The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-10-11
JUDGE WALKER
 BARES SCHEME
(Continsed iron Page One.)

Hhaoe great progress toward wtpin(
 out the saloon. Most Of us remember
 when there was & doggery at nearl,
 every country cross roads. When {
 majority of the people in those commu
 mites wanted to get rid of the saloon
 the Legislature always allowed ii
 Prohibition was growing through tn, operation of local seif-government
 This was effected through local op
 ton.
 But we nave got new brand o
 proht now. Unwilling to leav,
 the power of enforcement to the peo
 pie of the State. the Legislature hal
 enacted new set of laws fashioned ir
 the presumption that the people are nt
 longer capable of governing them
 selves. They are no longer willing tS
 trust juries to see that the liquor
 laws are enforced and have fixed 1t sc
 that any person can enter the chan. cery court and infiict upon an enemy
 all the penalties and humiliation O, criminal misconduct, without making any bond or fixing responsibility. Il
 there Is nothing in the case-if il proves to be Q fiasco with no founda-
 tion to 1t, who pays the costf Why
 the costs of the frivolous cases will be
 taxed up against the people of Madi- | son County.
 | NoWs aAtCT cHdCttuB tuS HlObt ut as | tic and far-reaching prohibition laws that any State in the Union has eveI had. the prohibitionists propose to put | up a barrier so that no future Legis- | lature can go in and repeal 1t. The | adoption of the amendment means car. | rying to a still further extent the radi- | cal legislation by which the new scheme of prohibition is expected tc be saddled upon the people of Alabama | weakley or the Courtf
 "The Second Section says: Nothing in the Constitution of Alabama shall | be construed to prevent the Legisla- ture under the police power from des- | ignating places where such liQuorr may not be stored or kept Judge | Weakley says this section does not mean this. Tn the future, provided this amendment Is adopted. and some case comes up in court for decision and l the second section Is brought up. whai will the court consider-whrt Judge Weakley says about its m, aning or will the words themselves be used' The prohibition people say 1t does moi mean so and SO, but then why did
 they not use words that express theiI
 meaning? They would have saved
 themselves a great deal of explaining
 had they not shown such fll-advised
 haste in constructing the amendment | They explain that no Legislature | will make 1t unlawful to keep liquor in the home. that the second section does not mean for this to be done Considering our experience with the present Legislature. will anyone under | take. to forecast what might be done by a Legislature in the future? They say that the amendment does not give 1 the Legislature the right to make homes unlawful places for the keep | ing of liquors. and they also say that | no Legislature will avail itself of the power conferred upon 1t by the second | section.
 "Since the English barons wrestee | the Magma Charta from King John. the English -sp eaking people have consid- cred their home as their castle and the inherited rights that remain to us within our homes are not to be lightly cast aside. 1 Safeguard of People.
 "The constitution Is the defender oi | the fundamental rights of the people and there Is scarcely ever Legislature lthat does not come against some of its restrictions. It Is the only safeguard | the people nave against having their rights swept away by sumptuary and fanatical legislation.
 Don't deliberately surrender the rights that you now have under thif constitution unless you are ready tc change your form of government and be governed by a Czar. If you have Q friend on the other side, and I know you have, ask him the meaning of the second section of the proposed amend ment. Ask him if 1t is ratified if the next Legislature will not regard the vote of the people on this propositiot as having given the Legislature the right to pass a law against the keep ing of liquor in the homes of the peo- pie. The Legislature will certainly re- gard a majority for this amendment as an expression of the peoples wish to have this drastic law enacted.
 "The Legislatures of the variouf States make a powerful thing of the police power that is delegated to them The higher courts have sustained these laws presuming such to be for the reg ulation of the communities where they are in effect and that majority of the people uphold them. So long az the laws enacted under the police pow CT show this tendency, the courts VIII continue to sustain them, but when they undertake to regulate the individual conduct of people, the courts will say that such Is not matter within the proper scope of legislative control .. our Alabama Legislature undertakes tc change this principle and presumes to control mans most private conduct.
 "The Legislature says you must be a tetotaller because a majority or tht legislators believe in the principle or tetotallism. It may not be that thii majority of our Legislature practice total abstinence, but that Is what they claim to believe in and the people of the State must regulate themselves ac- c0rdingly."
 Judge Walker said the best way tc fight the amendment is for every mar to call the attention of his friends now In favor of it to the plain meaning of the second section. Making 1t part of the constitution will mean the de- | liberate surrender by the citizens or | the right to conduct themselves az | they choose so long as their conduct does not hurt anybody else.
 Individual liberty" has been char acteristic of this government" he con tinued. from old colonial times. The tax on tea started the Revolutionary War. The people of the colonies did | not make their fight for liberty because of that little tea tax in truth. but they made war on the declaration of a | wrong principle put in effect by Eng land. that of taxation without repre- | sentaton."
 Invasi0n of Homes.
 In conclusion, Judge Walker said:
 If. under the constitution. the Leg 1 islature has the right to designate | homes as places where liquor may not be kept, has it not the right also to invade your home to see that the law
 Is observed?
 | This amendment would put you al the mercy of the missionary from Ohio