The Washington times., 1919-07-09
DRYSFRAMING
LAW TO SEIZE
RUMSTOCKED
Up IN HOUSES

Amendments to the prohibition en-
forcement bill now pending before
the =. House will be offered by the
lbsne-dry leaders to provide for the
search Of private. residences for
liquor and the seizure Of such wet
goods as may be discovered. This
fact became known yesterday while
the House was debating the enforce
ment legislation
The same measure was brought
out in the House Judiciary Com
nittee but was voted down decisive
b By those who realized that 1t
would raise q veritable storm
throughout the country; that it
would weigh the enforcement bill
down with a load that might defeat
the whole program, and that even IL
Il should pass the House and Senate
e would doubtless be uneonsdtu-
tionAl.
To Fight Private Stocks.
But the fact developed today that
the uncompromisers have decided to
make a furious drive against the own
Srship or consumption of private
stocks, that they are willing to as
sumo all the risks involved, and that
they believe that once q search and
seizure measure IS brought out into
the open IL will be possible to drag
q majority upon the floor to vote
for IT
The chances are a little better than
hnnR he
viii fail in this second move to out
1GW even the liquor which was legally
acquired before July !. A very con-
siderable group Of Southern Congress
men who are dry TO the core and have
been on every vote that~has been
taken in Congress for years have
given notice 70 the radicals that they
not only will vote against search and
seizure but they will fight against it
with all the resources they can COM
mand.
Leading lawyers in the House also
are counseling the puritans against
proceeding too far in their fight
against private stocks. Most OF them
are convinced that any such legisla-
tion as will be proposed is unconsti-
tutional and IL enacted might result
in the-whole enforcement plan being
0nnulled by court decisions.
The view OF these lawyers is that
whatever liQoor a person may have
acquired IN an admittedly lawful way
he has q lawful right to possess and
60 consume. It has become private
property and private property cannot
be cOnhscated by the Government
when acquired and owned legally, ex-
cept for public purposes. There is
no public purpose to which liquor
-
process % law whereby il can be
seized and destroyed.
BIhbUster Seen DeveIOPa-
The prohibition enforcement leg
isiStion. as framed by the judiciary
Committee, was brought upon the
floor OF the House shortly after noon
yesterday and before il had been upon
the calendar an hour q flibuster was
started against il which promises to
delay q vote upon il until the end OF
this week or the first Of next. The
Rnles Committee made il a special
order, followed by an agreement that
general debate be limited to twelve
hours. The measure will be laid aside
today for calendar Wednesday and, |
therefore, cannot be taken up again |
until tomorrow morning.
Meantime. more than 100 members |
VINO are Elks are preparing TO leave |
the city for Atlantic City to be the |
guests Of Congressman Bachrach. Of |
the Atlantic City district An under |
standing was reached that there |
would be no important votes taken |
upon the measure until the return Of |
these statesmen Friday afternoon.
DFys To Have Hard Fight.
II the temper of the House is as
bitter during the remainder OF the |
debate as IL was at the outset yes
terdAy, the drys will have to resort |
20 all their parliamentary expedients |
and invoke all the rules in the book |
IN order TO get the bill through at /
all. The vets let il be known that /
they would die dighting, if they had ]