Indianapolis Times, Volume 41, Number 76, Indianapolis, Marion County, 8 August 1929 — Page 5
WILLEBRANDT DEPLORES DRY LAW KILLINGS Higher-Ups Held to Blame for Wave of Death in Enforcing Act. (Continued From Page One.! law, agents of the government are not dealing with mere "good-hearted boys" who meet a public demand lor liquor. Officer Shot Down. He, with another officer, stopped a car which was crossing the border. loaded with liquor. After making the arrest and putting handcuffs on one of the men who had been in the car, the other said, "Wait a minute ’till I light a cigaret " The officers “waited a minute,” but instead of lighting a cigaret. the rum runner pulled a gun end shot Morris, who died instantly. The defendant then ran, and the surviving officer shot at him. but missed. Subsequently captured and convicted, he was given only a prison term of from tw'o to twenty years. These bootleggers were the type ordinarily engaged in running liquor between Texas towns. Nothing in their appearance gave the 8 gents warning. They were no better and no worse than thousands of other bootleggers operating daily in all parts of the country. And let it be remembered that the man who committed this set of violence was himself in no great danger from the law prior to the shooting of the customs officer. He was subject to * penalty at most of only six months and a few hundred dollars’ fine after conviction. Nevertheless, in an attempt to avoid facing that charge, he shot down and killed an officer of the law. Bootlegger fs Slain. The case cited is not at all unfcsual. On Sept. 26. 1928. a prohibition agent named King, stopped an automobile crossing a bridge at Jacksonville, Fla., and arrested a well-known bootlegger in charge of the load of liquor. When the agent stepped on the running board of the car, the bootlegger pulled a gun and shot the agent, who fell into the road.
Wounded as he was. King nevertheless managed to draw his own gun and as the bootlegger started to drive away a running battle occurred. in which Agent King killed the bootlegger. A disinterested workman on the bridge told the tacts. . While the agent lay at the point of death in a hospital, the state authorities, as the result of sensational and unwarranted press reports which inflamed the public mind, and following threats of death from the deceased’s associates, endeavored to obtain an indictment for murder against an officer who had risked his life in the performance of his legal duty, and who had shot after being thrown in the road, wounded, and only in eelf-defense. I might cite dozens of other similar cases, but I will call attention to only one more. It is the case of the United States of America vs. James H. Alderman, charged with and convicted of murder and sentenced to death. The conviction has been upheld by the United States circuit court of appeals for the Fifth circuit, and the Supreme court of the United States has refused to review the case. Another Shooting Case. On Aug. 7, 1927. a United States Coast guard patrol boat, on duty off the coast of Florida, stopped a *mall boat coming from the direc-
%£i • .. v -fr i-i For Di^^l every modern application there's a . .tv fa mi panelboard that fits Panelboards that mH the simple requirements of the cozy bungalow can embody the same engineering Aa j ■ •kill in design and manufacture as j_ j | rfj | those which control the marc of cir- ylj *||lH I cuits in a lofty skyscraper. From the largest to the smallest, Westinghouse provides panelboards to control any I" 'J| light and power circuit. L-rfjfTjf IS Through its widespread organization, Westinghouse is equipped to •apply correct and complete eleictri- BbJHhW cal equipment for any building, anywhere. WESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIC & MEG. COMPANY, Wesinghouae Electric Building 820 North Senate Avenue, P. O. Bo* 1673 Indianapolis* Indiana fWestioghouse Westinghoum
| tion of Bimini in the British West | Indies, and headed toward the 1 Florida coast. On boarding the boat, the coast guard commander, Sidney C. Sanderlin, found one James H. Aiderman in charge, with Robert K. Weech aboard, together with twenty sacks of liquor. Os the coast guard boat crew, only Sanderlin was armed. He searched Alderman for weapons and found none. While the coast guard crew was the liquor from the small boat to the coast guard boat, Sanderlin started toward the pilot house of the patrol boat, where his wireless was located, and Alderman followed him. A moment later the coast guard crew heard shots and saw Alderman, an automatic in his hand, take a step or two from the pilot house door and shoot at a member of the crew named Lamby. The shot struck Lamby and he. fell into the engine room. No one saw Alderman shoot Sanderlin; but afterward, Sanderlin was found dead on the floor of the pilot house, killed by a bullet which entered the right side of his back, passing through the heart and coming out of the left breast. Lamby died four days later in a Florida hospital. Held at Bay with Gun. Alderman, the bootleg runner, then lined up the remainder of the coast guard crew and, menacing them with his revolver, said that he was going to “get” the rest of them. He then directed his own companion, Weech, to get the liquor back aboard their boat, tear out the gas pipe of the patrol boat, and set it afire. Alderman told the patrol crew that he was going to throw them overboard one at a time and shoot them, and that they might as well say their prayers, because they were all going to hell and they would need them. Meanwhile, he had obtained two more revolvers from the pilot house and had given one to his associate Weech. so that the prisoners were covered by three guns. A few minutes later Alderman glanced down the hatch to see what' Weech was doing with regard to the motor. Taking advantage of his momentary inattention, the surviving members of the coast guard crew rushed toward Alderman and he began shooting. He succeeded in shooting one of them through the shoulder and head and in killing another. However, the others overcame him and later captured his associate, Weech. I have outlined the facts in this case to show what vicious criminals are in the bootleg business, and the risk of his life an agent runs.
Duty to make Arrests. It is the officers’ duty to make arrests. The law gives the arrested man every presumption of innocence and much legal protection. But he must go peaceably with the arresting officer to the nearest magistrate for hearing. Resisting an officer is a serious offense. It has been such ever since governments were established. It has been the duty of all sworn officers of the law to bring in their prisoners “dead or alive.” That has always, since the days of Blackstone, been regarded as vital to protection of society and preservation of the state. In dozens of cases, hundreds in fact, arrested bootleggers are resisting with force and with guns officers of the law who have the legal right and the duty to make the arrests and are discharging that duty lawfully. In no other class of cases has there been so much resistance to officers. Every day, in some part of the United States, men are arrested by state and federal officers for burglary, robbery, arson, mail robbery, and other crimes for which the penalties are much more severe than those imposed for bootlegging. Yet there is no such resistance to the officers as in bootlegging cases, simply because the men arrested know that they •will get no public or news-
paper support If they attack or kill the officer of the law. Condemns Firearm Use. But let resistance be made to a | prohibition agent in the lawful per- : formance of his duty, and there is an immediate rallying to the defense of the bootlegger by those opposed to prohibition enforcement. Are we losing our sense of proportion when the arrest involves liquor? I condemn without qualification, unjustified use of firearms in the enforcement of the prohibition law, as well as any other law', but I think no one who is fair minded will disagree with this editorial statement of the Los Angeles Times: There seems to be a good deal of overemphasis for wet propaganda purposes of such regrettable affairs as the slaying of Jacob Hanson at Niagara Falls and of Henry Virkhula at International Falls, Minn. If either man had been killed by a policeman who mistook him for a burglar. the case would have' been dismissed, so far as national public interest is concerned, in a few lines of press, and it is inconceivable that it could have become a subject for congressional discus- ' sion. In expressing my condemnation of j the use of unnecessary afid unjusti- j fled violence in the name of prohi- . bition enforcement, I have the ; woman’s privilege of saying “I told you so.” Agents are Unfit. I had not been in charge of prosecutions under the prohibition law more than a few months before I discovered what many people since have acknowledged: That hundreds of prohibition agents had been appointed through political pull and were as devoid of honesty and integrity as the bootlegging fraternity. I found that there were scores of | prohibition agents no more fit to be j trusted with a commission to en- j force the laws of the United States j and to carry a gun than the no- j tenuous Jesse James. Among the evidences of this fact that early reached me was this letter from a judge known throughout the country as an upright, fearless, able jurist: More intelligence ought to be j used in selecting prohibition ! agents. The majority of them in ! my district are stupid, and on the j witness stand under cross exami- { nation conducted by highly paid j and able lawyers for the bootleg- j gers, they crumple up. In my court room an agent j testified that between Oct, 17 and Nov. 1, about fourteen days, he drank 700 glasses of alcohol and 700 glasses of moonshine whisky. That was a period of fourteen days, and when 1400 is divided by fourteen, it will be reasonably clear that he did not drink any such quantity. But if he only drank a fraction of that amount it would be sufficient to destroy his usefulness. This situation can dot be per- j mitted to go much further, because the judges are losing confi- i dence in the integrity and veracity of the government's wit- j nesses. It was my opinion in 1921. and it j still is, that the government is com- i
eci aj all ijiis tveefc HOOVER
jt If you were asked to name the best cleaner made, you would jay The Hoover, wouldn’t you And if, by making an unusually*small down payment, you'could have immediate possession of The Hoover, you would do it, wouldn’t you£/ , '*•- . This opportunity has come. Right now you ran through our special Summer Leisure
L. S. AYRES 6c COMPANY INDIANAPOLIS POWER 6c LIGHT COMPANY
ATTTFnw.T7.Fn HOOVER SERVICE, 316 PENNWAY BLDG. RILEY 1388-89
mitting a crime against the public generally when it pins the badge of police authority on and hands a gun to a man of uncertain character. limited intelligence, or without giving systematic training for ; the performance of duties that inI volve the rights and possibly the lives of citizens. (Mrs. Willebrar.dt next will disruss further the reason for unwarranted acts of violence in the enforcement of the prohibition law, and how and when such conditions can be corrected.) PYTHIANS SUING CITY Injunction Asked to Prevent Storage Vault Removal. Action to prevent the city from destroying storage vaults under the | sidewalks at Pennsylvania street I g,nd Massachusetts avenue as a part of the movement to widen Massachusetts avenue was pending in superior court 2 today. Suit for an injunction was filed by Fred E. Swaim. Weston W. Crooker and Charles A. Phelps, trustees of grand lodge of the Knights of Pythias. The city granted the order perj mission to build the vaults when jit built its buliding twenty-two | years ago. An order has been re- ! ceived from the city to remove the I vaults before Aug. 10. 63 MOTORISTS ARRESTED Twenty-Three Traffic Offenders Charged With Speeding. The toll of Police Chief Claude Worley's traffic safety campaign was raised Wednesday night by arrests of sixty-three persons, twentythree charged with speeding.
INDISPOSEIJMH 'J'HE knowing woman no | This kind of pain is just as yv 1 is ralgia, or other aches or pains for which the world takes Raver r ■ .% \ if i Aspirin. Try it for the days you v " „ 1 * ’ dread and your gratitude will ■ j Agjiii | < know no bounds. For these ■ <• f,| tablets are marvelously effective at such times, as nearly every * j|§| J| || : business or professional woman %■ fff?-i----has discovered. And physicians slifi '•< have declared there is no harm Jit ' > in their free use, for genuine Bayer Aspirin does not depress ™ S ’ the heart or upset the stomach. % 3&SPI.RiII§ Acplrin la the trade mark of Bayer Manufacture of Moneaceticacidestor of Salicylicaeid
THE HOOVER CO., NORTH CANTON, OHIO
CREDIT GIVEN FEDERAL BODY Report Says Farm Board Helped Wheat. B'J Bcrivos-Hoicard XctcsDaper Altianre WASHINGTON, Aug. B.—Credit for the recent upward swing in wheat prices is given to the federal farm board in a public statement today by Senator Arthur Capper of Kansas. “These seems good reason for believing,” said Capper, “that the presence of the farm board as a possible buyer of millions of bushels of wheat has had a deterrent effect on speculators who might otherwise be tempted to ‘bear’ the market downward.” That the still more recent crowding of wheat on to the market by farmers who have been tempted by the high price has worried the board, is evidenced by statements designed to check farmers in their wholesale shipping at this time. “It seems unfortunate to crowd wheat on to the market faster than facilities can handle it,” said the statement of the board. “All reports agree on a substantial reduction in world supply as compared to last year.” Sears, Roebuck Manager Speaks John Burke, manager of the local Sears, Roebuck & Cos. retail store, addressed the Advertising Club at a luncheon today at Columbia Club.
Offer—purchase a Hoover for a down-payment ’ much under the usual amount; the balance being payable in easy monthly amounts. We also give you a liberal allowance for your old cleaner. Simply telephone—we’ll deliver whichever Hoover model you wish; the de luxe style, or the popular-priced Hoover. Both models lave the exclusive cleaning principle, "Positive Agitation,” which makes it possible for The Hoover to remove more dirt per minute than any other cleaner. Hoover dusting tools and floor polisher at a slight additional cost, '
THE WM. H. BLOCK COMPANY VONNEGUT HARDWARE CO.
PETTIS LOWER PRICE STORE DOWNSTAIRS
CHILDREN!! Get Your Tick ets to “ROBIN HOOD'’ Sponsored by Pettis Downstairs Store. Come to our Downstairs Store for tickets, without charge, and information about same. Get your ticket at the Robin Hood Booth. Oriental, Aug. 12th Strand, Aug. 13th ' Uptown, Aug. 14th r
Close-Out Sale of All Blonde Shoes and Every light shade from beach tan to the lightest dream blonde shades. A wonderful assortment of styles with high, medium and low heels. Straps- ties, oxfords and pumps in the group. You’ll be surprised at the wonderful values, many reduced from our regular $4.98 groups. Also a group of shoes in brown, black and combinations, regularly $3.98 and $4.95, reduced to $1.98 and $2.98. —Pettis, Downstairs Store.
Patricia Grey Will Shop for Out-of-Town Patrons
Close-Out Sale of Summer Dresses SQJ9S Summer frocks, sleeveless and smart. Swagger pleats, stitching and belts. Lovely summer colors . . . yellow, orchid, flesh and whites3.9s. Crepes, prints, tub silks and georgettes, in long sleeve and sleeveless models. Popular colors , , .green, navy, flesh, pastel shades, white and gay colors, $4.88. Georgette, prints and crepe in these beautiful dresses. Every dress is a remarkable value. Long sleeve and sleeveless. Blue- red, black, white, polka dots and prints, $5.88. —Petite, Downstairs Stare.
Special Sale of New Fall Felts Friday and Saturday
$| .65 Becoming Styles!
In the Autumn Colors Brown Sand Wine Monet Green Black A Variety of Shapes from which to Choose.
All Summer Straws 50c and $1
—Pettis, Downstairs Store.