The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1917-07-31
NORTH DAKOTA
CONSTITUTION
NOT BONE DRY
Judge Robinson Declares So Call
ed Blister Bill Neve:. Was
Legally Passed
LEGISLATURE L CANNOT ".
CHANGE OUR BULWARK
Section 217 Guarantees Every
Man Right to Private Stock
of Booze, He Says =.

OF Booze, He Says .
That North Dakota is not constitu-
tionally bone dry and that no state
legislature without amending the
constitution can make it bone dry, is
the contention Of Associate Justice
J. II. Robinson in a statement made
public today. Section 217 of the
constitution" says Judge Robinson,
"forbids only importations of liquor
for sale or gift. 1t forbids the i'm
portation Of liquor except for per-
sonal use. The legislature cannot in
any way amend or repeal the con-
stitution. They cannot add to or
take from it one jot or title. It is
the. supreme law" The justice dis
poses of house bill 80, the so-culled
"oone-dry" law, by taking the follow
ing exceptions: 1T was altered and
amended on its passage so as to
change it's original purpose it en-
w
is not expressed in its title; it was
not read three times, and there was
no third reading on the passage of
the bill; 1t is also void because it is
In direct conflict with Sec. PIT of the
constitution, which expressly permits
the importation Of liquor, except for
sale or gift." @
'I know my stand in this matter
may not be popular" said. Judge
Robinson but am not running
for Office, and my only concern is
that my opinions be right and just.
A law passed as this bill was is not
law, and no supreme court would
ever hold it such.''
This is continuation Of my let
ter of last Saturday. There is no
hone dry law in this state. Section
217--the prohibition section of the
constitution - forbids only importa
tions of liquor for sale Or gift 1t
forbids the importation of liquor ex-
Cept for personal use The legisla-
ture cannot in any way amend or re-
peal the constitution. They cannot
add to or take from it one jot or
little. 1t is the supreme law.
, ~. Purpose of Section
''The purpose of the prohibition sec
tion was to do away with the saloons
and the local traffic in liquors, and
not to make it bone dry, only for
that thriftless class of people who do
not know enough to care well for
themselves and their families With
a bone dry clause or sentence, the
chances are that the prohibition sec
tion would not haye BEEN adopted
either by the convention Or theFpeo-
pie, At the last session of the 1egis-'
1ative assembly two bills were intro
duced to amend, Or rather to over
ride Sec 217 of the constitution.
Senate Bill IS, as introduced and
printed, was bone dry; it did not per-
nit importation for personal USE, but
some good senators consulted Judge
Robinson and were advised that they
could not in that way override or
change the constitution, and the bill
was amended by striking out the
clause on personal use.
Regulating Druggists
"HOuse Bill 80 was bill for an act
providing regulations for the delivery,
receipt and possession of Intoxicating
liquors. The purpose of this bill was
to regulate the sale of liquor by
and not to override the
constitution. This latter purpose
was given to it by a hocus pocus
senate amendment. The bill, as
amended by the senate. came up in
the house for third reading and
final passage on the last day of the
session. The doings of the house on
the last day make a record covering
149 pages of the journal Seventy
nine bills we're passed with the yea
and nay votes taken and noted, and
among them was house bill 80. OIL
course it was not read. There was
no time for the reading of 70 bills
and no time for the legal calling of
the rolls and noting the votes, the
signing of the bills and various other
matters covering a record of 149
pages. I am told by one justice of
our court that he was present on
this day when the roll was called on,
13 bills at the same time.
The Constitution
"Now every provision of the consti-
tuition is imperative and mandatory.
and hence an act does not become a
law unless it is passed according to
these provisions
Sec. SO. No bill shall be so altered
or amended on its passage through
either house as to change it's original
purpose. ...,. ...r..s
Sec. 81. No bill shall embrace
more than one subject, which shall
be expressed in its title.
Sec. SO. Every bill shall be read
three several times, and the first and
third readings shall be at length.
Continued on Page Three)