VOLSTEAD LAW.

Gisborne Times, Volume LXVIII, Issue 10737, 7 November 1928, Page 9

VOLSTEAD LAW.

GOVERNOR, SMITH’S FIGHT. SPEECH AT MILWAUKEE, (From the Christchurch Press Correspondent). SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 3. ■ Undoubtedly one of the greatest speeches Governor Smith delivered during his Presidential campaign was that given by him at, Milwaukee when he was cheered as he levelled an attack on Prohibition, and called fh’r “sane and honest” handling of the problem, and advocated sale of liquor under restrictions in States where the plan met with the approval of a majority of the voters. SMITH’S STAND DEFINED. Outlining his programme 'in this city, once famous around the world as a brewing centre, the Democratic nominee emphasised that the plan he sponsors would protect “all of the rights of the dry States to the last degree,” and would throw around them “all the safeguards” of the Eighteenth Amendment and the Volstead law.

“The dry States should he reasonable about it,” Smith told the crowd that packed into the big auditorium in Milwaukee and those who were listening to him by radio. “They should listen to the State that is not in accord with their opinion. What would the drv States of this country say if the wet States proposed an amendment to the Constitution prohibiting them from passing any dry law?” Following the lines of his acceptance speech in the remedy he proposed, except that he made no reference to the Canadian system of dealing with the. liquor problem, Governor. Smith reiterated that ho was opposed to the Return of the saloon “despised as of right, by tho American people,” and stirred up a rousing round of cheers when he promised, if elected, to enforce the law.

He wag greeted with another noisy outburst when he declared as President he .would regard it his d'utv to recommend to Congress both modification of the Volstead law and tho Prohibition amendment. Laughter and applause greeted the. nominee when lie remarked that in 1.919 and 1920 millions of Americans believed hard liquor could be banished from the country ‘,‘bv amending the Constitution and passing a law.” ■ . “This is no question of liquor or no liquor, Prohibition or anti-Pro-hibition,” he added. “11)0 question before the American people to-day is what is the best thing to do about it in the interest of this country? He assailed the Republicans for the way they have been enforcing Prohibition, asserting they had permitted patronage considerations to guide, them and corruption to creep into onforcomont. He also insisted that mulions of Americans did not agree with Hoover in his declaration that, Prohibition was a noble experiment, and asserted that the Prohibition plank in the Republican Party meant nothing. “T am perfectly satisfied that sano, reason able, sensible, and scientific definition of an intoxicant in the Volstead law would do more than any other thing to take out of this country the hard liquor that can be found in every hamlet, village, town and edy in' the United States,” Smith shouted amid thunderous applause. His first mention of the Volstead law brought booing, and there were groans when lie related that a waiter in tho U.S. Senate restaurant had. lost his job “because of carelessness” alter dropping a bottle of liquor on the floor. , , . Insisting that “the great armv of the American people” oppose Prohibition, Smith held that “the natural result of it is'breeding throughout the length and breadth of the country a disrespect for all laws. No one. can gainsay the fact,” ho continued, “that the Prohibition law and. the. Volstead Act have found a new line of endeavor in the underworld • they have brought to life tho bootleggers, an dthe bootleggers begot, the- hijackers. and the hijackers the racketeers, so;that gangland is interested in the maintenance .of prohibition. Because of'its operation they are benefited. Norman Thomas, Socialist candidate for the Presidency of the United States,' returned to New York from a three-week speaking tour of the West, saying he expected to see .Herbert Hoover win in the coming election, because the Republicans had a superior organisation. After speaking in fifteen States, he said: “There, is no faith at all m the Republican and Democratic Parties as Parties. There is a growing interest in the campaign, But not nn the real issues so far as the old Parties are concerned. On both sides, openly and secretly, there is great and unhealthy bigotry. The three Rs, relicrion, race and rum, m the order named, -will sway thousands upon thousands of voters. Nevertheless, organisation is very important; ancl I look to seo the Republicans win because of their superior organisation, if for no other reason.”