Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-02-07
BECK ASKS REPEAL
OF VOLSTEAD LAW
Former Solicitor General
Tells House 18th Amend
ment Must Remain.
CONTINUED From First Page)

party cannot hold forever large num-
| Der of self-respecting men and women
! to whom the intolerance of prohibit
ton is moral affront.
| 1T cannot forever be half wet and
half dry"
Mr.. Beck's address was entitled 1.-THE
Revolt Against Prohibition" It was
| masterful and eloquent effort.
| listened to with the keeneSt attention
| by members of the House and fire.
quently interrupted with applause.
Replies to Fort.
He took as his text a part of the
recent report made by the Presidents
Law Enforcement Commission, a part
which, he said, would have caused the
| prohibition leaders to rend their gar
mentS and set themselves down in
sackcloth and ashes, if they had caught
| it's full significance. That, and the adj
dress recently delivered by Representa-
| tive Franklin Fort of New jersey, who
balanced the benefits of prohibition
against its evils and declared for pro-
! hibition Mr.. Forts proposal was that
those who desired to drink light wines
and beer make them and use them in
| their homes. To this proposal Mr.
| Beck took strong exception, declaring
| that it would help to break down still
| further the American home
That portion of the report Us the
Law Enforcement Commission to which
Mr.. Beck gave his attention follows:
1T is impossible wholly to set OF
observance of the prohibition act from
the large question of the views and
habits of the American people with re-
| spect to private judgment as to statutes
and regulations affecting their conduct.
To reach conclusions of any value, we
must go into deep questions of public
opinion and the criminal law. We must
look into the several factors in the at
titude of the people. both generally and
in particular localities, toward laws in
general and toward specific regulations.
We must note the attitude of the pio-
neer toward such things. We must
bear in mind the Puritan's objection
to administration; the Wing tradition
of right of revolution: the concep-
| ton of natural rights, classical in our
polity; the democratic tradition of in
dividual participation in. sovereignty;
the attitude of the business world
toward local regulation of enterprise;
the clash of organized interests and
opinions in a diversified community,
and the Emergencies of attitude in diff
ferent sections of the country and as
between different groups in the same
locality. We must not forget the many
historical examples Of large-Scale pub
lie disregard of laws in our past. To
give proper weight to these things, in
connection with the social and eco
nomic effects of the prohibition law, is
not a matter of few months"
Calls Report Enigmatic.
To many, said Mr.. Beck, this pre-
liminary explanation of the Law En-
forcement Commission may be as
enigmatic as the Delphian Oracle"
He proceeded to give his own inter-
probation. The implications contained
in the report of the commission. he
said, should be a matter OF qualification
to the vets and Of apprehension to the
drys.
THE fanatical dry leaders" said Mr..
Beck, ARE at the moment enjoying a
Belshazzer's feast, as they view the fat
and juicy majorities which they have
! in this Congress and in other legislative
! bodies. But upon the wall now appear
the words, Meme, Meme, Tekel, Up
harsin'-for the sentences that I have
quoted, when translated into common
speech, mean that the prohibition
amendment has been weighed in the
balance and found wanting
THE profoundest intellect Of an
tiquity, Aristotle. said 1000 years ago
that, If a conStitution-by which he
| meant the aggregate of the laws pre-
Scrlbed by the State--conf1ict with what
he called the 'ethos,' namely, the spirit
or genius of a people. the result of
the conflict would not be uncertain, for
the laws have no lasting vitality save
in the spirit of a people. We must
distinguish this 'ethos,' or spirit, of a
people from the mere results of the
polling booth, or fluctuating votes in
legislative assemblies, for these only
register the temporary opinions of fleet
ing majoritieS, while the 'ethos' of the
people is a quality born with the indi-
vidual and perSisting unto his death.
The shallow murmur but the deep are
dumb
If this be true, then it is especially
true of a race of individualists, who
have never been disposed to place upon
the brow of King Demos a crown, which
they had taken from autocratic kings.
Hence, the significance of the phrase
in the report, We must note the at
titude of the pioneer toward such
things We are still a race of pioneers.
1t Is true that we have cleared a con-
tinent OF its once virgin forests, but
the American people did something far
greater than that. They cleared the
mind of America from the OBJ
session of past ages that q State
had an unlimited and divine power
to regulate in all respects. the
conduct of the individual. A race of
1ndividualists does not defy the state.
1t refuses to believe that the oil of an
nointing, that was once supposed to
sanctify the head of the monarch and
clothe his utterances and acts with in
fallibility, has now fallen upon the null
titudinous tongue of the ma jority. The
individualist at all times, and never
more than in this country, has said to
the state: There is a limit to your DOW
er: thus far and no further, and here
shall thy proud waves be stayed The
10-year revolt against the oppressive
regulation of private conduct prescribed
in the eighteenth amendment is a most
encouraging sign. It proves that. no
matter how powerful the State is and no
matter how great its appeal to the
imagination, the American people have
not yet lost the spirit of individualism
which has made them the greatest Ma
ton in the world"
Just and Equal Laws.
Mr.. Beck referred to the clause in
the commissions report which said.
I'VE must bear in mind the PuritanS
objection to administration" He called
"IVeAcAoh W IAlC 4lISI Iuu1ItSHCdTy COLI
stitution written in the cabin of the
Mayf1ower. These Puritans only agreed
with each other to obey such Just and
equal laws as the majority might pre-
scribe" Mr.. Beck emphasized the fact
that the Puritans did not agree to obey
all laws, but to obey lust and equal
laws" alone.
The Wing tradition of right of revo-
luton, referred to by the Law Enforce
ment Commission in it's report, might,
in the opinion Of Mr.. Beck, refer to the
attitude of the free yeoman in England
in the days of James II, when the
Wing party came first into being. James,
he said, sought to impose his ideas OF