The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1926-06-03
CLEVER POLITICS
PLAYED BY BORAH
IN DRY ATTITUDE
Brushes Aside States Rights
and Modification of VOL
stead Act.
BY N. ID. Cochran
Rn Times Stnff Gorresnondent

By Times staff correspondent
WASHINGTON, June 3.-Senator
Borah not only has some qualities
of craftsmanship but he also knows
: thing or two about practical poll
tics.
In grabbing off in one speech the
prohibition leadership in the Repub-
lican party he brushes aside such
issues as States rights and modifica-
ton of the Volstead Act and con-
cedes to nti-prohibitionists no right
to change the present situation ex-
{ cept by amending or repeating the
: Eighteenth Amendment.
Theoretically that program is fine,
! for il he can force the vets into
that position he has them licked be-
fore they start to fight.
Amendment Safe
Nobody knows better than Senator
Borah that even if majority of the
people of the United States became
convinced that the Eighteenth
Amendment has failed, it would take
three fourths of the States to change
the constitution.
To put it the other way, if thir-
teen States were to stand pat on the
Eighteenth Attendant, the other
thirty-five States would be helpless.
Amending the Volstead act, how
ever, is something quite different,
for it is an act of Congress. The
thirteen States can't outvote thirty
+,
State has two votes and no more.
1t is true that the States-three-
forths of them-put the Eighteenth
Attendant into the Constitution, but
they didn't make the Volstead act
part of the Constitution.
The amendment itself doesn't de-
clare that an alcoholic content of
over one-half of one per cent makes
a beverage intoxicating. The amend
lnent merely prohibits the manufac-
ture, sale, transportation or importa-
ton of intoxicating liquor. 1t is the
Volstead act that arbitrarily declares
one-half of one per cent alcoholic
content makes a beverage intoxicat-
ing.
what Can lie Done
And Congress has a perfect right
to amend the> Volstead act in any
way it sees fit, so long as it doesn't
attempt to legalize liquors which are
in fact intoxicating.
Were Congress to amend the Vol
stead act and arbitrarily fix the al
coholio percentage too high, the Su
preme Court undoubtedly would de-
clare the amended act unconstitu-
tional.
But even if Congress amended
the Volstead act and left the alcoho-
lie content blank, any State could
enact an enforcement statute that
would prohibit beverages which
were intoxicating in fact.
Moreover Congress could so amend
the Volstead act as to make it legal
to transport from one State to an
other liquors intoxicating in fact.
The Senate would fix the percent
age of alcohol that made any bever-
age intoxication in fact.
That Referendeem
The New York referendum so in
geniously assailed by Borah was
written by former Senator Root and
says:
Should the Congress of the United
States modify the Federal act to
force the Eighteenth Amendant to
the constitution to the United
States so the same shall not permit
the manufacture, sale, transporta-
ton of beverages which are not In
fact intoxicating so determined in
the laws Of the respective States. "
On the constItutionality Of such
an act people can choose between the
, opinions Of Borah or Root. SO far
as the New York referendum goes,
1t has no binding effect on anybody
unless the New York members of
Congress want to appeal it as
mandate from their constituents.
But Borah goes pretty far when he
charges that it is constitutional
anarachv and an attempt to nulllfy