The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1882-10-14
e lac Prohibition Amendment.

sac h~TCRtDls1Om n nae n0 IN e m
There is, we think, much useless
agitation in the country at present
on the subject of what is known al
the prohibition amendment" an6
many people have gone wild over il
who really know nothing of what
they are talking. Every candidate
who offers for any position must ex
press himself for or against "tht
amendment" When we say that
nine persons out of ten who advo
Gates the submission of the talked
Of prohibitory amendment touching
the manufacture and sale Of ardent
spirits, to the people to be rejected OF
adopted as part of our Constitution,
know nothing really of the subject
they essay to advocate, we speak adj
yisetlly..
Now let us inquire 1st, What
possible good can it do to engraft into
our Constitution these words: ain
West Virginia ardent spirits shall
neither be manufactured on sold p
End, What advantage does the mere
fact that these words appear in the
Constitution have over the fact of
their appearing in the statute book
as law ? Bird, Why cannot people
disregard Constitutional provisions
as readily as they can laws enacted
by virtue of those provisions 4th
and lastly, Wherein are we more able
topunish those who violate the Con
stitution than those who violate the
law p?
AT best the Constitution is but a
law, and has no power in the sup
preston Of crime over any legislative
1t contains no intrinsic
power, and after all it falls upon the
law making power, that in our State
is the Legislature, to enforce the pro-
visions Of tile Constitution by whole
some enactments. If we engrafted
a thousand prohibitory amendments
into our Constitution they would be
dead letters unless laws were passed
In support of them. If, then, after
the Constitution is amended, we have
to use moral force to drive our legis-
lators to make laws in support of the
amendment, why cannot we force
them to do the same thing without
the cost of the amendment ?
1t is actually the opinion of nearly
every one we have talked to on the
that if the Constitution pro-
hibited the manufacture and sale of
ardent spirits none would be manu-
featured or sold. There never was a
greater mistake. Suppose that the
trainers of the Constitution of the
United States had engrafted into
that instrument these words: "In no
State in this Union shall any one
commit murder, or steal, or swear
falsely" does anybody think that
that would have stopped murder or
theft or lying ? OF course not. The
himself had placed these
same prohibitions in the laws He
gave Moses on Mt Sinai, and. no
sooner were they promulgated than
they were broken. Now, if THAT same
Supreme Ruler had added to the
Decalogue thou shalt not manufac-
tare or sell ardent spirits" would
that have ended their manufacture
or sale? IT. therefore, men do not
regard Divine command entailing
such awful consequences as ''thou
shall not kill, what shadow Of reason
nave we to think that poor pitiful
human constitutional amendment
prohibiting the manufacture and sale
IF ardent spirits will be any more re.
spected or obeyed
England used to hang smugglers,
and yet smuggling went on ; and in
West Virginia if we were to prescribe
death to all who struggled whiskey
into the State the whiskey would still
come. Catching is always before
and no matter how much
we amend the Constitution the same
difficulty will remain in catching and
offenders that exists now.
We desire to state that we do not
write in the interest of any person
who manufactures, sells, or even
drinks whislley. We are opposed to
the use of it in all forms, save where
it is prescribed strictly in a curative
way by conscientious physicians and
in such scientific and mechanical
pursuits as render its use absolute
ly necessary. We are constantly an
eyewitness TO it's baneful effects,
which we deeply deplore-but we do
say in the face Of all this that the
people are wrong in endeavoring to
burden their Cons titution with
needless amendment, that will only
weaken it as an instrument and leave
the traffic in ardent spirits exactly
where it now stands. Everybody
admits that it is q dangerous thing
for country to tamper too often
with its Constitntion-that being an
instrument sacred in its nature. The
foundation Of the Government should