Norwich bulletin., 1917-12-29

II
 their arguments is surprising; yet, l may add that it is distinctly encourae- ing to the prohibition cause that they can find nothing but these old "cles'- nuts" to fall back upon. Why not get into line with the de cisions in recent years of the United States supreme court on this modern issue, and realize that the coast.tu- | tional status of the matter is practical, ly settled by the plain trend O. the court of last resort, and that the ',1ly question now remaining is whether the American people will follow tn tt trerG ard eliminate the alcoholic drink lraf- | fc or be destroyed by it. The real need is that these opponents | of prohibition, and indeed American citizens everywhere, shall wake up to | the new truth about alcohol; to the fact that the revelations of modern | science, abundantly confirmed by ex- perience, show alcohol to be not a food, not even a stimulant. but a deadly | nerve paralyzer and that it's effects, | so long thought to be beneficiary, are a delusion--possib1y a desirable delu- sion for temporary relief in some | physical emergencies, although the uniform experience of non-alcoholic | hospitals tends to discredit even that! | Certain it is that any considerable l or frequent use of alcohol as a drins'
 is unfailingly and without exception a ! damage to any and all who so use 1t. ! Isn't this true-does any intelligent person now gainsay it for a moment ! ! alcohol as drink? Even most of the l liquor men who are today advertising l their wares so eloquently know better than to drink the stuff themselves-as 1 you will find wherever you look into i the matter.
 l As to the traffic, can anybody name I a single place where alcoho, is sold as ! a drink which is not far more damag- ] ing than beneficial to the social order? l Then what possible standing has such | a traffic under the general welfare" i clause of the American constitution? 1 These are the real questions to meet, ! idea that somebody is trying to put something over on us as to legal or i constitutional methods, or trying to l interfere with the sacred right of l mans personal liberty to destroy | himself or damage the community! 1 The liquor question is primarily 1 national because the alcoholic drink | traffic, by the mistaken public policy 1 cornerstone of our national revenue i system, and on that rock the licensc 1 policy of the states has been built. l The recent enforced suspension os t;is- ] tilleries and the limit of the alcoholic | content of beer. as war necessity, is one welcome phase of the nationa! | crisis. and seems likely to prove as l effectual check upon what was threat ening to prove a still stronger in- ] trenchnnent of the liquor power. name l ly, an increasing dependence upon the 1 taxes from it.
 l The familiar statement that you | cannot make men moral or virtuous by l law" is entirely true, and have never | heard of any sane lawyer who made
 an attack from that standpoint upon hthe decalogue or it's several derivative | statutes down through Roman ances- try to English common law. Such is not the purpose of law, but "a ther so safeguard the commonwealth from
 manifestly evil institutions and evil | xr1I,i ioI, fl,A oiryt1
 It is we'll to keep always in mind the Gladstonian principle that it is the | business of the government to make l it as easy as possible to d6 right and as hard as possible to do wrong." l I am quite willing to concede that l the prohibitionists themselves do not | give sufficient attention to the moral considerations really underlying the
 creation of a public sentiment which l shall realize the truths upon which the law is based: as, for instance, in the 1 present problem. the truth as to the 1 nature and effect of alcohol.
 Now, allow me to consider briefly 1 the surprising 'strictufes offered by l some urcn the American method of 1 amending the constitution That aw full bugbear of which one editor speaks. ] "the principle that the federal government can regulate by consti- tutional amendment the domestic hab- its of the states of the union,' etc. is
 
 solidly "estab1ished" so it is too late to worry about it now Slavery was l once referred to a domestic in- stitution, but nobody now regrets that the slaves were enancipated and slav- cry abolished. even if certain states did, at the time, regard those govern mental acts as an interference. Let us not lose sight of the great under lying fact that emancipation and abo- Iition were legal methods. done in full accordance with the Fundamentals of the constitution and finally iEcor- porated and upheld by the court of last resort!
 The Civil war was not a necessary consequence, but came only because
 so many shortsighted people on both sides got mad about the matter, in table. preparing for it, and accepting it. as true Americans should. Ralph Waldo Emerson said that African slavery was doomed because it was l against nature" and the same indict ment can truly be made against the
 alcoholic drink traffic.
 II The established method of amend | ing the American constitution was originally adopted after full delibera- 1 tion by those who framed that instru-
 n1ent, as the whole the better way of attaining and maintaining "repre- sentative government" instead of the "pure democracy which some seem to advocate. This whole matter was thrashed out throush the French Rev oIltion- S well the American Revo- lution, and the American consultation is generally held to provide the best | form of government yet framed for the l welfare of mankind. Will anyone ques- ton thas statement? What we all need to do is to live up to established l American standards.
 Finally. add this concrete fact: Of all the amendments to the American constitution this far adopted by the
 method now objected to, not one has failed to work out for the national l welfare, and not one would be repealed by the people of this nation today isn't that true Are not the consti- tutional obJectors to prohibition now practically purposing to overhaul and reyamp the whole American frame work, in order to get a drink-even when they know that the drink isn't worth while when they get it? Let's