The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-10-03

gressionai election. he sent out cir- cuiars to the people insisting they
 should vote against any Congressman who would not promise. if elected. to vote for & law SO regulating inter- | state commerce.. that it would be im- possible to import any vinous. spirit uous Or malt liquors into the State from another state. His interference was resented. in this district, by the | election of a Congressman who would not make any such promise. The next | best thing was to get power. under | the amendment to accomplish the same thing in another way. Under the Constitution as 1t is, the Legisla- ture is powerless to prevent the keep ing of liquor for a mans own use on his private premises. Therefore it
 must be changed. The chiefs say, however, now, the amendment is in- tended to get this tremendous power to be used only to prevent the keeping | ce eANNca sh puDAAS RA1SOcs OoPOeAoiiy where other drinks are sold. Why then did not the amendment read somewhat as follows: 'The Legisla- | ture shall have authority to prevent l the keeping of vinous, spirituous or | malt liquors of any kind in any pub lie place where drinks of any kind | nr ha fo bfe would have accomplished that end, but that was not the end. The real end Is cautiously hidden out in the tail end of the second section of the | amendment and disclosed only in the word kept" That relates to keeping liquor in any quantity. for any pur- pose, or at any place, and gives power to prevent the keeping of liquor in | the home for a mans private use.
 | When they see the gathering clouds of wrath, they hold up their hands in 1 holy horror and cry out aloud to the people. Don't believe for a moment that a Legislature could be found so despotic as to wish to regulate the home in that respect" What faith can be put in such declarations from seSl menf The whole struggle of these people has been. as far as law could possibly effect 1t. to prevent mans having any right whatever to get or keep, or drink liquor, wine or beer, anywhere. They will keep 1t out of the home, if they can find the means. They have already ransacked the dead laws of Old and New Eng land for despotic methods in dealing with the question at places other than the home, and matched out a system. which breeds swarms of official and unofficial spies to outrage the citizen, under the stimulus of fees and threat ened Impeachment. Was the Legls- lature ignorant, or rather those who harsh that the placing of homemade wine on exhibition at fair would subject the buildings to search and put upon exhibitors the stain of prima facie a guilt? Are the men who engi- neered this legislation such dupes as not to know that 1t makes a criminal ! of the housewife. who makes scupper- I nong or blackberry wine even for her own use? The animus behind these laws is apparent. They are part and parcel of a scheme by brute force. in the name of the law, to un- make human nature and invade the l home. What citizen of Alabama would be willing to entrust Legislature with the discretion. even for an in stant, to strike down the safeguards vation of life, liberty and property without due process of law, or put 1t In the power of the Legislature to tamper with the articles which protect the freedom of religion or the right of free speech? Never has Constitu- tion been formed in any State that | the members or the pody framing It. did not carefully reiterate these great constitutional safeguards. Yet Brooks Lawrence and his advisers ask the people to surrender like rights and to take their protection out of the Con- stitution. and submit it to the discre- ton of a Legislature. They cannot deny that the use of the power he asks might make slaves of freemen if any Legislature be so minded. The dictator and his followers can meet this. only by saying they would be kind masters. and could be trusted not to abuse the power if only the people will give it to them. What a propo-
 sition to submit to freemen!
 Judging from the information that has come to The Advertiser, and also
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