The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-11-10
,Lzdee Coleman, Sage of Eutay,
 Warns Against the Amendment

tncluooo m euch uQuofs-
 TherahGssnss Ros1tleu.
 T win briefly notice Judge Thoring- tons position In The Ledger of the lth inst. I thihk his proposition un- sound In law, and his argument filog- ical. He areues that as the Fuller bill and the Carmichael bill were passed by the same Legislature which submitted the constitutional amend ment all should be considered togeth- CT to arrive sat the true meaning. and construed 70 ss to hArmoniss all and as the home was not mentioned In
 the amendment. and as one of the statutes especially declared the Con- stitution did not apply to the social use of such iiquors in the home we can not by implication include the home among the places contemplated. for that the homo l. never spoken of as . place, It is greatly hoped for. that no Contribution of Alabama will ever hArmonize with all the provisions of the Fuller bill. If there is' . word in the English language more often referred to as a place. than all others 1t is the home. Home, sweet home. there is no place like home and hundred others could be cited.
 First. hold that the principle in- voived has no application whatever. This is q constitutional amendment to be voted on. not by the Issgislature, shining of the Jurisprudence of Ala
 banaa from ninth Porter report to this day there has been one undeviating
 rulc of construction of statutes and constitutional provisions. and that is where the words are plain and unam- bfguous there is no room for con- struction or interpretation. The Leg islature must be held to mean what 1t clearly expresses.' What word or phrase in the second section of the proposed amendment can be seized upon as ambiguous.' Not one. It re- quired the ingenious mind of an fn-' genious lawyer to discover that inc home is not a place. He proceeds, if the amendment should be adopted the power would then be in the Legisla-
 ture to designate any other place than
 the nome as a place where such beverage should not be stored or kept Tn this sentence the Judra fn-
 place. As Contrast the amendment as
 framed with the amend
 ihens as Interpreted by. Judge Thor
 cocssa.,9 csealon ?. Nothing in the
 be so Construed as to prevent the tha Lesislature from designating such places where such liQuors may not he
 stored or kept.' Judge Thorfn rton
 says if adopted 1t must be read this
 way. may designate any other place
 .nan the home as place where such a.quofs may not be stored or kept. The authorities all hold if the ianguaxe
 used is unambiguous there ia no room
 for construction or Interpretation. but
 the provision must be held to mean what is 30 clearly expressed. The
 Judge says by Implication the home
 cannot be included but, 1t seems that
 he does not hesitate by Implication to
 exclude it, and that in the face of a
 uniform rule of constructions to the
 contrary. 'zeus Nodams.' Jupiter nod
 ding think the Judge equally unfor-
 tunate in his reference to the carmi-
 chaei and Fuller bills in this connec- ton. s gsss Y
 Seeks nzsre Authority. Y
 Tt Is well known that the LegissA- tnre, exhaustSd an n6f fits Gonsf tufional
 Authority and could 30 no farther without encoantering the bill Of rights
 as construed by our Supreme Court. There can be no reason for the pro-
 posed amendment If the purpose was
 not to enlarge the police power of the
 Legislature as to the search and seiz-
 ure of homes and persons. It would
 be without a field of operation if not l thus applied. This could not be done except by Q constitutional amendment. The very acts Of the Legislature re-
 ferred to. construed in connection with | the proposed amendment as contendAd for by Judge Thorington leaves no | room for doubt on this point, and with out this added authority to make it a crime. which 1t cannot do under the
 Constitution as 1t is. to store or keep wine or liquor at home. the Legislature could not pass a law authorizing the search of the home for wine stored or kept there. If the Legislature once se-
 cures the powers to designate such
 places where 1t cannot be stored or
 kept and such law Is passed. then the principle will be ct once invoked
 which justffes the search of the home
 for evidence that the offence has been
 committed or law broken. and away goes the liberty of the person and the sanctity of the home, This is precise ly what Is at issue.
 "No such power should ever be grant, ed to a Legislature whether 1t ever ex- ercises 1t or not The people should
 keep steadfastiy before them that 1t ia
 unwise to surrender or jeopardize one tota' of their rights which protects them from search and seizure in their homes. No such discretion should be given to a mere legislative body.
 "A short reference to Section |: 1t reads as follows: The manufacture,
 sale and keeping for sale of alcoholic and malt liquors and other intoxicat- ing beverages shall De forever prohib- tied in this Etate.' Is there any ann biguity in this statement of proposed organic law? Where is itf Where is there any room left for construction or | interpretation Does not the most or dinary intellect know that the 'manu- facture of liquors and intoxicating bev- erages are prohibited It says so in unmistakabie language and can mean nothing else. Can you think of any
 kind of an intoxicating drink used as | a beverage which Is not included in
 the terms alcoholic liquors and other intoxicating beverages am sure the l writer of that paragraph believed he
 had covered the whole ground, and I
 am equally sure that he did. If the
 manufacture or sale of wine had not been included why provide further on
 an exception. so that wine could be
 sold for sacramentals purposes. If wine | had not been included then there would have been no need of making wine an
 exception. A contrary contention seems
 to me to be puerile.
 "Our Supreme Court has defined both terms, alcoholic liquors and intoxi- eating beverages.' Any way the Log l isIature may pass a law without vio-
 lating this proposed amendment and make the manufacture of wine at home or abroad a criminal offence and then authorize the searching of your house to see whether you have violated the