Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1919-01-08
| D|ST|LLERS PLEDGE
MILLION TO BEAT CRYS
Convention Votes to Take Federal
Amendment to u. S. Supreme
Court

| Chicago, Jan. S.-~A billion dollars has
been pledged and 800 distillers, the pledgers
| arc going yo fight Uncle Sam TO the last
| ditch before they submit TO the annihiia-
tion of their business by the bone-dry
| amendment. This was the uttmat,lm
| that wound up two days meeting Of the
| Nations distilers here yesterday.
| The Supreme Court has been chosen as
| their battle ground and the constitution
| atty Of the amendment itself will be at
tackled, they say. Levy Mayer, Chicago
! attorney, has been chosen as chief counsel
| and viii sally forth to battle with practi-
| callv carte blanche and "A 81 900, ,OOO, 900
| fund.
The attack will be based on Article X
| of the Constitution, which provides that
powers not delegated to the United States
| by the Constitution or prohibited by 1T 10
the State shall be reserved TO the States
respectively.
Another point To be raised IS whether
the Federal Government can force State
10 surrender its inherent right to handle
exclusively matters that pertain to the
personal liberty Of the individual citizen
of State.
WOULD BAR CIDER TOO.
The distillers got little ray OF hope
when IL was discovered that cider cannot
be manufactured if the Prohibition amend
mcnt is ratified by the constitutional
number of States required. One report
from down East was that the farmers
were ,lp in arms over the possibility of not
being permitted TO make up the windfalls
OF the orchards into cider for commercial
purposes.
throughout the convention. however,
there seemed to h. q general feeling that
the Prohibition amendment would receive
the Endorsement of the thirty-slx States
and that the fight will have to be carried
on in the courts subsequent thereto.
The llqlor barons also laid stress on the
provision of the pending dry amendment
that fixes q time limit Of seven years IN
which the ratification by the two-thirts
states shall take place. This time Gle
rnent they we're advised, constitutes an
unconstitutional limitation not contem-
plated bv the amending article OF the
Federal Constitution. This was the point
raised by Senator Borah RI thc time the
resolution was pending IN Congress.
SEE SOCIALISM AIDED.
one report was that If the dry forces
uou finally there was danger 81 the
United States gong 10 a Snclahsttc party
baSls or the great majority Of the work
ING classes Topping over to the Berger
Stcdman-Gcrmer standard.
This report Is said to have been com
piled after a survey Of the political r'tnb-
iincs among the working classes, who are
demanding, it was stated, that the re-
formers leave them alone TO the enjoy
mcnt Of their glass Of beer Cnc spokes-
man for the convention declared that
Russia did not revolt until vodka was
taken from the working classes, and that
LLOYD George, who started out teetotaier
for England, had 10 modify his drastic
program when the workers of England.
Wales and Scotland threatened an up
rising If the rationing Of their beverages
vent further.
The resolutions adopted today stated
that there werc 800 distilleries IN the
country with an aggregate investment OF
AZ leAst 81 900 O0O,OO0, that the industry
actually antcdatcd the Constitution adopt
ed IN 1899, and that the business has
heretofore been recognized, encouraged
and protected BY the United states gov
crnrnent itself