The Washington herald., 1920-05-09

party will call for the completion
OF ratification IL the one state now
needed. is not Forthcoming before
the conventions.
The prohibition amendment fs a
rart Of the Constitution and cannot
be repealed without the concurrence
Of two-thirds Of both houses in the
submission OF repeating amend
notn and ratification by three
fourths OF the States. This. of
course. would seem Impossible in
view Of the almost unanimous en-
dorsement OF the amendment and
the improved conditions under H.
But constitutional provision is
vslueless except as IL is interpreted
by law and enforced.
Congress having the power TO in
terpret the CoEstitUtion-and. In
this case, having authority to fix
the alcoholic content Of permitted
beverages. may SO change the Vol
stead law as to permit the use OF
larger percentage OF alcohol. As
the per cent OF alcohol Is the whole
/ question-that is. the percentage
decides whether OF. not the beveT-
age Is intoxicating. a wet Congress
might nullify the action of the
country and reopen the question.
IL is well known that the oppon-
ents Of prohibition are actively at
work In the Republican party. They
are not likely to be strong enough
at the Republican convention to
propose a wet plank but they may
be strong enough to suppress a
pledge OF enforcem ment. or they NAV
SO dilute the enforcement plank
that IL will have less than one-haIf
/ OF one per cent Of certainty in o..
what About Boaus.
And what is the Republican party
going TO do about the bonus 70 the
service men? II does not seem
likely that IL will be able to reach
decision in regard 20 the method
OF raising the money necessary.
, Everybody is in favor Of the bonus.
but so far no one has been able TO
I hnd a. satisfactory source from
which TO draw the money. I am
reminded Of a successful me reliant
who. upon turning his business
over to his son. advised him how
TO be successful without expense TO
himself:
subscribe literally to any
church proposed" said the father.
mo matter what the denomination:
that will make you popular. Then.
night the location and you will not
have to pay the subscription"
The plan is quite familiar and is
\ applied In many WAYS. Just now
he advocates OF a bonus seem to
| be very much divided as to where
to locate the tax. The first sug-
gestion was that the money be
raised by general taxation. but OBJ
lection was made that il would be
difficult to find new forms Of taxa
tion.
May BE Paid I'm Boads.
Then IL was suggested the bonus
be paid in bonds. but objection was
| made that q new issue Of bonds
would stih further depress the price
Of outstanding bonds. and would. in
effect be a tax upon the patriotism
OF those who furnished money to
carry on the war.
4, More recently IL has been SUE
gested a fund be raised for the
bonus by tax on retail sales. but
that would be found still more OBJ
ltectionable because a tax on con-
sumption makes the poor man pay
more than his share and the rich
man less than his share.
The profiteer viii be at the Re
publican National convention either
as a delegate or as a lobbyist. Just
as he has been at State capitals
and at Washington. why is II that
! the victims of profteering are not
in evidence? why have they not
demanded pledges from the Candi-
dates or formulated some SPECIFIC
declaration which can be embodied
in the platform? Profteering Is on
the increase: IL Is spreading like a
contagious disease with the differ
ence that the middle men are trying
to catch Il instead OF quarantininE
| against IL. Is Il possible that th,
unrest, due to high prices. van Ice
ignored. and exploitation continued
without protest?
PrehteerIRE n Problem.
But while prohteerinE ~ the
acute economic issue. the fcrvcsi
! struggle is between bencfiCiarics OF
! private monopoly and the public
who seek TO protect themselves by
government ownership. The cham
pions of monopoly arc in full swing.
their newspaper champions have
been deriding public ownership IS
a principle and misreprcscntinE IL
where IL Is in practice Knowing
the tendency of the human mind 1"
he consistent and TO extend the ap-
plicstion OF a principle when once
/ vindicatcd, these newspapers are
afraid TO admit the success OF any
public-owned enterprise.
| And so, with the various labor
problems. The industrial situation
is anything but satisfactory. Have
the Republicans any plan for re-
storing harmony
The willing worker Is the only
wage Garner who can meet the pres
ent demand in production. 1t is
| impossible for US TO carry on q
wage system under compulsion.
Next to the farmers. the toilers in
! factory and in shop are our larE-
est group Of citizens. and IL goes
without saying that their labor
lies at the very foundation Of our
nations welfare and progress What
platform pledge will the Republi-
can convention give? What guar
! antee are it's leaders making TO
4 this very important element?
EncouraEes Frankness.
/ have mentioned some OF the
questions which will necessarily
come before the Republican con-
vention-Questions where difference
OF opinion is widest and most posi-
tiye-with q view of encouraging
the candor and frankness which the
present situation requires.
Conventions are quite representa-
tive, IL the people speak when they
/ choose their representative: they
! are often quite misrepresentative
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