The Washington herald., 1914-12-13

the organization Oh Social cluos AOE ~
other purpose than the sale Of liquor 70
members, and Il Is more difhcult to draw
the line between good and bad clubs
than It was between good and bad sa-
looms. We have stopped trying, and
liquor is as openly sold in Memphis now
as II ever was. It is sold by worse men
under worse conditions, and 1t has de-
moralIzed the police and even the police
courts. with charges of graft against
everybody who is responsible for the en-
forcement OF law.
''JJntiI we in Tennessee, can enforce our
own prohibition laws. / am opposed to
writing prohibition into the Federal Con-
stitution to invite the United States mar
shals to come into the State and take
charge as they once tried to do In the old
carpet-bag days"
'aThe condition in Maine is just as bad"
said a New England Representative.
The prohibition law is such q farce
there that the mayor of Bangor recently
threatened to close a saloon because in
walking along the street he was hit by
beer barrel rolled across the sidewalk.
He said II would be q reflection on the
State Of Maine II the mayor Of that city.
under prohibition law, should be killed
or even have his leg broken by beer
barrel. Maine has tried for forty years
to enforce prohibition and failed. They
have become accustomed to the farce up
there, and II would be just as great a
farce under Federal law, for Maine has 4
long boundary on Canada, and long
seacost to encourage smuggling. 1t would
take an army to enforce the law in
Maine, and the hundred years of peace
between Great Britain and the United
States might be seriously disturbed and
the old hostilities between Maine and
New Brunswick revived with such a DEM
onstration. We had better leave Maine
alone with her own prohibition farce
rather than try to have Uncle Sam do
police duty up there" laughed the New
England member.
Conflict with Tenth Amendment.
Another Southern members took the
position that the proposed amendment,
IL adopted, would come in conflict with
, the tenth amendment to the Constltu-
ton, which guarantees that the pow
ers not delegated to the States by the
Constitution, nor prohibited by 1t to the
States. are reserved to the States re-
spectively, or to the people. That tenth
amendment was proposed by nearly all
the thirteen original States as a condi-
ton Of their ratification OF the Consti-
| tuition said he. The States were par
ticularly jealous of their police powers.
and one of the first proposals made In
the Constitutional convention was by
| Roger Sherman, that no amendment
should be adopted without the consent
| Of all the States. The proposition was
not adopted by the convention and it
came up again from the States in the
| amendments proposed by the States as
! necessary to the protection Of their po-
lice powers and as a condition on which
they accepted the Constitution. There
was never any question raised against
| this reservation of the police powers
| Of the States. They plainly declared
that they reserved those powers and did
not surrender them TO the Federal gov
ernment. A great many lawyers believe
that this reservation remains in the Con-
stitution and that the police power cannot
be taken by the Federal government
without the full consent OF all the States.
The Hobson amendment would destroy
that guarantee unless every State &C
cepted 1t. do not believe that the Fed
eral government can take this power II
it would. without practically destroying
the principles on which the Federal gov
ernment was created; and / believe that
should this amendment be submitted by
Congress and ratified by the thirty-six
smaller States. We shall have raised by
the great States OF the North a more
serious question than that over the aboli-
ton of slavery.
THE Supreme Court would have put
UP " II IHt DlBBtsI II mas
ever had to decide, and a decision favor
able to the amendment would then have
such consequences as the Dred Scott
decision. I do not believe the large
States with their tremendous interests
and responsibilities will ever submit
to have the smaller States take from
them their police powers, for when they
surrender those powers they will lose
their power to maintain separate State
governments and municipal governments
too and Uncle Sam will step in as the
policeman, and the sheriff and all law
will be enforced by United States mar
shals."
Mr.. Underwood Is understood to favor
an early vote on the Hobson resolution
to get the bogy out Of the way OF the
regular business of the session. The in
dications are that the resolution will
fail OF two-thirds vote in the House.
and some of the opponents assert that
1t will not command a majority vote
The necessity for continuing the war
revenue" legislation indefinitely, and
the estimates calling for more than 1900
900 a year to meet the expenses Of the
government, make this an inopportune
time, opponents OF the amendment in
sist. TO try the experiment Of national
prohibition, with the abolition of nearly
$500, 10000 Federal revenues and many
millions Of State and municipal revenues"