REVENUE MEN
LINE UP TO FIGHT BOOZE

The following is authorized by the Internal Revenue Collector, at Tacoma:

Plans for the enforcement of nation wide prohibition were announced yesterday by Commissioner of Internal Revenue, Daniel C. Roper.

The National Prohibition Act makes the Bureau of Internal Revenue the directing agency in the enforcement of both war time prohibition and prohibition under the constitutional amendment. Responsibility for its enforcement, however, is not confined to the Bureau but is distributed among Federal, state, county and municipal officers, every one of whom, Commissioner Roper said, is expected to do his full part.

Successful administration of the prohibition laws, Commissioner Roper declared, will be measured largely by the manner in which other than Federal agencies meet their requirements. In local communities local officers are expected to take the initiative. Not to do so, he said, will result in such action by Federal officers and it will be their duty to bring to the attention of the law abiding citizens of such communities the failure or dereliction of local authorities to assume their responsibilities under the new law.

Pending the organization of an independent force provided for in the National Prohibition Act, employees of the Internal Revenue Service qualified for the work and who can be spared from tax work, have been directed to cooperate to the fullest possible extent with the public and with state, county and municipal officers and with officers of the Department of Justice in the enforcement of the act.

To insure against delay, collectors and agents have been directed to confer with United States district attorneys with regard to the proper method of obtaining and presenting evidence, and to make all necessary arrangements to expedite court procedure.

In a statement issued yesterday appeal is made by the commissioner of Internal Revenue to "every law abiding citizen in the United States" for support in the administration of the prohibition laws.

"The National Prohibition Act is now the law of the land", said Commissioner Roper. "It makes the Bureau of Internal Revenue the directing agency in the enforcement of both war time prohibition and prohibition under the constitutional amendment. The Secretary and the Commissioner of Internal Revenue urgently expressed to both committees of congress the hope that this important responsibility would not be imposed on the Treasury Department, burdened as it is with fiscal and revenue matters. Congress decreed otherwise, and the Department purposes to respond in the fullest degree to the duty placed upon it.

"Not to enforce prohibition thoroughly and effectively would reflect upon our form of government, and would bring into disrepute the reputation of the American people as law-abiding citizens. No law can be effectively enforced except with the assistance and cooperation of the law-abiding element. We have accordingly put into operation the necessary organization to cooperate with the public in the rigid enforcement of the prohibition law, and as chief enforcement officer I appeal to every law-abiding citizen to give me his or her support.

"Close cooperatiin between Federal and state, county and municipal officers is of the utmost importance. Collectors have been instructed to get in touch with governors and mayors in each state and request their cooperation in urging upon sheriffs and all other local officers the vital necessity of their immediately assuming their responsibilities under the new act.

"We expect unreserved cooperation from those moral agencies which are so vitally interested in the proper administration of this law. Such agencies include churches, civic organizations, educational societies, charitable and philanthropic societies, and other welfare bodies.

"We undertake the task entrusted to us with a sense of assurance prompted by the same abiding faith in the people that enabled us to appeal to them successfully in the enforcement of the war revenue laws. The public has supported us nobly in tax matters and we are confident it will not fail to respond in the enforcement of a measure, which, like the income tax, now is a part of the constitution of the United States. I look forward to such enforcement of prohibition as will sustain the majesty of the law and the honor of American citizens and American institutions."