The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-08-30
Shows That the Constitutional Amendment Would Be
 Void of Power
PROPOSED AMENDMENT
 NOT SELF-E
Declares That Legislature Will Not Be Bound By Ballard Measure if Passed-People of State
 Have Been Buncoed.

Mobile, August 29.-(Special) re- porter called on Representative F. o. Hoffman at his office yesterday morning and asked him if he thought there was any real necessity for an immediate cleo tion on the constitutional amendment, and he said that he did not He was asked for reason for such an opinion. and said:
 We have now on hand a we'll selected stock of counter-sunk, copper-rivetted prohibition statutes, said to be airtight and bomb proof, and warranted to stand any sort of strain or test, and in my Judgment this stock is sufficient to last the people at least until the general cleo tion in November, 1910. There is no inn mediate necessity to add to the stock on hand, which was purchased at consid- erable cost, new piece of machinery, which is not guaranteed, at a cost of more than S60,0O0 and as to the exact value Of which even coEnoiseurs in pro- hibition works of art have some doubts"
 MT Hoffman was asked if he would write out what he considered the stand ing of the proposed Ballard amendment, hhith icq0cSl Ilt 1dS CO1nDleu Wlln aS follows
 Hoffman's Statement.
 Tn addition to the questions raised in Montgomery as to the Ballard bill for the constitutional amendment l have wondered If the author of the measure remembered or ever heard of section 1oi of the, constitution, which says Pro vi4ed, nothing in this section O. article shall affect the right of the legislature to enact local laws, regulating or pro hibiting the liquor traffic
 ..The Ballard amendment. in substance, says the manufacture and sale of alco- holic, spirituous, vinous and malt liquors in the state of Alabama is forever pro- hibited
 Neither of these is self-executing. and both require some legislative enactment to give them vitality. The author of this amendment should have known that a constitutional provision must be self executing. else it takes legislative action to put the provision in force. He is a lawyer, but has not probably studied this branch of the law.
 .s Legislation Is the exercise of the sovereign power, and the legislature Is supreme and uncomfortable, except in the particulars in which this power is restricted by the constitution CRison vs. Farr, S7 Am. Dec. 52).
 'The legislature may take cognzance of these sections or not. as 1t sees fit, should the amendment be adopted.
 Legislature Prohibited.
 "As has been stated, the constitution prohibits the legislature from passing laws which suspend the writ of habeas corpus, and the passage of laws quarter ing troops in times of peace in any house without the consent of the owner. These provisions, however, are in the Bill of Rights, and are prohibitions or restric- tions upon the supreme power of the legislature.
 ''The prohibition sought to be engrafted upon the constitution by this amendment is against the individual and Is, there fore, an entirely different matter.
 ITO indicate what is meant by self-ex- ecuting provisions of the constitution, which require no act of the legislature to make them enforceable, we have the following illustrations: Section 127 pro- yiding for succession to the office of gov ernor, in the event of death or disability, and practically all of the sections in the article on the executive department are self-executing All of the articles on suf- frage and elections, except those sec tions which relate to the registration of voters and holding of elections, are self executing, and even provide the pun 1Shment to Oe lHlucteu Ior NioidtioHS ol the provisions.
 "There are also many mandatory pro- visions in the constitution requiring the legislature to pass certain laws viz: To pass laws to punish bribery and corrupt solicitation of members of the legislature, and providing they must be imprisoned in the penitentiary. and that the legisla- ture shall provide by law for the trial of such cases; to pass laws to ascertain the value of property exempted from sale under legal process; to pass laws to pro- vide by law for the regulation of com mon carriers, and many others. All of these laws have been passed as required by the constitution.
 Not SeIf-Executlng.
 ''The Ballard amendment Is not only not self-executing, but has no mandatory provision requiring the legislature to pass any law in connection herewith, or pro vide for it's enforcement.
 Tt was stated upon the floor that We will put this law into the constitution and thereby forever set at rest this great moral question. The speaker had evi- dently not read the bill.
 Assuming that the legislature should refuse to take cognizanoe of the proposed amendment if 1t should become law. and should repeal all the prohibition statute on the books, where are we atY The adoption of the amendment has not for all time settled the question.
 'Tt will be said that Alabama will never elect such a wild legislature. l don't think any sane person would have predicted this legislature would have become so wild if the prediction had been made when they took the oath of office In Jan uary, 1907 If this body Is a sample of what is to follow. predictions become matter of considerable difficulty If one de-, sires to be on the safe side.
 of the Ballard amendment is not self executing. and section 1o4 has any ef- feet, and the whole matter will be left IS a bone of contention, to be growled and fought over in the next legislature, then the lacl of necessity for the coming cleo