The news scimitar. (Memphis, Tenn.) 1907-1926, 1920-05-17
THOS. R. MARSHALL
AMPL|F|ES PROH|
VIEWS TO WRITER
ViCe-PreSident Repeats State
ment That Amendment
Wouldn't Have Had Twenty
Supporters.
BY DAVID LAWRENCE.
Especial Correspondent Of The News
ScImItarA


WARRINGTON, May 17.--Vice- Presi-
dent Thomas r. Marshall has presided
over the senate of the United States
Tor seven years and can therefore be
expected to know whereof he speaks
when he says that If prohibition had
been submitted to secret vote, 1t
senate.
The writer asked the president
to amplify his statement which was
originally made before the Virginia Bar
association
II want it to be understood at the Z
outset said the vice. president, that
believe in the enforcement of the
constitutional amendment on prohibit
ton. 1t is here and is the law and
should be enforced. But | believe that
If the amendment had been voted upon
according to the individual convictions
OF members Of the senate it would not
have gotten 20 votes.
Now | am not imputing motives to
anybody. | have never seen any rep
resentatlves of the brewers or the Anti
saloon league around congress and
wouldn't know them If they were there,
| believe that the men who voted for
prohibition and for woman suffrage,
for instance, thought the people-a ma
Jority of their constituents-wanted
these amendments passed But that
isn't my theory of representative gov
eminent
LAS l told the lawyers at Richmond,
the people of this country didn't in
tend in my judgment that their repre-
sentatives should be guided by their
constituents but that elected repre-
sentatives should act for them. ] don't
think when people hire a lawyer that
they should ask him to do what they
want. Advice should not come from
the client to the lawyer but from the
lawyer to the client, If the client
doesn't like the advice, he can get an
That's the same with representa-
tive government The people, in my
opinion should trust their representa-
tives to act for them. If they don't
like what their representatives do they
can select others and thus repudiate
what has been done"
Then if you had been a member of
the senate you would have voted
against the prohibition amendment"
the vice president was asked.
"Oh, yes was the reply-"and my
views have been well known. Mind
you, | do not use liquor, never serve
it at my table, and ! would to God
that no one else did. But | object to
the way prohibition has been imposed,
though again, | must insist now that
it is here it must be enforced
AS a matter of fact, irrespective of
the question of personal habits, men,
bers of the senate whose views about
the police powers of the several states
CpllClue Will my own, SuTtcHueTeu lnelT
opinion when they voted simply be-
cause they thought it was the wish of
the people of their states. That isn't
leadership nor representative govern
ment in my conception of the term.
Indeed, lawyers, like statesmen, are
losing their influence because they, are
not telling their clients what is the
law and what should be done. Instead
lawyers nowadays are listening to
boards of directors and trying to ac-
compish what those boards want done
often against the best judgment of
the lawyers themselves"
The Vice-presdent was Endorsed by
the Virginia Bar association for the
presidency--a compliment of the occa-
sion, no doubt, for Mr.. Marshall isn't
candidate, active, passive, receptive
or even interested. Maybe If he were
he wouldn't express himself so frankly.
Copyright, 1920, by David Lawrence.)