New Britain Herald Newspaper, October 25, 1923, Page 13

NEW.BRITAIN DAILY HERALD, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 25 1023, . CHIEF JUSTICE WHEELER LAUNCHES BROADSIDE AT VIOLATORS OF THE EIGHTEENTH AMENDMENT Replies To Judge Creedon Of Hartford, Explaining That He Advocates Jail Sentences For First Offenders “As a General Thing”—Says Man Who Deals With Bootlegger Is loyal — Urges Public To Report All Offenses To State Police Or State’s Attorney. Bridgeport, Oet. 26.~—~Chief Justice George W, Wheeler of the Conneeti- eut supreme court of errors today made public the text of his address + before the county conferences of prosecuting officers, with this preface: “The nine conferences of all law en- forcing officiala of the courts of the several counties of the state called by Chief Justice George W. Wheeler have been held, They have resulted in all these officials reaching a common purpose to impose | penalties as as well as fines, as a general rule, upon all traffickers in or transporters of intoxicating liquors. In cvery térm of the criminal superior court held this far this fall, jail or state prison penaities have been imposed on this class ©of criminals. The conferences have in each instance adopted most drastic resolutions carrying out the recommendations of the ehief justice,” Reply to Judge Creedon It will be remembered tHat Judge Creedon of the Hartford city court strenuously objected to Chief Justice Wheeler's recommendations as impos- ing jail sentences upon all first of- fenders, Chlef Justice Wheeler re- fused to comment upon Judge Cree- don's interview or to permit at that time the publication of his address although urged by the members of the several conferences and by the press to do thia. The chief justice went ahead with his program and held the several con- ferenc ccording to the program and in each instance was supported by ‘every county conference. Now that these are over the chief justice has yielded to the many requests made to him and today released the address delivered to the Hartford county con- ference. The address shows that Judge Creedon was mistaken. Chief Justice Wheeler did not advocate jail penalties on all first offenders, but upon all first offenders as a general rule, leaving it to the discretion of the court to impose other than a jail sen- tence in the excptional case. The ad- dress in full follows: Text of Address “I have taken the liberty of asking you to meet in conference relative to the problem of law enforcement. I want you to fully understand that I recognizé that you are, each one of ‘you, independent oficials over whom | the law gives me not the slightest control or supervision, nor do I as- sume such. We are, however, each a part of the law-enforcing machin- ery of the stajp and as such we should act in harmony. There ought to be entire co-operation in purpose, spirit and action between the judges of the higher courts and you gentlemen. I am not bringing to you merely my owa view: T am bringing to you what 1 blieve, at ledst in substance, the view of the judges of the higher courts on the subject of law enforcement. It has long been my thought, and often expressed, that the inferior courts oc- cupy in the mind an lite of the average citizen a larger place than our higher courts. When Judge Boardman felt that he could not serve longer as a judge of the Bridge- WALK- | have adequately grappled with continu¢' to| port eity eourt, 1 urged him to remain and pointed out that never in any year of my life on the bench had 1 perfopmed so signal and useful a pub- lic service as he had done in the year then past., He contnued on ' his re. markable successful career on that bench and I hope that the ideal of publie service I-put before him had something to do in helping him to continye to sacrifice his personp! in. terest for the public good, “Ta me, we are comrades engaged in & common cause, To me the law js sacred; in its services my life has been passed, Whatever 1 have had to giv: to its service has been given In pride and joy and love, The past two or three years haye witnessed a steady diminution in fhis state in the respect for law. It pervades all classes and s most observable in the well-to.do, Finally it tame to me that if all the law enforeing officers of our courts in our state pulled together and enforced th elaw more uniformly and more forcefully we could do a great deal to stay this growing disrespect for the A meeting of the stgte's attorneys with the result of their co-operation brought to my attention the de- sirability of this conference. And then, too, several of the officials of the town and city courts suggested to me that we could get out of such a conference common ground for action, a deeper sense of the supreme importance or our work and a friendly co-operation which must be productive of much good, The cause of thls growing dis- respect for law in my judgment is due in most part to the open violation of the 18th amendment, and to the fail- ure of many law-enforcing offictals to this species of crime. “If you will hear with me, let me present as a basis for stricter en- forcement a few of the considerations which surround this subject and which though familiar and even trite will bear further fepetition. “The 18th amendment is a part of | the constitution of ;the United States. The Volstead act is a code for its en- forcement. Our own act is a eode for enforcement in aid of the 18th amend- ment and of the Volstead act. Excuses Useless, “It is too late to let men excuse their violation of the 18th amend- ment upon the ground that it was not passed regularly and upon due notice. The facts deny wholly any such assertion. And such discussion is fruitless because the United States supreme court has passed upon the validity of the enactment of this amendment and upheld it. It is the law of the land and to be supported by all citizens in precisely the same way that they would support any other provision of the constitution, It is likewise folly to excuse viola- tions of this amendment upon the ground that the giving of concurrent power to the state with the federal government for the enforcement of the Volstead act leaves it optional with the state to pass a concurrent act, or to repeal such act if "passed; OVER “What stylish shoes!” you say *How comfortable!” she’s thinking M.uywommhm discovered that the Walk-Over Princess Pat is the ideal shoe for comfort. Its stylish lines mean well dressed feet. Its natueal foot-shape means well-fitred feet. Princess Pat has a straight inside line that conferms to the natural foot shape, and 2 narrow heel that fits snugly with pressure. § The world-famous Princess Pat, made by Walk-Over only, comes in oxfords, pumps, and high shoes in all popular leathers, $8.00 in black kid $8.50 in brown kid David Manning’s Witk Over Shoe Store 211 .Maln St. that the duty of enforeement is a federal duty with which the state has no concern, “This is an ingivisible union of in. destructible states, The Civil war settled that, Neither natien nor state can gel along without the other any more than one vital member of the body can get along without another vital member. Fvery state owes the highest moral duty to eco-operate with the federal government in en. forcing this law, and when a state ke New York refuses to co-operate, she takes a stand which is indefen sible under the principles upon wh the fathers founded this government, indefensible too, in good morals, and patently indefensible from & prac- tical standpoint, For nothing could be plainer than the point so trench- antly made by Homer Cummings, that the policing of @hg country can- not he undertaken exclusively by the federal government, but must be done largely through local govern- ments and local officials, The denial of concurrent power is really the af- firmation of the federal right to usurp all powers of police which are vested In the states, and whose usur- pation would fundamentally change, if not destroy, our government, Disrespect For Law. “That which has aroused me to ac- tion is not'alone interest in the cause of prohibition as such. 1 saw a steadily growing disrespect for the law. If it had been confined to the criminal classes,%or the ignorant or wayward, the officials could have met it and in time conquered it. “But when the men who repre- sent the business and wealth of the country defy and flount the constitu- tion and the law and become the pa- trons of the bootlegger and when they are joined by a very consider- able group of educated men who see in the restriction of this amendment and these laws a restriction upon their right of action, and when these are jolned by some of the radicals and the parlor socialists of the coun- try to whom liberty means license to do as they please, the situation becomes a hard one to deal with. In Connecticut, it is one that the offi- cers of the law, cannot, as a rule, wholly cope with, unless there shall be petter suppart, more courageous effort, for them, among God-fearing and God-loving people of this com- monwealth; among those who place the law of the land above the gratifi- cation of their bellies. Who should help if not you? You, who are re- sponsible under your oath to enforce this law and all criminal laws. Law Is Essential. “Everything that we have, all that we do, all of our institutions of lib- erty, of civic welfare, yes of religion herself, are dependent upon law. Break this down, let this reign of lawlessness go on, and ultimately the insist upbn it that there must be equality in the right of lawlessness; then it’s but a step to disintegration, social wreckage and anarchy. “If you cannot sce, as I do, the funiversal evils which come from con- tinued disrespect for law, then let me put my appeal upon other ground. Historians and publicists agree that the great determining influence in preserving this country through all her years has been the constitution of our country, interpreted as it was by the clear intellect, lofty patriot- ism and superb judicial statesman- ship of John Marshall. “Among all our national posses- sions. there is no single one so price- less to the people of these United States as their natlonal constitution. It has bgen our protector and savior in times past. It may be unpleasant to say it to our neighbors friends, but it is true, and it must be said. The violation of the 18th those who indulge in it are,in fact, in that act, traitorous to their coun- try. We must make it felt. The man who deals with the bootlegger in that act is unpatriotic. “That you may have before you the character of this unlawful traffic and its baneful influence and terrible con- lowly and the criminally inclined will| and | amendment is an unpatriotic act, and| scquences, let me read you a few lines first from the address of State's At torney Cummings (o the great meet. ing sotten up en®June 17th last, by the minigters of Rridgeport * ‘Bootlegging In the United States carriea with It many attendant evils, ineluding bribery, forgery, perjury, political eorruption, theft and mur- der, I do not have before me the figures later than the fall of last year, {hut up to that time, there have been | murders in the United States with a known total of 22 vietims. ulation covers only federal enforee. pent officers, If in addition we in- clude state, county and municipal pro- hibition agents, the round numbers of murders would be practically |doubled, | Crimes Committed ' “‘Lesser erimes have also heen |committed and the 18th amendment has been resisted’ at the pistol's mouth or at the blackjack’s end in every geo- graphical section of the republie, The !number of officials who have b |shot, wounded, clubbed or beaten up will never be known, The bootlegger understands that he is engaged in a desperate profession and shoots or |bludgeons to kill. The prohibition | service today Is a more dangerous | ealiing than eithew the army or navy. |Every man who enters It takes his life in his hand.' | “Now let me read you a few lines from the address of Gov. Pinchot of Pennsylvania, at the national ceme- tery on the battle field of Gettysburg, on last Decoration Day to the veterans |of the Civil War. *‘You who fought for the Constitu |tion of the United States against open attack by men who risked their lives for what they mistakenly helieved to be their rights, **The men against whom we, yvour descendants must defend the Consti- tution, fight in the dark, run from the police and use the methods of the sneak thief and the underworld. With no higher motive than profit or appe- tite, no higher ethics than those of the bandit or the recciver of stolen goods, for pergonal pleasure or per- sonal profit they attack the funda- mental law of the land! *‘Their contemptible undermining of the document which cost so many lives of brave men to establish, so many lives of brave men to preserve, is far less formidable than the one | which you overcame. It had neither digmity, sacrifice, nor death of con- viction behind it. It rests on motives that are wholly despicable, and it is assoclated th the lowest dregs of our popula It has nothing to command it, sound argument can lht‘ advanced in its defense. It is law- breaking pure and stmple, for per- sonal profit or personal pleasure, and as such wholly to be condemned." “I beg that you will not think 1 have discovered this dangerous and growing disrespect for law. President Angell, in his mermorial address at Yale said: ‘In any case, T count as far more instdious than any radieal |assault yet deilvered the wide and | rapidly spreadinfi virus of disrespect for law. When the individual citizen hegins to decide for himself w hat laws he will obey and what disregard, the beginning of the end of free, consti- tutional government is at hand; with anarchy on the one hand and tic autocracy on the other, logical alternative,’ . 'lf.lt .is the 18th amendment o Ak ealuias memiy o & tiny 3 & with forgery lnmo.rrow, and those concerned with homicide the next day. Once the moral leash is slipped and the bind. ing tic of law as law is challenged, the disintogration of orderly govern. ment is only a question of time,’ What Taft Said | “Chief Justice Taft devoted his Yale ‘al\lnln( address to this subject. I read you a few lines: * ‘1 was opposed to prohibition. . .. But the vote was against me and those who thought with me, as the people before have indicated that they sometiges differ with_me. They did then. Now, as all” good citizens should, I claim to play the game. When a two-thirds majority of con- i dras- \ as the only Fountaip For A, veritable watering trough for fountain pens is the latest ald to higher education at the University ‘r California. More than 1000 students a day fill their pens at it, consum- ing more than a quart of ink every five hours. Tt works like the old- fashioned water fountain in chicken yards. The co-ed shown in the pic- ture is Miss Claire McCarthy. Fountain Pens This cal- t | then act finec, gress and three-fourthe of the wate legisiatures adept & constiutionst amendment, and & majority of sach house of congress pasess 3 law Lo en. foree i, the rules of the game of popular gorernment are that all living under that government must ebey. ¥t is met patriotie, it Is not sportsman- like to evade or digebey. “*Now it is to be expecied that these who are net intelligent ~ whe are not, therefore, most charged with the responsibility aof govera I® |should be inclined to gdisSbey . they don't like. Sueh & class, if they vielate laws con erdinarily, through the force of sqund public epinien and the machinery adapied &0 restrain violations of law, restrained. Rut when the dispesition to disregard law, though statutery and censtitutional, spreads to the intelligent and the well. to-de, because t And that it iIn. fringes on their tad®s and their likes, then there is a situation which s mueh meore serious , , . . “*The people I have in mind are the first to complain of mob law, law. less violence of laborites, and other disturban, of the peace; but when It comes to a vielation of the 18th amendment, and tife Volstead law, they seem to feel no obligation to pro. They would look at this that is declared in the constitution and in the statute book with contempt. One hears Intelligent people say ‘As this contracts my liberty, I don't regard it A8 necessary to observe it Although they don't intend to, it they say that they are justitying the _principle of anwrchy., I am preaching this on the castern seaboard because this is where It s most usetu! . , ., , ‘I have confidence, however, that when the intelligent, the patribtiesthe well-to-do, as well as the plain people, face the real issue, when they see whither we are tending in making fun of the law and of its violations, all of which tends to lend support to those who are engaged in violating it, Can llfl' entrusted with the greatest autherity 8oL any example except that of the “You need have no fear “alvin Coclidge is ne weather-vane. He s & New Eagland statesman with a New England conselence. “Y caused to be sent to the lawyers of the state, the address of Mr, Cum. I want to read you twe sentences & letter one of the mest eminent of all the lawyers of the state, distin. guished alike in professional attain- ments and in high character. Indeed to my thinking, they run side by side in the profession of the law, “"'Whether or not one proves of the Velstead act—and T do not—it is the supreme law of the land, whish it is the plain duty of gveryone o obey, | and which should be enforeed to the limit, YOUf the time ever comes when a supreme law of the land will not bhe obeyad and cannet be enforced the end is near' “And now gentlemen, what ean we do practically to help enforee this law? 1 speak first to those' who, like Jnysqlf, are a part of the judiclary of the state, What has your contaet with this liguor problem taught you? Has it not been made clear to every ox. erienced judge that those whe are engaged in this bootlegging traffic are desperate eriminals who stop at no crimea to accomplish their end? They will murder, rob and assault. They hire gunmen to assassinate our peace officers. They are ready to bribe you if you would permit it. They are cor- rupting the profession of the law by the payment of huge fees for profes- sional services; they are paying for service which no self-respecting law- yer ought to engage upon, The prom- when they realize that others not so patriotic and who are evilly minded are only too glad to bring about a demoralization of all law, as the opan violations of the liquor law necessar. lly tend to do, then I belfeve we shall rouse ourselves and create a public opinion through self discipline,’ “And the lamented Presi, . ing in Denver on June 2llhf'r:t|;:.::a most ble of his western addresses standi, firmly by the 18th amend. ment and the Volstead Act. I read you a few lines from that address: - ‘Tt is the partial indulgence which challenges the majesty of the law, but the greater crisis is the impairment of the moral fibre of the republic. The resentful millions have the example of law deflance oy those who can af- ford to buy, and are reckless enough o take the risk, and there is inoul- cated a contempt for law which may some day find expression in far more serious form. . “'I do not see how any citizen whe lcherlshes the protection of the law in organized society may feel himself secure when he himself is the example of contempt for law. Clearly there is cause for awakened realizatiom of true self-interest on the part of the few who will themselves suffer most when reverence for law is forgotten and passion is expressed in destruc- tive lawlessness, Ours must be a law- abiding republic, and reverence and obedience must spring from the in- fluential and the leaders ameng men, 4s well as obedience from the hum- bler citizen, else the temple will col- lapse! * ‘Whateveér satisfgction .there may be in indulgence, whatever objection there is to the so-called invasion of personal liberty, neither counts when the supremacy of the law and the stability of our institutions are men- aced. With all good intention the majority sentiment of the United States has sought by law to remove strong drink as a eurse upon the Am- erlean citizen, but ours is a larger probiem now to remove lawless drink- ing as menace to the republic itself.” Danger Ts Seen “Everywhere throughout the coun- try there is an awakening to this danger. President Harding said the 18th amendment was here to stay and to stay unmodified. 1 agree with his conclusion. The question is, wheth- er we shall stand with the west and the south and the moral forces of the country, or go with New York. “Much solicitation is expressed con- cerning President Coolidge's stand upon this question. l.et us go to his record for the answer. T read you from his veto when governor of Massachusetts of the per cent beer bill, “‘When I took offiece I gave an cath to support the constitution of the United States, That constitution and the laws of congress are declared to | be the supreme law of the land. | **The authority of the law is ques- | tioned in these days all too much, The binding obligation of obedlem‘-{ ise of & man engaged today in the lquer traffic whether made to a court or a citizen, is wholly valueless, When they say they'll stop selling and go out of the business, you know and T know that uniess you have the most active police supervision they won't keep their promise. . Sell Impure Stuff. “Exery ruse that human ingenuity can coficoct they will resort to. And vou know, too, that almost all of the liquer they sell is far from pure and doctored to such an extent that it s fnjurious to health and dangerous to life. It was only a few days ago the federal director of Connecticut told me that in only one case during his term of oftice had the llquor taken by the officials of the United States analyzed pure, and the super- intendent of the state police con- firmed this as his experience. The men who are buying of the bootleg- ger are often being sold, and they are risking their lives and the lives of their friends. “Why gentlemen of the judiciary, do T draw this picture? So that we may have before us the average criminal who is trafficking in this illegal trade. Is he in any case en- titled to your judicial sympathy? Should he receive at your hafds, in any case, mercy? No, at this late day there is no such thing as a first joftender. He acted in full knowl- edge that he was committing a crime. He did it for money. When you come to the sentence, remember |that your act is not alone to pun- ish the guilty, but by its example te deter others who would make money out of the violation of the United States constitution. What is he entitled to?—justice, no more, no less. The law gives to him a fair trial, accords him that. Den't al- low yourself to be misled by adroit or unscrupulous advocacy. If he is proven gullty beyond#a reasonable | doubt, or it he pleads guilty, what should his sentence be? You will understand I am speaking of the trafficker in liquer, or the transport- er of liquer, whether he be the prin- cipal or the agent. I am not speak- |ing of the man or woman who is imaking liquor for his or her own |consumption. The two classes of crime stand on a different basis. Then what should be the sentence of the criminal convictéd in the ordi- nary case, not the excepnonahcue. of the crime of trafficking in Wiquor or in transporting it? It is my judg- ment and judging by their acts the judgment of the great majority of the judges of the superior court, that justice requires for such a crim- fnal a Jjail sentence, varying in amount by the character of the crime. And in the event that it is a DRINK WATER IF KIDNEYS BOTHER Take a Tablespoonful of Salts if Back | Pains or Bladder fs Irritated. i Flush your kidneys by drinkWng a | quart of water cach day, also take| calts occasionally, says a noted au-| thority, who tells us that té6 much| rich food forms acids which almost| paralyze the kidneys in their efforts| to cxpel it from the blood. They be- come sluggish and weaken; then yeu| may suffer with a dull misery in the kidney region, sharp pains #n the Lagk or sick heéadache, dizziness, your | stomach sours, tongue {8 coated, and | when the weather is bad you have| rheumatic twinges. The urine gets L eloudy, full of sediment, the channels | often get sore and irritated, obliging | you to seek rélisf two ot three xlmes! during the night. | To help neutralize these irritating acids; to help claanse the Kidneys and | flush off the body's urinous waste, get/ four ounces of Jad Salts from any pharmacy here. Take a tabléspoonful | in a glass of water befére breakfast| for a fow days, and your kidneys may' This famous salts fs| made from the acid of grapes and| temon juice, combined with lithia, and | has been used for years to help flush | and stimuate sluggish kidneys: also| to neutralize the acids in the so they no longer irritate, thus often | relieving bladder weakness. Jad Salts is inexpensive; cannot in-| jure and makes a delightful efférves- | cent lithia-water drink By an| means have your physician »nmine‘ your kidneys at least twice a year. Formula Rubs Out ——— Remarkable Discovery Promises Retiel 16 Fhewmalic bufferers German chemistry that bhas given to the world the hoon of Aspirin for the rellef of headache pain, and No- vocaln for palniess dentistry, has now come forward with anether discovery that promises (o rheumatic pain a thing of the past for thousands whe have suffered ters rible tortures. A new combination of eertain eils has been discevered, which produces - mber liquid that affords im- mediate relief from pain in many fn+ stances. It in 5o penstrating that It ‘du.»uu within & few seconds, so that it must be entirely absorbed by the body tissue, Kven in the most ad« vanced and stubborn cases the use of this remarkable oil has shown a8« tonishing improvement at once in many cases. Tired muscles regain life, creaking joints with the pain all gone become supple, and the anneying twinges cease, Rheumatism, in many cases, is due to internal abscesses, such as & blind pus pocket in a gooth, which gives off polsons. Theye poisons are carried by theblood to the muscles and joints and this new oll is designed to neutralize these pain-causing poisons. 8o astonishing have been the results from the use of this ofl that the American distributors haveauthorised local druggists to dispense it to rheu. matic sufferers in this city, with & positive written guarantes, signed by themselves to return the full purchase price of the first bottle if the rheuma- tie pains should take advantage of this liberal offer. ['nless you get reliel from the very first bottle your drug- gist will return your money. It is called Buhler Oil, and can be had at mest good druggists, such as The Fair Store, Malinowski and O'Brien, The Clark and Brainerd Company, Miller Hanson Drug Company, The Dickinson Drug Company. serious case, the accused should be bound over to the higher court. It would be my judgment that up- on the request of the state's attorney's ice, that a case be bound o the urt ought to act in accordance with that request. You may be quite cer- tain that such a request will net be made except upon adequate occasien. We shall not permit the powers of the local court to be improperly usurped, uor on the other hand shall we permit the local courts to prevent a proper administration of the criminal law so long as the superior courfghas orig- inal jurisdiction over this class of crime. The judgment of the judges of th# higher courts has been formed wpon their expericnce and wide knowledge of the .course of crime throughout the state. A mere fine in this class of crime is a mere license to commit this crime. It is no deter- - reant ‘to the crime. The liquor seller charges it to overhead expense. There is only one way to deal with this class of criminals, let them feel and suffer the full penalty of their crime. Two things more T must refer to in this connection. Sometimes in the past the fact that a bart of the fine went into the treasury of the town or city has been a controlling reason with local courtf for imposing a fine in- stead of a jail sentence. Geéntlemen, that is an indefensible judicial con- gideration. Tt is not only wrong, it is unmoral. Then, it is a frequent prae- tice to impose a jail sentence and suspend the sentence upon the prom- ise to get out of the business or to dismantle. If the judge uses the pow- er of suspended sentence sparingly, (Continued on Fourteenth Page). THAT UNEASY FEELING That dull depreasion, that out :pirlt.ls::p mditlon-h'lm ness. 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