The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1917-07-31
Underwood Makes Speech Against
Proposed Plan to Vote On Liquor

i"Niiu.hss " 4LVe IN harmony in one great
republic.
WOULD SACRIFICE PRINCIPLE
We will have broken down the prin-
ciple OF local SELF government A ma :
| tional force bill providing for the super
vision of state elections by United
States marshals was at one time pro-
| posed in the Congress of the United
States The theory of this bill and the
one now under consideration are identi-
cal. 1t was an attempt on the part of
| the federal government to interfere with
the sovereign power of the states and
was repudiated by the unanimous sem
timent of the constituency that 1 have
the honor in part to represent
Let me call to your attention what was
said on this subject by the foremost
| democrat of his day. General Andrew
Jackson said:
In the domestic policy of this gov
eminent there are two objects which
| especially deserve the attention of the
people and their representatives, and
which have been and will continue 10 be
the subjects of my increa sing solitude.
They are the preservation of the rights
of the several states and the integrity
OF the union.
OBJECTS ARE CONNECTED
These great objects are necessarily
connected and can only be attained by
an enlightened exercise of the powers
of each within its appropriate spheres
in conformity with the public will consti-
tutionally expressed. To this end it be-
comes the duty of all to yield a ready
and patriotic submission to the laws con-
stitutionally enacted, and thereby pro-
mote and strengthen a proper confidence
in those institutions of the several states
and of the United States which the peo-
pie themselves have ordained for their
own government.
My experience in public concerns and
the observation of a life somewhat adj
yanced confirm the opinion long since
imbibed by me that the destruction of
our state government or the humiliation
of their control over the local concerns
Of the people would lead directly to rev.
olution and anarchy and finally to des-
potism and military domination. In pro-
portion, therefore, as a general govern
ment encroaches upon the rights ofSthe
states, in the same proportion does it
impair it's own power and detract from
its ability to fulfill the purposes of its
creation"
VIEWS OF JEFFERSON
In my humble judgment no man has ever
lived within the confines of this repub-
lie who has had a clearer conception of
the great principles of democracy and
the right of free people to govern
tlACHlStlN co tftIl ulu the dulnOT OIL the
Declaration of independence.
Bearing on the subject before u.s.
Thomas jefferson said:
Our country is too large to have all
its affairs directed by single govern
ment. Public servants at such a dis
lance and from under the eyes of their
constituents must from the circumstance
of distance be unable to administer and
overlook all the details necessary for the
good government of the citizens. and
the same circumstance by rendering de-
lection impossible to their constituents,
will invite the public agents to corrup-
ton, plumber, and waste.
1t is not by the consolidation or CEN
tralizaton of powers, but by their distri- |
button, that good government is effected. |
Were not this great country already di-
vided into states, that division must be |
made that each might do for itself what |
concerns itself directly and what it can |
SO much better do than a distant au-
thority.
When all government, domestic /and |
foreign, in little as in great things, shall |
be drawn to Washington as the center !
of ali power, it will render powerless |
the checks provided of one government |
on another and will become as venal |
and oppressive as the government from
which We separated"
! do not believe there is such threat !
is necessary for us to take from our
states their control over local affairs
and lodge the power with the govern |
ment in Washington Such principles up |
to this time have never been entertained |
by the great men who have presided over |
the destinies of the nation.
WILSON QUOTED
President Wilson expressed himself |
clearly and forcefully on the subject |
some years ago when he SAID.
II am in favor of local option. / am |
a thorough believer in local self govern- |
ment, and believe that every self-gov- |
erning community which constitutes |
social unit should have the right to con- |
troll the matter of the regulation or |
Withholding of licenses. But the ques-
tons involved are social and moral, and |
are not susceptible of being made parts |
of party programme. Whenever they |
have been made the subject matter of |
party contests they have cut the lines |
of party organization and party action |
athwart to the utter confusion of politi- |
cal action in every other field. They
have thrown every other question, how
ever important, into the background, and |
have made constructive party action |
impossible for long years together"
If the people of my state desire to pro-
hibit the manufacture and sale of alco- I
holic beverages within the confines of /
the state it is their right and privilege
to do so, but can see no reason why |
they should desire to invade the> lives
and homes of the people of sister state |
and force upon them a law that they are |
as vet unwilling to accept
The people of the state of Colorado |