Bootlegger’s Best Friend: Senator’s Scathing Rebuke of Sheppard Amendment

In a scathing address delivered on November 8, 1929, Senator Harry B. Hawes of Missouri denounced the proposed amendment to the Volstead Act, which aimed to make the purchaser of liquor equally guilty with the seller. Speaking at the National Radio Forum, Hawes condemned the plan as a boon to bootleggers, providing them with additional security and creating new opportunities for blackmailers and gangland operators.

According to Hawes, the Sheppard amendment, sponsored by Senator Morris Sheppard of Texas, would essentially confess that Prohibition under the current law has failed. ‘We are now asked to include many millions of our people in a new criminal class,’ Hawes declared, highlighting the absurdity of the proposal.

Hawes’ address was a response to Sheppard’s earlier defense of the amendment, which he had delivered the previous week. Hawes expressed his preference for an alternative amendment that would aid law enforcement and reduce crime, rather than perpetuating the failed policies of the Volstead Act.

The Senator’s words were a biting critique of the Sheppard amendment, which he saw as a recipe for disaster. By making the purchaser of liquor equally culpable, Hawes argued, the amendment would only serve to embolden the underworld and further erode public trust in the law.

As the nation grappled with the challenges of Prohibition, Hawes’ address served as a stark reminder of the high stakes involved. His words would likely resonate with those who had grown disillusioned with the failed policies of the Volstead Act, and would only serve to fuel the growing debate over the future of Prohibition in America.

With the Sheppard amendment still pending, one thing was clear: Senator Hawes would not stand idly by as the nation continued down the path of failed experimentation. His courageous stand against the Sheppard amendment serves as a testament to his unwavering commitment to justice and the rule of law.