The Hays free press. [volume] (Hays, Kan.) 1908-1924, 1919-01-30
NATION DRY ONLY
AFTER LONG FIGHT
Campaign Comes to End With
Surprising SuddenneSS.
BEFORE CONGRESS 40 YEARS
Sheppard Prohibition Amendment,
Eighteenth to Be Adopted, Rati-
fed in Less Than Thir-
teen Months.

With swiftneSs that has surprised
even the most optimistic Of prohibit
ton advocates the United States has
voted itself dry. 1t has done this by
voting into the federal constitution an
amendment that prohibits the manu-
facture, sale or transportation Of in
toxicating liquors within the United
States for beverage purposes, as well
as its importation into or expectation
from the United States and all terri
tory subject to its Jurisdiction
For fifty years the campaign TO OBJ
tain prohibition either by state or fed
eraI legislation has been waged with
out interruption, but now the desired
end has been reached by writing the
prohibitOry regulations into the or
ganic law. In this form, owing to the
difficulties attendant upon changes in
the Constitution, nationwide prohibit
ton becomes more of a permanent in
stitution than an experiment that
could be terminated by congressional
legislation.
The Sheppard prohibition amend
ment, which has just been ratified by
more than three-fourths of the states
of the Union, the number required to
make it effective, becomes the eigh-
teenth amendment to the Constitution.
The resolution providing for its sub
mission to the state legislatures, intro
duced by Senator Morris Sheppard of
Texas, was finally adopted by congress
December Is, 1917. On January 10,
1919, less than thirteen months after
the adoption of the resolution by con-
greSS, ratification of the amendment
by the states was accomplished. No
other proposed amendment to the Con-
stitution has been adopted with such
speed, with. the exception of that
which provided for the abolition of
slavery. Action on the seventeen other
amendments that have been adopted
has required from nine to forty-three
months. The average time required
has been about two years.
The war is given the credit for has
tening the adoption of prohibition in
this country. The economic aspect OF
the question was emphasized by the
war emergency, and the handwriting
on the wall was seen when congress
passed a law providing for nation
wide prohibition as a war measure, to
become effective July 1, 1919, and to
continue until the armies of the Unit
ed States have been demobilized. If
this law goes into effect, as contem-
plated, the country will go dry July I,
although the constitutional amend
ment will not become effective until
one year after its ratification by the
required number Of state legislatures.
Text of Amendment.
The text of the resolution embody-
ing the amendment which has now
been adopted is as follows:
JOINT RESOLUTION PROPOSING
AN AMENDMENT TO THE CONSTR
TUITION OF THE UNITED STATES.
Resolved by the senate and house OF
representatives Of the United States
OF America In congress assembled,
two-thirds OF each house concuFring
therein, that the following amend
ment TO the Constitution be, and here
by is, proposed to the states to be-
come valid as a part of the Constitu-
ton when ratified by the legislatures
the Constitution:
Section AFTER enc year from the
ratification Of this article the manu-
facture, sale or transportation Of In
toxicating liquors within, the impor-
tatiOn thereof into, or the expectation
thereof from the United States and
all territory subject to the jurisdiction
thereof for beverage purposes is here
by prohibited.
Section 2-The congress and the
several states have concurrent pow
er TO enforce this article by appropri-
ate legislation
Section 3-This article shall be in
operative unless it shall have been
ratified as an amendment to the Con-