The Wolf Point herald. (Wolf Point, Mont.) 1913-1940, 1928-11-16
MONTANA and the
18TH AMENDMENT

election SluOhc SCFeeuS nave uoci
cast aside, and we can begin t.
visualize the profound wisdom
manifested by the American PEG
pie in respect to the issues in the
campaign that has just closed, i
is time for us to take a glance a.
our own attitude during the past
two a toward one of the great
principles of u federal constitu
ton, and, if we are frank with our
selves, that glance is bound to i'm
press us with our great lack OF
~self-respect, and to rouse in us
a profound purpose to put our
selves in such an attitude of re-
spect for law as to enable is once
more to range ourselves among
the law-abiding of our country.
The silent determination of the
American people, as manifested at
the ballot box, to stand by the fed
eral constitution as it is written is
too emphatic not to be fully under
stood and respected by even the
b~ootlegger, whose activities since
the election of 1926 have been
such as to cause every thinking
person to blush with shame at the
open and impudent manner in
which the commands of the 18th
amendment have been flouted, to
our great injury as a people, as
we'll as to our shame.
But the bootlegger is not alone
to blame. At the 1926 election, an
initiative known as initia-
tive No. 80 was proposed and vot-
ed upon and adopted by a majority
of those voting upon it, upon the
theory that the people of Montana,
acting in a legislative capacity,
could enact a valid law in this
state in respect to the theory is
in manifest error, as will now be
demonstrated.
The Theory of the Initiative
1t will be remembered that in
1906 the people of Montana amend
ed section I, article V, of the
state constitution, so as to read,
far as application, as follows:
The legislative authority in
the state shall be vested in a
legislative assembly consist
ing of a senate and a house of
representatives; but the peo-
pie reserve to themselves the
power to propose laws and to
enact or reject the same at
the polls.
Under this reservation, the peo-
pie of Montana had the power to
enact legislation, subject to GER
tain exceptions, upon purely state
matters, and that power, up to
1919, enabled the people to legis-
late upon the subject of intoxi-
liquors, because, up to that
time, the use of intoxicating IL
quors within the state was a pure
ly state matter, controlled by state
policy, and the people by virtue of
their reservations, could have reg
ulated or prohibited the use of in
.toxicating liquors had they been
so minded.
But in 1919 something happen
ed of an all-powerful nature relat-
ing to the control of intoxicating
liquors. Forty-five of the state of
this union, out of 48, ratified the
18th amendment, and by such ra-
LITIGATION that amendment became
the supreme law of the land and
wiped out the policy of every
state in respect to the regulation
of intoxicating liquors and sub
stituted in place of such state
policy the policy of the amend
ment. Hence, after the ratifica-
tion of the legislation in respect
to the use of intoxicating liquors l
execute such as the amendment
the states to adopt. l
People Can't Initiate Liquor Laws l.
Now, of course, when the state !
policy of Montana ceased to exist I
n respect to intoxicating liquors, {
Is it did in 1919 upon the ratifica- I
ion of the 18th amendment, the |
reservation by the people of Mon u
ANA of the power to legislate in
'esnect to intoxicating LIQUORS was
completely wiped out, and became d
imperative upon that subject. be- I
,ause intoxicating liquors then no :
onger we're controlled by a state l
but became controlled {
wholly by a federal policy promul- Il
gated by the 18th amendment. Ac- L
:ordingly of their reservation the q
people of Montana have no power II
10 legislate in respect to intoxicat- 2
ing liquors, since the state has no t
power to legislate at all on that II
except as the 18th amend S
nent empowers the state to act. +
Now what power has the state e
the premises? Let section II, of g
he amendment answer: Il
Congress and the several a
states shall have concurrent b
power to enforce this article "
appropriate legislation. g
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