Presidents, don't always take the most popular stance on certain issues. In 1926, Calvin Coolidge, went against public opinion and requested firmer support of prohibition. Several years earlier, in 1920 the Bureau of Prohibition was established to enforce the National Prohibition Act of 1919, commonly known as the Volstead Act. This agency and the Volstead Act were created to back up the 18th amendment regarding the prohibition of the manufacture, sale, and transportation of alcoholic beverages. Initially, the agency was part of the Bureau of Internal Revenue, but on April 1, 1927 it became an independent entity within the Department of the Treasury.
The main function of the bureau was to stop the selling and consumption of alcohol. Agents fanned out into the nation's big cities to take down illegal bootlegging rings, and they became notorious for raiding popular nightclubs in cities like New York and Chicago. Public opinion was against the bureau and the agents, and state and local law agencies were very lax in the enforcement of prohibition and corruption was rampant. Prohibition actually did very little to stop the consumption of alcohol, it just pushed it underground but not necessarily in hiding. By 1926, there were thousands of speakeasy clubs operating out of New York City, and bootlegging operations sprang up around the country. Thus, in America, acts of disobedience (having a drink) became fashionable. among both the common folks and many elected officials. Calvin Coolidge spoke out in harsh tones against the "failure to support the Constitution and observe the law". He said that it ought not be tolerated by public opinion; It doesn't matter if we like the amendment or not. It doesn't matter if we like the constitution or not, all Americans must obey it. If we don't like it, then we have every right to seek legal methods of changing it, but we are a country of law. If inhabitants of this great country are allowed to disregard portions of the constitution that they do not like, then our system of liberties will break down and be destroyed. Here are the words of Calvin Coolidge in his 1926 annual address to congress.
"Failure to support the Constitution and observe the law ought not to be tolerated by public opinion. Especially those in public places, who have taken their oath to support the Constitution, ought to be most scrupulous in its observance. Officers of the Department of Justice throughout the country should be vigilant in enforcing the law, but local authorities, which had always been mainly responsible for the enforcement of law in relation to intoxicating liquor, ought not to seek evasion by attempting to shift the burden wholly upon the Federal agencies. Under the Constitution the States are jointly charged with the Nation in providing for the enforcement of the prohibition amendment. Some people do not like the amendment, some do not like other parts of the Constitution, some do not like any of it. Those who entertain such sentiments have a perfect right to seek through legal methods for a change. But for any of our inhabitants to observe such parts of the Constitution as they like, while disregarding others, is a doctrine that would break down all protection of life and property and destroy the American system of ordered liberty."
http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=29567
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bureau_of_Prohibition
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prohibition_in_the_United_States
http://asa-nc.com/the-history-of-prohibition-pt-10/1201418/
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d5/5_Prohibition_Disposal%289%29.jpg
This info is pretty inaccurate, don't use it if you're doing a presentation. The sources were helpful, though.
ReplyDeletePlease point out what is inaccurate. Did Calvin Coolidge not deliver these words to Congress in his annual address? Or are you trying to make the argument that prohibition was working and speakeasies were non-existent. If that's the case, then you disagree with Calvin Coolidge, not me.
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