The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1918-01-12

las ana andinx gauH with the dry
Gm anament ADDED tnother bad tanEie
20 the one which he made IN The
morning He had reached high
point OF orRtory on his cmlIn that the
smeudua emit proposed TO prohlbit en-
rgreIy the man ulacturs OF alcohol Tor
ala purposes ho had assured the
house that u would prossut the manu-
. facture of alcohol Tor scientific and
medical purposes and even the
MAKING 81 wane FOR the sacrament,
when another delegate called HIS ~
tenaon 10 the faet that the amend
AAent deals only with .ato&lcants IN
tended for beverages. Mr, Norris was
obliged 10 halt 70 his speech long
enough TO read the amendment twice
before ne could set his bearings and
start on again.
He called attention to the fact that
in the Eastern part Of the United
states there are seven states with "A
tytrl population Of forty millions and
containing three great cities. one the
second largest cdy in the world.
we are called upon" he said, to
,z,. to this forty million people that
lhcv cannot have ardent spirits no
matter whether they desire them or
/ not. SUPPOSE We adopt this amend
P uteEt How do We propose TO enforce
il. We will enforce it 10y the aid oi
federal officials sent in from other
sections to force this law down their
ihroats / trust that this invasion 81
tHc rights ar sovereign states may not
lead 10 such serious trouble at simi4al
action in other days, Yet VINO can
tcn?'
lie referred teelingly to open
threats made b. Ie New York "ofla
aud the New York Times that the
wet Northern states would re~Nstiate
upon Southern states b the adoption
Of force bin or some similar
measure IL the south should give it,
approval ia the amendment he said
th.lt tiIese papers are among the most
influential In the world and declared
that their argument was pertinent no
matter what organizations used II.
lie dwcH upon the idea Of the
consent Of the governed mentioned
in the Declaration OF independence
and insisted that no harm could pos
siblv he done bv referring the Issue
to he peoples vote hut insisted that
suulh Marin might be done If not re-
ferred to them Tie urged that pro
hibftioa would not be injured by Civ
ing its opposition fair chance To
hight Il,
We are not concerned he said.
about what Mississippi does. 1t is
enough tor us 10 know what the peo-
pie Of Virginia want TO do
Delegate F. J. Wright, of Rock
iuEham. declared that the state has
uuquesttonable right to protect iNseit
from the importation of liquor and
referred to the commissioner of in
surABee in support OF has statement
thar considerable difficulty Is encoun-
tered from tho activities OF men COM
ing from wet states, like Maryland
HE SAID that many OF the people OF
Rockingham who formerly opposed
prohibition are now In favor of II.
The organizations opposed to prohi-
Aitiou he said were In two groups
The local optionists and those who
said they would favor national pro-
hibHiou, but not statewide The local
opjiouists in his county, he said, had
been converted 10y experience that pro-
hibttiou is a good thing and he felt
assured that those who said they fav-
orcd national prohibition are still of
the same mind. 4 delay of two years
would be OF no avail IN deciding this
question. ~ooid mean, hrst 80
question the integrity of the vote by
which the people Of Virginia declared
themselves Ina favor OF prohibition;
second, it would give aid and comfort
to the liquor interests, though he did
not believe that was intended by those
who proposed the delay: and third,
T. would not make record OF which
the delegates wnuld be proud if we
brought the facts before them, with
their knowledge OF the interests of
tho people of the commonwealth, and
should they at'emrt to svsde their
manifest duty,
Delegate A. o Boschen. ~ Rich.
utoud. spoke with great vehemence
AGAINST the amendment and in favor
If referring the matter TO the people
lie insisted that prohibition IL . dead
issue in Virginia and said that he
trusted that there never would be nm
upen saloon in Nlg@+a+a again. lie
urged the delegates to consider the in
forests aud opinions Of other states
which differ from the interests and
opinions Of the people of Virginia and
urged chat they so slowly in EN-
croachine ON the sacred rights Of other
statea"
He insisted that Virginia has al
ways been among the slowest to adopt
any new idea II was siowest re seid
iu agreeing TO the federal constitu-
ton, refusing TO ratify II until II speci-
ned all rights not expressly granted
10 the federal government were with
held by tha several states, II was
Ei0WeEt too. he said. ia adopting the
ordinance OF secession.
The subject nj tho War Between the
states caused him 20 warm M consid-
crehly and he quoted a recent article
ny Vice President Thomas r, Marshall,
ir which the vice president said that
he would not DENY the right OF the
Southern states to seeede, without
doing SO in set words he left the i'm
preston that he expected the wet
states ~ seredr II the prohibition
amendment should be adopted,
MI Bosch en- insisted that the
amendment war antaRonlstic to de-
mocracy end on behalf Of our soidiers
who are engaged In the great military
task to make democracy safe begged
the dele gates TO keep democracy safe
here He thought that desn acraey
would be au right II tfe amendment
were not adopted He wound up with
peroratiou on the subject OF the
rights Of the people
Not 9 uanty CousfderstisR.
Delegate Howard C. Gtlner contro-
verified the idea that the present CON
! sideration ~ the dry amendment 10
hsaty In view or the present laws In
virginia supported ny federal laws
THE WE /