The Topeka state journal., 1914-01-22

Shattuck In the January Case and
Comment. The right to sell intoxt-
eating liquors IL not one Of the priv
ileges and immunities Of citizens Of
the United States within tho meaning
Of the 18th Amendment.
The right OF the states to prohibit
absolutely the manufacture and sale
of intoxicating liquor within their
borders, and the constitutionality OF
such prohibitory laws. IL forever set
tied in the United States. The Ques-
ton first arose in the United States
supreme court in 1S47 in the So
called License Cases. where the con-
stitutionality Of certain very restrict
i've laws Of Massachusetts. Rhode
Island and New Hampshire was unan-
imously sustained: each Justice writ
ing a separate opinion. and Mr. jus
tice Grier remarking that II loss or
revenue should accrue to the United
States from q diminished consumption
of LIQUORS, she would be q gamer .
thousandfold in the health. wealth
and happiness Of her people.
Following this decision. absolute
prohibitory laws many times since
have been declared constitutional by
the Same court.
OF the states Of the Union. 2s have
are now under such laws: Georgia,
Kansas. Maine, Mississippi. North
Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma,
Tennessee and West Virginia Ito go
into effect July /. 1914); and in all
Of these states, SO far az the question
has been passed upon. the laws have
been upheld AZ constitutional.
OF the other states. II have had
prohibitory laws, but have repealed
or nullified them, or the laws have
been declared unconstitutional: Ala
bama, Connecticut, Delaware. Illinois,
Indiana, Iowa, Massachusetts,. Michi-
gan, Nebraska, New Hampshire. New
York, Rhode Island. South Dakota
and Vermont. In those states. with
two exceptions, the laws. SO far az they
were passed upon. were also upheld
by the courts as constitutional.
And the constitutional right of the
state to prohibit the liquor traffic has
many times been affirmed by the
courts OF states which were not pro-
hibition states. No state court could
be expected to do otherwise. in view
of the oft-repeated decision on this
point by the supreme court OF the
United States.
The prohibition states. without ex-
ception. show large benefits coming
from the law. In Georgia. after only
a year of prohibition, great dement's
were experienced by the people at
large. The police courts OF the larger
cities practically went out OF busi-
ness: and the unspeakable crime
against women will doubtless disap-
pear when the brain Of the docile
African is no longer infuriated and
rendered careless of consequences by
drink. In Mississippi the law works
we'll; crime has been greatly reduced.
In North Carolina the law has de-
creased drunkenness and crime; the
good effects may be seen In all Sec
tions of the state. Prohibition In
North Dakota has been success;
there are absolutely no open saloons
in the state and comparatively few
blind pigs. In Oklahoma there is q
strict enforcement Of the law in 80
per cent OF the rural districts and
small towns; bootlegging is mostly
broken up in the larger cities except
where the police department is not in
with the law. or where the
sheriff OF county attorney or both
have been men Of loose habits. easily
by the vicious elements.
Ex-Governor Glenn of North Caro-
lima once said: "In Maine. II I wished
to find a place where one might get a
drink, I was compelled to get a guide
for the purpose. In New York. 1t
takes a guardian to keep a man from
getting a drink even when he does not
want one"
Perhaps Kansas shows the most
definite results. since it il one of the
oldest prohibition states (1S8o). and
since its law is the strictest, and es-
since that law has recently
been comparatively well enforced. OF
the los counties in the state 81 have
no insane, 81 no feeble-minded. 90 no
IS no prisoners serving
sentences. 3S county poor farms have
no inmates. So county 1ails are empty.
Kansas is the richest state In the
Union per capita; the death rate has
dropped from IT to IN per one thou
sand. OF the 700 newspapers and
in Kansas, less than a dog
en- carry whisky adv. rtisements. H.
has dropped to less than per
cent. Thousands Of men and women
with homes of their own have never
seen a saloon. Pay checks that used
to go to the saloon now go to bank
accounts.
GOOD BUILDING YEAR AHEAD.
The year 1913 has been a very sat