ENFORCEMENT OF THE EIGHTEENTH AMENDMENT
Of the undoubted abuses which have grown up under the eighteenth
amendment, part are due to the causes I have just mentioned; but part
are due to the failure of some States to accept their share of
responsibility for concurrent enforcement and to the failure of many
State and local officials to accept the obligation under their oath of
office zealously to enforce the laws. With the failures from these many
causes has come a dangerous expansion in the criminal elements who have
found enlarged opportunities in dealing in illegal liquor.
But a large responsibility rests directly upon our citizens. There would
be little traffic in illegal liquor if only criminals patronized it. We
must awake to the fact that this patronage from large numbers of
law-abiding citizens is supplying the rewards and stimulating crime.
I have been selected by you to execute and enforce the laws of the
country. I propose to do so to the extent of my own abilities, but the
measure of success that the Government shall attain will depend upon the
moral support which you, as citizens, extend. The duty of citizens to
support the laws of the land is coequal with the duty of their
Government to enforce the laws which exist. No greater national service
can be given by men and women of good will--who, I know, are not
unmindful of the responsibilities of citizenship--than that they should,
by their example, assist in stamping out crime and outlawry by refusing
participation in and condemning all transactions with illegal liquor.
Pages:
338
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348
349
350
351
352
353
354
355
356
357
358
359
360
361
362