The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-03-09
LEGAL ATTACK OF
 RHODE ISLAND ON AMENDMENT IS UP
Assailed as Revolutionary, Invasion States Rights. Court Is Without Juris-
 ldiction, Government Says
By Associated Pres. ::

Washington, March s-Rhode Island $ legal attack on the prohibition amend ment to the federal constitution was argued in supreme court today, assailed by the complainant as revolutionary and ar invasion of states rights, and de- tended by the government as q legiti- mate addition to the nations basic law over which the court held no Jurisdiction. Herbert A. Rice, attorney general of Rhode Island, opened for the opposition. and William I. F'rierson, Assistant Att torney General of the United States, re- piled for the government. Other argu- ments will be heard tomorrow, as well as appeals from Kentucky and Massa- 1 chusetts involving the same question. | Mir Rice charged there was in prog ress a constitutional revolution through amendments"
 q see more danger in the doctrine urged by the government than any doc | Urine urged by the demagogue during the world war; he said.
 "The rights assured the people under | the tenth amendment were never intended to be taken away MT. Rice argued that the prohibition amer dment resulted from a misconception of the law by Congress and that the federal government had nc l authority to make such change in the constitution as the amendment provided 1 Declaring that ''amendment' means q lccrrection, he said the terms of the pro fihition amendment are clearly outside I the purview of the constitution.
 What about the thirteenth Amendinen laholshing siavery?' inquired Justice Pit ney.
 That was compromise amendment and corrected an error in the constitu uon.' answered Mir Rice.
 l Justice Brandeis asked what powe could bring about the conditions imposed hv the eighteenth amendment l dThere is no power in the United State Il constitution to make such 2 change un less it could be done by unanimous con
 sent of the states and the people of th'
 United States MT Rice said. There Il no power and there was never intende' to be such power for encroachment D,
 the federal government upon the power o fthe states
 Wasn't slavery supported by the polio , ,, vie of the ssaees?t Justice Mcaeynold
 asked.
 Yes" replied Mir Rice, 'but it was police power to regulate.
 Mir. kice told tae sodrt that the thir , eenth. fourteenth and fifteenth anend r,ents were written Into the constitutio tbv force,' and not with the voluntar ] assent of the southern states. ! Assistant Attorney General Frierso argued there was nothng revolutonar ! | in the adoption of an amendment tha ], laws down P "fundamenta. rule of law ! that applies to all states
 ..The case does involve the question a In whether a state can come into fed : tarai court and cnjoin the enforcement 2 criminal law oil.s the ground that tn flaw is uncNnstitutional he added
 1T lave never understood this cour
 at the instance of a ststs. could be cor istitl,ted into "a foruh, iir whichsfo deba' inc respective political rights of the tw governments.
 If that is the case. any state can com v, and do that before tiie property righ'
 .,f Individual citizens have been injure' We have here the bald question. as
 whether a state can invoke the jurisdi
 tion of a court to protect it's citizens VII
 arc also citizens of the United Stat
 ubo have violated an act of Congre'
 from orderly prosecution in the courts < The court granted permission for Il
 filing of briefs by Charles F. Hughes {
 lhebalf of twenty-four states and {
 Wayne B. Wheeler, general counsel f
 ithc Anti-Saloon League If America, SUI
 porting the amendment, and bv Ell
 Root in opposition to the amendment (
 behalf of the Umtcd states Brewers \
 aociation-