, became more e¢asily obtainable. Arrests for drunkenness increased many fold; crimes of violence grew in volume; drinking became popular with the youth of the nation; as enforcement broke down, penalties were increased and per- sonal liberty was further invaded by statutes facilitating search and seizure; snooping became an art; the appetite for light wines and beers was diverted to stiong liquor; enforcement, impossible in the illicit retail field, was concentrated in>fiectually on the curtailment of im- portation; government costs increased through elaborate police forces anaG maintenance of more prisons; the stat treasury grew poorer as a hierarchy cf smugglers and bootlezgers enriche:? themselves, and a general disrespect for all law evolved as virtually all classes ¢* society, openly or secretly, ignored th= prohibitory statute. These results recapitulate the exper:- ence of the United States, but the deta’ls of Finland's illicit liquor industry, &as they are colored by local customs and conditions, afford many contrasts. Gruft paid to public officials is negligible; some types of bootlegging are still representa- tive of the early prol. ition era in A ica; though rival liquo. syndicates eyist, there is no gun play beiween them; h» manufacture and ingredicnts of syn- thetic liquor are unlike these in the States, and the acceptance of the l2w's debacle is casually assumed. This is indicated in the advertised 7io- lation by the best hotels and restaursnts. I talked of prohibition to the manager of a leading and famous Helsingfors Y10s- telry. “If you are going to write about pic- hibition in Finland,” he said, “pleass tell the American tourists that the best liquor is always to be had here in my hotel.”” He was earnest in his desire to have it publicly known zbroad thzt his dining room compared favorably in every way to the best on the continent. *%r it is not necessary to bring one’s own iiquor to the cafes of Finland’s cities. Ix: fact, that practice would be frowned ujon as unfair competition. Though many places put the illicit beverages in dark glass, near beer bottles, and so deliver it to the tables, there the disguise and zecrecy end. The waiter promptly empties the bottles into colorles tumblers and it is openly consumed. OT only is liquor obtainable at the better cafes without the formality of identification, but there are fine facili- ties for all classes of people and pocket- books to be served. Taxi drivers can al- ways supply the requirements of their fares. Concierges, bell boys, por’ers—al- most all servants—can make ar imme- diate delivery of a liter of alcobnl. And there are a host of retailers who supply the home trade from stores kept in their own dwellings. Almost every one I met during the weeks I was in Finland offered to furnish me with the telephone num- ber of a reliable man who “usually has good stuff.” Response to a telephone call put through to one of these numbers would be the arrival at the hotel within half an hour of a wholesome, somewhat timid housewife. From an attache case, car- ried in her hand, she would make deliv- ery of the item ordered and offer samples of other brands carried in stock. But one such call brought out an ex- ception to this procedure ancé revealed the operating methods of the small boot- legger. His ritual was not unlike the early methods of his Americar: brothers. I had ordered a quart of Scotch brought to my room at a hotel. “I am not allowed to make deliveries at that place,” said the man al the other end of the wire, “but (and this without asking my identity or how I had got his number) if you’ll meet me on the boule- vard opposite the opera in front of the Russian legation, I'll give it tc you.” I followed directions. When I arrived, there was a man bundled in a huge over- coat, walking past the legaticn with the slow, meditative pace of one absorbed in abstruse problems. I hesitated a fraction of a moment as I approached him. “Go into the courtyard,” h2 ordered. I did. He followed, made the delivery, and apologized for his inability to come to the hotel. “I didnt have any one I could send and I don’t stand in with the porter there,” he explained, revealing the wheels witifin wheels of the retail distribution of illicit liquor. At the homes of Finnish friends I found another form of violation not un- known in this country. Whisky and soda was served onc afternoon at the home of a prominent Finn. The Scotch was - genuine and I noticed that a druggist’s label was pasted on the bottle. It had been obtained on prescription from a physician. Not only are the cities deluged with illicit liquor, but rural districts are equally well served. On a trip into the interior of Finland to attend a skiing party I saw rural bootlegging at work and heard of its social and political repercussions. The drive by sleigh from the station to the estate was 12 miles over snow-drowned highways, across white-blanketed lakes and through dark, fleecy forests of pine and birch. It was bitter cold. We stoppcd at a peasant’s cottage for coffee. A stalwart Finnish farm wife wearing innumerable skirts, reindeer shoes and a white kerchief served us in a spotiessly scrubbed kitchen. “You need something stronger than coffee on a day like this,” she said, as we huddled round the stone stove. We agrecd. Teacups were produced and in these she served us the drink of the native farmer—alcohol, hot water and sugar. “Dc you make a business of this?” I asked. “Yes,” she replied. “I should think customers would be scarce,” I said, “considering the snow and cold.” “Oh, no,” she explained. “They don’t come here for their gpirts. My husband has to deliver it to their homes.” This is the practice, and so general has it become that a Finnish authority on the prohibition question told me that it had taken on political significance. “Many of the farmers,” he said, “are dry and will vote dry. But many more of them who like to drink will vote dry because in pre-prohibition days they had to make long drives to town to obtain their supplies of liquor, and much of it was drunk in the companionship of the tavern or on the drive home. Now they can have their orders delivered to their doors throughout the Winter. Why shouldn’t they vote for a prohibition that renders them such service?” TO supply this completely developed re- tail machinery, four kinds of liquor are distributed. In the order of their popularity they are: First, 96 per cent pure imported alcohol; second, pseudo branded whisky, brandy and rum, either entirely synthetic or made of the orig- inal adulterated with alcohor and flavor- ing; third, wines and whiskeys unadul- terated, and fourth, a negligible quantity of alcohol illicitly distilled in the country. Pure spirits which 'const.itute the bulk of the contraband imported are shipped from the Baltic ports, with Germany and Esthonia the popular sources of supply. I discussed the smuggling of alcohol with Maj. E. J. J. Hultin, president of the Society for the Promotion of Temperance Without Prohibition. “We know that from the two ports of Kiel and Danzig alone,” he said, “8,000,- 000 to 9,000,000 liters of spirits clear each year for Baltic harbors. And this does not include whiskeys, rum, wines and liqueurs. The other Baltic nations dis- till enough alcohol for their own needs, so it is a safe presumption that most of the cargoes are destined for Finland. Other Baltic cities also export spirits to Finland, and we make a conservative es- timate that 15,000,000 liters of pure alco- hol are yearly brought into the country.” Because the coast of Finland is dotted with islands and cut with coves and in- lets, the whole seashore makes for the smuggler an ideal “Rum Row.” With these topographical handicaps, an inade- quate though honest coast guard cap- tured only 1,000,000 liters of alcohol last year. In the hope that she would be able to cope more effectually with the rum- runners, Finland enlisted the aid of for- eign nations in an effort to stop the flow of liquor. By the convention of Helsingfors the Baltic powers agreed in 1925 to allow Finland’s enforcement fleet the privilege of a 12-mile territorial limit, so far as vessels belonging to the signatory pow- ers were concerned, and, in certain cases, even permitted the rum chasers to pur- sue vessels under suspicion beyond that limit. But that treaty was of no avail. All boats departing from Baltic ports with contraband spirits now fly the flag of Greece, Austria, €hile, Czechoslovakia, or one of the other nations not bound by the pact, and thus have immunity out- side the 3-mile limit. Dodging among the islands and into safety, they defeat the rum chasers and circumvent the benefits of the treaty. At the 3-mile limit the foreign ships are met by fishermen who, in their tiny craft, convey the liquor to islands or cache it in coves along the shore. The business has brought fantastic riches to many fishing villages and no small num- ber of communities have allowed their nets to rot while they devote their ener- gies to the unlawful and better-paying enterprise. Many of the fishing districts, [ was told, will vote only for a representa- tive to Parliament who has committed himself as an enthusiastic dry. Their era of prosperity depends on the prohi- bition law, and they aren’t going to do anything that may wipe it off the books. There is one family of fishermen who will never vote for a repeal of the dry law. Their story was told me by one of Finland’s better known rum smugglers. The family lived in a barren settlement of huts on the bleak shores of an island near Helsingfors. Through her earlier life the wife had been a rabid temper- ance woman, and it was generally gos- siped in the village that she thumped her husband soundly whenever he returned home from the mainland with a breath that smelled of the tavern. WHEN the dry law was enacted, the husband, along with many of the rest of the fisherfolk, abandoned his nets and took to rum running. At once the family income increased. And with equal suddenness the wife modified her attitude toward the matter of drink. Within two months she had attained such a liberal view of the liquor evil that she sent to Helsingfors for her son. He was a janitor in an apartment house there, but, at his mother’s insistence, he quit his job and joined his father as a rum runner, “That was 10 years ago,” the smuggler concluded. “Today the family owns the building where the son used to tend fires.” The hazards of smuggling are small, and, as a result, prices are in a moderate range. They vary in accordance with the season, the distance between the coast and the purchaser, and the wealth of the customer. Because the sea is ice-locked six months of the year, there is a slight rise in price during the late Winter. In the interior 10 to 15 per cent is added to the price at the harbors. The average wholesale price for spirits at the boat is 8 to 10 cents a liter. It can be bought retail from 50 cents to $1.25 a liter—and a liter is a little more than a quart. Drinks of alleged whisky are 90 cents to $1 at the better restaurants, but a service of about three ounces—three times the amount served in American speakeasies—is dispensed for this price. . An excellent grade of slightly cut liquor is available at $7 a liter and a moder- ately good grade can be purchased for $5. I met Finland’s Al Capone—the na- tion’s outstanding wholesale purveyor of liquor who holds his position in the illicit business without the use of automatics or machine guns. He is a tall, ruddy- faced Northman with the dress and man- ner of a business man. Arriving two hours late for a dinner appointment, he threw a big coat lined with seal across a davenport, sat down carefully so as not to disturb the press of his dinner jacket, and talked freely of bootlegging in Fin- land. “There is no graft here, as there is in the United States,” he said. “I worked the racket five years in the States and I know. The cops here are honest. I give some of them an occasional drink, but that’s all. The people just don’t want the law, and they do want liquor. So it’s an easy business. Except for my ‘run ins’ with the rum boats I don’t have any trouble.” “How does the liquor you sell here compare with that you sold in America?” “I believe it’s better,” he answered. “I don’t sell much uncut liquor, but I do use a basis of good Scotch in all my whisky. This I cut with alcohol, water and a preparation that is my own se- cret.” With the pardonable pride of a creative artist, he challenged discrimination be- tween his best grade of synthetic whisky and an uncut brand, although he admit- ted that his two lower grades were dis- tinguishable. I examined the bottles of three he had made and compared them to a legitimate bottle of the brand he was imitating. “You can’t tell by the labels,” he said. “I have them all printed in Sweden, and they are perfect reproductions.” That racket, toc. exists in Finland. That the current panorama of prohibi- tion in Finland has deeply rooted social and economic effects is borne out in re- cent disclosures. Arrests for drunken- ness have increased to the point where Helsingfors, with 215,000 inhabitants, has outstripped other Northern capitals, both absolutely and relatively. Its arrests for drunkenness in 1929 totaled 24,000, while wet Stockho!m, with a population of 475,000, and gay Copenhagen, with 710,- 000 citizens, showed less than 5,000 ar- rests each. Apart from the many cases of drunkenness, the frequent direct breaches of the prohibition act itself have kept the Finnish police busy. The Department of Social Affairs registered 33,056 infringements of the prohibition act in 1929 and 28,796 during the previous year. In other words, an average of 90 breaches of the dry law were brought to the notice of the police every day. Finland also has forged ahead in crimes of violence, scoring, relatively to her population, the highest rate in Europe. I'I‘EMS on expenditure for prohibition were conspicuous. In the first place comes the ministry of justice, which at- tributes a very great part of the total prison costs, 52,300,000 Finnish marks, to prohibition, and asks 8,400,000 marks for extensions and new buildings. It further demands 2,500,000 marks for the covering of witness fees in cases of prohibition offenses. Under the ministry of finance comes the work of the customs authori- ties against the smuggling of liquor, the estimated costs of which total 14,200,000 marks. Under the ministry of social af- fairs there are the expenses connected with the work of improving sobriety, which ought not to be necessary in a prohibition country, yet estimated at 2,500,000 marks. Finally, 9,500,000 marks must be added to prohibition’s toll for the maintenance of additional state and municipal police. Alarmed by mounting budgets and dis- respect for law the Finnish government named an investigating body to study conditions. This group—Finland’s “Wick- ersham Commission”—began its inquiries last Winter. Membership on the com- mittee cut through all party lines, as does the issue, and represented all fields of Finnigh life. Edward Bjorkenheim, a nobleman, holder of large estates, long a leader in agrarian questions, in his youth a free church minister and an ardent temperance advocate, was the chairman of the committee, which took his name, He had been a powerful influence in se- curing the enactment of the prohibitory law. Mrs. Tilma Hainari, outstanding figure in women’s temperance work and delegate to the League of Nations, was the only woman member. Other members were Dr. Einar Axt- tinen, psychiatrist and director of the State Insane Hpspital;, Gumar Kihlaman, former diplomat and now a bank direc- tor; another banker, Arvo Linturi; Her- man Paavilainen, business man, and Johan Virtanen, president of the Social Democratic Temperance League, a radi- cally dry organization. 'Illese were the investigators who checked on the progress temperance had made under the operation of the statute. Many of them had been keenly enthus- iastic for the success of the law when it was first adopted; yet, after surveying the conditions following 12 years of prohibition, they condemned it as im- moral and degrading and recommended its repeal. As a subsiitute they suggest- ed a regulation permitting the manufac- ture and sale of beer with 3.2 per cent alcohol content and wines with 12 per cent. A system of local option, by which any community could forbid the manu- facture and sale of such beers and wines, also was recommended. But foreseeing the recurrence of pres- ent problems if such local option laws were passed, they added a clause that no community could stop the importation of liquor of any strength so long as it was destined for personal consumption in private homes. The hope is expressed, nevertheless, that the legalization of 12 per cent beverages will reduce the pres- ent inclination to strong drink. These proposals have been submitted to the cabinet. The cabinet may or may not hand the committee’s report to the Diet in the form of a bill. But, as this is being written, the Conservative and Progressive members of the cabinet are threatening to resign unless it is turned over to the Diet for a vote. The Diet may repeal the law in regular session and enact the new measures, as it has the power to do, or it may order a refer- endum to the people and thus shift re- sponsibility. So Finland officially challenges prohi- bition. Whether the law is to be re- pealed or the nation will go in for more drastic enforcement soon will be known. Should the latter course be decided upon perhaps Finland will have use for a method at present untried in Western prohibition countries—a method I found in vogue in Afghanistan, the only other prohibition nation, save Finland, that I visited on a recent journey.