Farce Remedy

How much does the U. S. Government spend on Prohibition? From $13,000,000 to $15,000,000 yearly has been the usual direct appropriation for the Prohibition Department. Last week, however, Dry Senator William J. Harris, of Georgia, succeeded in getting the Senate Appropriations Committee to report a $25,000,000 increase in Prohibition funds. The Senator originally proposed $50,000,000, but the Committee halved the sum. The Senate as a whole has taken no action as yet on the proposal, which is a part of a current deficiency bill. Recently (TIME, Dec. 24) Wet Senator Bruce of Maryland suggested a $270,000,000 Prohibition appropriation, chiefly to focus popular attention on the amount necessary to enforce Prohibition properly. Prohibition Commissioner James M. Doran once estimated that $300,000,000 a year would be a tidy and appropriate Prohibition sum. The Bruce proposal was immediately discarded. Senator Harris, however, offered his suggestion in good faith, said that it would remedy "farcical" conditions of enforcement.