Norwich bulletin., 1920-01-16

enlarged and extended by congress under the guise of a definition, is one of the issues which will have to be 2djudicated by the Supreme court" he said, together with the scope and meaning of the provision that the con- gress and the several states shall have concurrent power to pass appropriate legislation for the enforcement of ma : tional prohibition
 MT. Fox paid his respects to the Antf-Saloon League by declaring that ''in opposing every attempt of the people to vote on the question of pro- hibition," it had completely reversed its first principles of Americanism and democracy
 sThe Anti Saloon League" he said began it's campaign for state and na- tional prohibition about twenty years ago. They. started and continued un der the cover of the slogans: Local Option is another word for American = ism and the first and last business of the Anti Saloon League is to abolish saloons Repeatedly, at legislative hearings and at local license elections it's leaders declared that they were not trying to force total abstinence up on the people and that any locality that wanted the license system could have it, and that they were simply insisting upon the right of local self government in licensing and regulat- ing the liquor traffic.
 The movement began with local option by townships and municipalities, However, when it was found that the latter were not easily persuaded to give majority for no- license, aprehi-' bitien was forced upon them through the device of county local option, which was designed, not to permit a free ex- pression of the sentiment of each To- cal community but to overthrow it where need be.
 'The strategy of the League was, first to win the rural states and then to stife the opposition in the industri- al states by capturing the rural units which controlled their legislatures. Whenever this has been accomplished, the League has fought bitterly against giving the people at large any vote whatever on the prohibition question but has forced prohibition through by legislative enactment
 "The Anti-Saloon League adopted the same tactics in it's congressional campaign. Dry states and dry districts were easily persuaded to demand dry congressman, a1u-raS the recent vote on daylight saving clearly showed-the urban representation is outnumbered two to one in both houses Of congress- To secure the submission of the na- tional prohibition amendment to the constitution was simple matter so far as congress was concerned. The adoption of it by the state legislative bodies was aided largely by the war which threw all other issues into in significance. Many legislators voted for it as a war measure, and many of the public so understood it.
 The war prohibition act, which was passed after the armistice had been signed, as a rider to an agricultural appropriation bill, was a breach of faith for which the league was directly responsible Congress had agreed, in submitting the constitutional amend ment, that the liquor trade would have a years grace after the amendment was adopted but under the lash of the anti-saloon league the agricult- ural bill was held up until a majority was secured for the adoption of the prohibition rider, by which national prohibition became immediately ef- fectiYe.,'