The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1920-03-26

cause. Of its uSurpatiOn or disregard
of the PRESERVED rights Of the states.
Governor Brown held that the Con
federate government could only call
for troops through the executives Of
the several states, and the troops mus
tered directly into the Confederate
service, ignoring and disregardina
the existence of the states and MAX
ing no requisition upon them for their
quota of troops, was contrary to the
very spirit upon which the south had
entered into the war. and was di-
rect and palpable violation of the CON
stitutio.n
President Davis, while passing
through Georgia, we are told by his
torians, held an interview with Gov
ernor Brown in which he frankly ac-
knowledged that the policy ~of the
Confederate authorities receiving
troops and mastering them into ser
vice of the Confederacy over the
heads of the executives Of the sever
al states was wrong and he would
see that it was abandoned.
But it was not abandoned.
However holly Governor Brown
contended for constitutional ana
state rights" when an emer.
gency arose which threatened to
imperil the public good, he showed
his readiness to take any risk, law
or no law, for what fhe regarded as
an imperative necessity for the gen
leral welfare.
Although having thousands of miles
of seacoast, salt became pressing
necessity for the entire Confederacy.
There were profiteers then, as there
are now.
Soldiers could not live on bread
alone; they, as well as all the people.
were compelled to have meat, and
meat could not be preserved without
salt.
A salt famine threatened the com
monwealth.
There was known to be large guam
titles of salt in Georgia being stored
by the profteers for higher prices,
and Governor Brown, acting upon the
law of emergency and necessity, be-
gan a seizure of private property for
the public good, in direct violation OF
the provision of the constitution,
which expressly declared that proper
ty could only be taken by due process
of law.
So as the war progressed vehicles
were stopped in the public streets
and horses were impressed under the
theory that the public safety required
it The times were perilous.
So in times of peace, as well as in.
times of war, there are certain things
necessary and essential for the public
welfare.
Prohibition is regarded as one Ct
those things.
Viewing it as one of those rights
reserved to the states or the people,
the matter was taken to the people
and discussed as few other questions
and the prohibition amendment TO
the constitution was submitted and
passed in obedience to the voice oi
the people.
This amendment was proposed and
adopted in precisely the same way Is
was Article x, and was ratifA Nv
all but two of the forty-eight states.
1t can truthful1y be said that it
was more quickly and more unani-
mously adopted than any of the
amendments to the constitution, and
that instrument is now almost three
times as large as it was originally. 8
| This being its history we cannot
understand how the adoption of the
prohibition amendment can be said
/ to be an infringement on the IRE
served rights of the states or why
we should look upon it with alarm as
an entering wedge that means sad
! and radical departure from the path
way marked out by the fathers for
us to follow in amending the frame
work of their hands as time and ne
cessity require.
Ii they had marked out with square
and compass the lines we We're to fol-
low we could not have tracked them
more closely.
The federal government, under the
present administration, is assum-
ing no powers not voluntarily relin-
pushed to it by the states as required
/ in the organic law.
NEWBERRY AND HIS USES
1 Senator Newberry of Michigan and
his lawyers pretend to be confident