The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-01-30
Prohibition and Its ,Op-
 pOnentS Lock Horns,
Representatives of W. c. T. D. and Anti-saloon League Appear, as Does President of Ma
 tional German-Amer-
 ican Alliance.
Advertis r Bureau, Colorado Building,

| "uSHlnStOH, Jan. z9. | For the first time in many years the
 advocates of prohibition and its oppo-
 nents locked horns before a committee
 of Congress in the room of the House | Committee on Judiciary this week over
 the Hepburn bill. which provides that in-
 toxicating liquors lin original paclxages'' l shall be subject to the laws of the State or Territory into which they shall be
 introduced. In brief, the effect of the enactment of such a law would be to prohibit the consumption of liquors in States having prohibitory laws.
 l Thousands of petitions and memorials I opposing or favoring the enactment of the bill had been received by the Com | mittee on Judiciary, and at the hearing | the room was crowded with adherents of l the one side or the other Such a dis play of strength was not anticipated by | the committee. and it early became evil | dent that additional hearings would have to be given. Among those present I who favored the passage of the bill | were the representatives of the W. c. T. [. and the National Anti-Saloon League.
 In opposition were c. J. Hexamer, of | Philadelphia, president of the National German-American Alliance, together with | Gustave Voss, of New York, K. A. M. | Sholz of Baltimore, Captain J. A. ,Beiler of Indianapolis. Indiana. Noah Outer of | Newark, New Jersey, Adolph Timm of | Philadelphia, M. won Briesen of Wash ington, D. C.. and others representing this organization; President Theurer and Former President Kendall with Robert Grain of Baltimore, general counsel of 1 the United States Brewers Association; E. L. Jordan, the president of the Ma | tional Association of Retail Liquor Deal
 
 | counsel; and a number of others incud- ing members of Congress whose constit- | uents who are opposed to the bill. Among the latter were Representatives Sherley of Kentucky, Southard, Longworth and Gooch of Kentucky, Representatives Hep burn, Clark of Missouri, and others were also among the visitors.
 The advocates and opponents of the | bill promptly lined up. the former talk ] ing one side of the room and the latter the other. and the strong pleas for "pre- servation of the home" from the one side, and those for individual liberty" and "the protection of the minority against the majority on the other
 reused those present to the highest pitch
 of excitement with the result that after
 the session of the committee the discus l sion was carried on through the halls of
 the Capitol.
 l The advocates of the bill having been
 heard at length on prior occasions took
 the thirty minutes allotted them for q general presentation of the case from
 their point of view. Rev. E. c. Dlnwid-
 die of this city, on the legislative com-
 mittee of the National Anti-Saloon
 League, said there was no reason to dis l credit the wisdom of such legislation
 as the States had never surrendered their | right to protect the health, morals, or
 lives of their citizens under their police powers. Andrew Wilson, the attorney 1 for the District of Columbia Anti-Sa-
 loon League, discussed the constitution
 ality of the proposed bill, quoting at length from decisions of the Supreme | Court supporting his contention that | Congress had the power to enact such
 a law. There is not one case since the
 time of Chief Justice Marshall, he said,
 where the Supreme Court has failed to
 uphold this principle. Rev. Dr. James
 Cannon, Jr., editor of The Richmond
 Christian Advocate, argued that if local
 option could be had for countries and
 towns 1t should be had for States, and l that no other section of the country
 should have the right to project itself
 into our neighborhood without our con-
 sent"
 Mary Dye Ellis, of the Legislative Committee of the w. c. T. U., appealed
 to the committee in behalf of the local option communities. Turning to various members of Congress representing the States she mentioned, Mrs Ellis spoke of the prohibition sentiment in Kentucky. | Texas, North Carolina, Tennessee and other States, which she said, "are per meated with the spirit of prohibition" 7" AS several of the States she mentioned were represented by members who had fVR Naff to hn bill on behalf of their constituents. Mrs
 Ellis novel appeal attracted much att tention. "The greatest enemy to our homes today she said, lis the legaliz- ed liquor traffic"
 For the opposition Representative Bartholdt introduced Dr. c. J. Hexam- CT of Philadelphia, president of the Ma tional German-American Alliance. Dr. | Hexamer gave his sentiments in opposi- ton to the bill in a full round voice. speaking slowly and emphatically and | was closely followed by the representa- ] tives of both sides and the members of the committee. He opened by presenting resolutions adopted by the National Ex- ecutive Committee and endorsed by each State branch in the Union, calling at- tention to the fact that his organization was composed of over 6,000 associations and societies representing one and a half million voters. The resolutions set forth | that the Standardization citizens hold themselves second to none in their de- votion to the cause of true temperance, and to all that makes for the sanctity and purity of the home and decency and order in the State; "blt
 We are bitterly opposed to the passage of any law that destroys our rights of personal liberty; and for the protection of
 these rights we stand united as one body. AS free and sovereign members of free
 and sovereign people we believe that we
 have the right to regulate our lives and
 our homes as We see fit. The right 10
 drink our wine and our beer, and to lm- | port into our homes, We consider as ao-
 solute an attribute of human liberty as
 Is the right to buy other food. We Ger
 man-Americans have never allowed our love of iced and drink to degenerate mo
 intemperance or to interfere with the got d | of the community and We regard those bills an unrighteous invasion Of our
 manhood rights and of human freedom,
 and as one of the most misleading and | iniquitous measures ever introduced In
 Congress, and we pray for its defeat.
 Mir. HeXamer stated that these resolu-
 tions represented the overwhelming sent
 iment of the Americans of German origin
 amounting to one-tenth of the population
 and had been endorsed by over 700 news
 papers published in the German lan-
 guage Speaking in behalf of the minor ity in prohibition States. Mir. Hexamel said let us hope, MT. Chairman, that the spirit of liberty has not sunk so low hoIp hnf