There have been two organizations called the Voluntary Committee of Lawyers. I. The First A group of highly influential lawyers formed the first Voluntary Committee of Lawyers (VCL) in 1927. Its goal was to promote Repeal of National Prohibition (1920-1933). Joseph H. Choate, Jr. headed the group. Its corporate charter stated three things. The Eighteenth Amendment …
Pauline Morton Sabin founded the Women’s Organization for National Prohibition Reform (WONPR) in 1929. She had earlier been a staunch supporter of National Prohibition (1920-1933). However, over time she came to realize that the social experiment was ineffective. She also saw that was causing many very serious problems. In short, it was worse than doing …
M. Louise Gross founded and headed the Women’s Moderation Union (WMU). This helped belie the Woman’s Christian Temperance Union‘s (WCTU) insistence that it spoke for American women. The president of the WCTU had shouted before Congress that she spoke for all American women. That was in an effort to enhance her political power. Gross decided that …
The Woman’s National Committee for Law Enforcement (WNCLE) was a federation of Protestant women’s organizations. It formed in 1922 to promote more vigorous enforcement of Prohibition laws. Organized at both the national and state levels, it claimed membership of twelve million women by 1932. Note that it is often spelled the Women’s National Committee for Law …
Prominent Republican “wets” (supporters of Repeal) formed the Republican Citizens Committee Against National Prohibition. It was in December of 1931. Founders included Henry B. Joy, Lammot du Pont, Joseph H. Choate, Jr., Raymond Pitcairn, Thomas W. Phillips, and Robert Cassaft. Goal They formed it before the 1932 Republican National Convention. The goal was to pressure …
Business leader Fred G. Clark founded The Crusaders in 1929. National Prohibition (1920-1933) was causing many very serious problems. They included bootlegging, gangerstism, and rampant violence. Fred Clark was appalled at the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre in Chicago. Rivalry among competing bootlegging gangsters led to that horrible massacre. The group didn’t work at the national …
The American Federation of Labor (AF of L)formed Labor’s National Committee for the Modification of the Volstead Act (NCMVA). That was in January of 1931. The Volstead Act was the law that implemented the Eighteenth Amendment that established National Prohibition (1920-1933). Matthew Woll Matthew Woll co-founded and then headed the LNCMVA. He testified before a …
Joseph H. Choate, Jr. chaired the Voluntary Committee of Lawyers (VCL). VCL was a group of highly influential attorneys formed in 1927. It promoted the repeal of National Prohibition (1920-1933). With its urging, the American Bar Association called for Repeal in 1928. Choate and the VCL worked closely with other repeal organizations. They included the …
James W. Wadsworth, Jr. (1877-1952) was a leader in the Association Against the Prohibition Amendment. New York voters elected him to the State Assembly in 1904 . He became Speaker of the Assembly in 1905, serving until 1910. Wadsworth briefly managing his family’s ranch in Texas. Then he headed the New York state delegation to …
The Anti-Prohibition Congress was held in Brussels in 1922. Politicians from Belgium, Britain, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Italy, Norway, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland attended. The Congress was viewed as a threat to National Prohibition in the U.S. which, at the time, had been in existence less than two years. Roy A. Haynes Commissioner Roy A. …
