Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1919-11-08

supplying, storing, or dealing In any
necessities; to restrict tho supply Of
any noccsSaries; to restrict distribu-
ton OF any necessaries etc"
action of the United Mine Workers
in agreeing TO limit and discontinue
tho supply of bituminous coal unlaw
ful and punishable under these laws.
No one is asking whether this act
of Congress was or is constitutional.
Tho constitution OF tho United Stat
es by some unknown and uneXplain-
eded process becomes active and II,
active ut the bchcst of the Depart
injuro the Negroes years ago: it is
utilized to put out OF business the
laboring clements today.
But there is another provision i'll
this law. It reads:
'"Fhat the provisions of this act
shall cease to be in effect when the
existing state of war between the
United States and Germany shall
have terminated, and the fact and
date Of such termination shall be as
ccrtaincd by the President"
In vetoing the acts Of the Congress
providing for tho enforcement Of War
,1>;t prn1, Ia ion
Amendment, President wilson dcclar-
cd that the purposes for which the
emergency measures were enacted had
ceased. A state Of war no longer OK
listed. The Department Of (m JUS
ticc is therefore proceeding under Il
congressional enactment that as a
matter OF fact rather than as mat
ter Of tcchnicality is no longer In
force and effect.
If the ban upon liquor should be
lifted because of the cessation of war
conditions then the han upon labor
should he lifted for the same reason.
But what is the use of applying the
rules OF logic to existing conditions
today. These rules are not being OBJ
served by the Cove nmcnt itself,
why should they be carried into er--
feet by the individual.
The Richmond mes-Dispatch says:
In his message vctoing the prohi-
enhancement hn
declared that the part of the meas
urc making more rigid what IS know II
us wartime prohibition should not
have been enacted for the reason
that the emergency which seemed TO
make wartime prohibition necessary
had passed and instead of becoming
more drastic, tho temporary prohibi
ton should be repealed entirely
Immediately after the veto message
was made public the miners seized up
on ii rs Il justification Of the POSI-
ton which they had taken to the CT
feet that the war actually was over,
that the emergency OF the war had
passed, and that the contract which
they were aCcuc ed by the President
himself Of having violated had been
vitiatcd. 1t must be confessed that
there appears Il measure of inconSiSt
cncy in the two executive uttcranccs.
Technically. Of course, tho war is
not over and will not he until peace
has been proclaimed The miners
know this rs surely as do any other
in progress to the extent that coal
miners should work under war
time agreement, it would seem to be
in progress enough to make wartime
prohibition desirable.
This then is an outright charge
that President Wilson Numbered.
This ably edited journal concludes as
follows:
That the President did not in real
ity contradict himself in his veto mes
sage may be indicated, however, by
the fact that he has not lifted the
wartime prohibition ban rs he is au
thorizcd to do as soon rs peace has
come. He has merely stated that Con
gross might properly repeal that law
since the rehabilitation OF the army
has been accomplished, and there is
now no longer any necessity from
military or naval standpoint for pro
hibltins the sale Of Intoxicating Ii
quors
We are living in an age Of deccpt-
ion and misrepr escntation, when the
people will not stand sound doctrine.
Nearly all of four leading men, both
white and colored are weather-vanes
watching the way the popular wind
blows and adjustings their views an
their principles to the prevailing sen-
timent that seems to be most popular
in their respective communities. Fun
damental principles, based upon Holy
Writ or upon the Constitution of the
United States receive scant courtesy
80