Rolling into the 1920s

By Marissa Sornoza

Eliot Ness started the Prohibition Bureau, which set penalties on the making and manufacturing of alcohol. Eliot Ness also was the leader of the “Untouchables”, whose mission was to take Al Capone and organized crime down. Below is an interview with Eliot Ness about the “Untouchables” and his ideas on Prohibition.

Sornoza: Hello Eliot Ness. Thank you for sitting down with me today to talk about Prohibition and the “Untouchables”.

Ness: Well thank you for having me.

Sornoza: Why did you start the Prohibition Bureau in the first place?

Ness: After Prohibition was passed, I saw that there was barely any enforcement from the police against Prohibition. The police were pretending to be blind to the crime and the people that were breaking Prohibition. I set up the Prohibition Bureau so my men and I could enforce this amendment and look closely at the crime going on around us.

Sornoza: Yeah. I have noticed that there hasn’t been a lot of enforcement, why do you think that is?

Ness: Police officers are known to be part of the common man. Prohibition is against the common man that likes to drink a beer here and there. Now you are asking police officers to enforce an amendment that they don’t agree with or don't want to enforce.

Sornoza: That is a great point. The Prohibition Bureau is known for being started because of the Volstead Act. Explain to me again what the Volstead Act is.

Ness: The Volstead Act was the act that was made to create the Prohibition Bureau. The government wanted a bureau that would set penalties against the people who were trying to break the amendment. Even though the government really wanted it, it was highly ineffective and really unfunded. Since I saw the Prohibition Bureau was beginning to fail, I started the “Untouchables”.

Sornoza: Oh I never knew that. So tell me more about how you started the “Untouchables”.

Ness: Ok definitely. The “Untouchables” were made again by the government to stop the rate of organized crime and Al Capone. The government asked me to lead this group. The “Untouchables” was made up of eleven U.S. agents in law enforcements. Our mission was to stop Al Capone.

Sornoza: How did you get the nickname the “Untouchables”?

Ness: We worked so hard to take down Al Capone. We were extremely fearless and brave. We tried all different ways to take down our number one enemy. People in the community saw that and nicknamed as the “Untouchables”.

Sornoza: Like you mentioned a couple of times, the “Untouchables” were meant to take down Al Capone. What made Al Capone your enemy and part of your mission?

Ness: Al Capone was one of the biggest gangsters in the time. A lot of people refer to him as “Scarface”. He did so many illegal things in Chicago that he began our enemy. Al Capone was going against Prohibition completely doing things that were illegal according to the amendment. He was making liquor and selling them in speakeasies

Sornoza: How did you try to bring down Al Capone?

Ness: We attack Capone’s beer and liquor by raiding the breweries where he made the alcohol and also raided the speakeasies that he sold the alcohol. After raiding Capone’s breweries, we noticed that more people were doing the same thing.

Sornoza: So what did you do to stop the others?

Ness: We began to raid those breweries and stills as well. Within six months, we seized at least a million breweries around the nation. We definitely achieved our goal.

Sornoza: You definitely did a lot for the cause of Prohibition and tried your hardest to end the rate of crime. You are a real historic icon so I would like to say thank you again for sitting down with me today.

Ness: You’re welcome. It was a real privilege to talk to you today.

Because of the work he did, Ness was eventually promoted to the Chief Investigator of the Prohibition Bureau for Chicago.