Bootlegger’s Bonanza: Prohibition Plan Unleashes Chaos

On November 7, 1929, Senator Harry B. Hawes of Missouri delivered a scathing rebuke to a proposed amendment to the Volstead Act, arguing it would give bootleggers a free pass and unleash a new wave of lawlessness. Speaking to a national radio audience, Hawes condemned the plan, which would hold customers of illicit liquor equally responsible as the sellers. This would not only provide additional security to the bootleggers but also create a new field for black marketeers and embolden gangland operations.