Putnam patriot., 1925-02-06
LETTERS TO
 THE EDITOR
Nestford Conn.. Feh. 2. la25.

Hgly commended the paper Tor It's high character, for which l received
 an acknowledgment of your anprecia-
 tion. So l was all the more surprised
 to read such an editorial take #
 Co be challenge Co every citizen who loves old Glory and uphOlds the Con
 stitution as "the chief code of Ameri- can law The editorial deserves 6 | public reply.
 The National Moderation League is known to be one of the numerous or ganizations that are fighting national. constitutional prohibition. IL is backed i by the liquor interests.
 IL !s to the shame of the state of Connecticut that our state has not
 ratified the Eighteenth Amendment and also passed an enforcement law. You say. When the Eighteenth Amendment became a part of the Con stitution. many of the states passed separate dry laws. This involves for the offender against the Eighteenth
 Amendment a double jeopardy. That i Is, that a man who is prosecuted un- der the federal law may also be prose- cuted for the same olfease under q state law. 1t has long been the con tention Of many members of Congress that the passage of these state laws was not the intention of the support l CTS of the Eighteenth Amendment ! However. such prosecution under both state and national laws was upheld by the Supreme Court of the United States some eighteen months after the federal dry law had been passed What was the intention" of the framer of the Eighteenth Amend ment? The exact wording of See. 2 of said Amendment Is this: "The Con gress and the several states shall have concurrent power to enforce this ar ticle by appropriate legislation" What other consistent definition could the | U. :. Supreme Court render in regard 10 Concurrent power? The "inten- tion" and the wording of the Amend ment is ironclad. Anything less would indeed be a moekery. The Amend rnent became a part of our national ' Constitution in the prescribed legal way. IL was put there deliberately and | by large majority of the American people. And t is there to stay
 The closing words of the editorial are unworthy of an American citizen. "The large and growing class" re- ferred to. are the few who are filling their pockets with unclean money. un- clean because t comes from an out i lawed and unconstitutional traffic, a traffic that for generations has been 8g' af saa G4aatast single curses of the aeman family, and every other blas- Fhemous and immoral evil has always been associated with the condemned li- quor traffic. There is no greater enc my of the democracy and honor of
 America than the present day boot ! legger. The editor groaHs that such aH offender" shall be prosecuted by two lawsl Such a lawless citizen ought Co be banished from che shores i of America. There k not snot on l the continent of North America that is wet enough. or dirty enough. or small enough for such 8 willful law break 1 CT.
 The statement that ethe Constitution
 which is daily losing it's dignity and power in the chief code Of American law is absolutely absurd More than 1 ridiculous. the statement Is untrue. l The Constitution of the United States 1 is not in disrepute today. save from certain undesirable citizens who have recently come to America. largely from
 Europe. If they do not like America.
 and have no desire to respect our in- lstitutions and obey our laws, there are
 ships sailing daily for the home port and t would be with pleasure that we
 would bid an aifeetionate Bon voy- age" Co any such. When man is in Rome he is expected te do as the Rom ans do. When a man comes To Amari- ca he is of right expected to do what i Americans do. We have our national traditions and our national ideals. If
 they can be improved. lot ms do it
 heartily and speedily. But we all
 know that lawlessness and drunken
 ness with their associated evils of political corruption. gambling. blas-
 iemy prostitution. and dishonesty.
 never have and never can improve
 America
 Wha is law It is a rule establish tei ny hority. Law is for the law } less. iaw always limits somebody.
 EVey laR found in the Word of God roiis somebody of so-called personal liberty" Every law found on the statute books of Connecticut rohs somebody of personal liberty. Every rule in the schoolro0m robs some pupil of some liberty But obedience to law is liberty. Prohibition is the law of the land today. No one can violate this part Of our sacred Constitution
 without trampling Old Glory in the
 mud of lawlessness. Since prohibition 1 the American appetite for alcohol di- minishes annually What seeks to kindle anew the cursed habit in the throats of the youth of America? IL | is the dollar The dollar Is medium | of exchange II is nothing more. We seek the dollar that we may pass it on | for something else. What does a man get for his dollar when he buys an al coholie drink at aH enormous price? | lt buys a poison, that as he drinks it | he weakens his thinking powers, he undermines his physical constitution, i he softens his moral backbone Has such a purchase made a worthwhile use of the dollar? More, has an hon orable use of it been made? The an swer is an emphatic "No" Innumer- able purchases of this sort were made before the days Of Prohibition. After five years of Prohibition. what is the testimony of working men. of Savings ! Banks. of school authorities, of prison officials? More moneyi" More moneyw is the universal cry. More money for food for clothes for educa- tion, for the necessities of life. for au- . for,so flre rae4sa Fa4Vats fav Garssrerz