Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-03-08


prohibition amendment from being
taken out of the Constitution
How difiicult 1t may be to get the
prohibition amendment out Of the Con-
stitution can be suggested by obServ-
ing contrast-at once a contrast and
a similarity-between the position Of
the vets today and that Of the drys
IL years ago.
When, preceding 1920 the drys were
trying to get the amendment into the
Constitution, they needed to have IS
of the States on their side. actually
they got 46). At that time If the vets
had controlled 10 States they could
have prevented the prohibition amend
ment from coming into existence.
Now, however. the situation is re-
versed. Now the vets must have 36
States on their side; now the drys in
order to be safe (from their point Of
view need only TO control Is States.
Parenthetically, one wonders IL there
has really been this much change in
public sentiment about prohibition
Has there been such q change as would
be measured by the difference between
the dTys controlling SO States tactually
46 in 1920 and now controlling less
than Is? The answer to this has some
bearing on the probable outcome Of the
possible referendum that may be
ahead of us.
Minor Changes Possible.
Prohibition can be got out Of the
Constitution only by having IS States
say formally that they want it out;
the present status of prohibition will
continue until. and can be changed
only. by So States saying they want It
changed.
IT. whot H.. haay, said a. far fharo
Is qualification. Some minor changes
can be made in the present status OF
prohibition without ratification by 50
States. These minor changes can be
effected by simple act Of majority
OF Congress. The changes that can be
thus achieved, while minor, are stin i'm
portant.
To understand what changes can be
made by simple act Of Congress, bear
in mind that what the, prohibition
amendment forbids Is Intoxicating
liquors for beverage purposes"
Just what constitutes an Intoxicating
liquor" is q thing which, within limits.
simple majority OF Congress can die
tate. It is q matter OF what the courts
call Legislative definition"
Congress now says Through the Vol
stead act) that any beverage contain
ing more than one-half of per cent of
alcohol Is an Intoxicating liquor"
That is an extreme dehnition-extreme
In the low direction. Congress could
equally well say that as much as 4 or
per cent of alcohol is required to con-
stitute an Intoxicating liquor" Con-
gress could not readily 60 higher than
or per cent because II Congress
should attempt to 90 higher the courts
would say they were not keeping with
in the spirit of the prohibition amend
ment. While the courts permit Congress
to make the Legislative definition" OF
what constitutes an Intoxicating bev-
erage." the courts, nevertheless, say the
definition must be within reason"
Might Get Beer and Wine.
Congress could go as far as OF
per cent in the high direction; exactly
to what percentage Congress could ~
cannot be said, for that is matter
which only the courts can say.
Congress, in short, by q simple act of
q ma jority, without any Of the forni-
dable process of changing the Constitu-
ton, could give the country so-called
Light wines and beer" Many persons
think Congress should.
Congress could also effect some other
minor ameliorationS in the present
status of prohibition. Congress could
for example, make it easier and simpler
for physicians to prescribe and drug
gists to supply liquor to patients.)
Light wines and beer" so the anti
prohibitioniSts now say, is not enough
They say the time has gone by when
light wines and beer" or other minor
ameliorations of prohibition would be
enough. The vets now demand that
the prohibition amendment be taken
out of the Constitution.
That-the complete removal Of the
eighteenth amendment from the Con-
sttution by the process of ratification
by IS States-is the ultimate objective
Of the vets. Their immediate objective,
however, is referendum, and some
careful thinking is called for to distin-
referendum-and the ultimate objec-
tive, repeal of the eighteenth amend
ment. The latter objective would only
come, presumably, after, referendum
should have shown, If it should so show
in a referendum, that the country
wants the eighteenth amendment re-
pealed.
Vets Want showdown.
The distinction between the two ques-
tons, while subtle. is concrete and i'm
portant. One question Is, Shall We re-
peal the eighteenth amendments" The
other question is, shall we hold a
referendum on the question Of repeating
the eighteenth amendments"
The vets go before the country and
say. in effect: I'VE want a showdown:
we want q demonstration, formally, in
a legally constituted way, of what pro-
portion of the people want repeal q
the eighteenth amendment and what
proportion want the eighteenth amend
ment to remain"
The attitude of the drys about hold
ing a referendum is not so easy to state,
because the drys differ among them
selves. Indeed, the question whether
the drys should or should not assent
to the holding of a referendum is at
the present moment causing something
like q cleavage among their leadership.
Most of the formal heads of dry or
carnations, such as the Anti-Sa1oon
League, say mo" to the proposal that
referendum should be held. On the
other hand, many, so to speak, lay dry
leaders, many dry leaders in the world
of business, say it is unwise to resist
the wet demand for a referendum; these
say that resistance by the drys to
referendum may offend much OF the
public, regardless of the public's atti-
tude on the question whether the
eighteenth amendment should be or
should not be repealed There are per-
sons who would fight hard for prohibi-
Ilon-put Woulu hSn9 cquany haIu AN
the right of the prohibitionists to
have an opportunity to express them
selves through a referendum.
Looking at the situation from out
side the ranks of either set of parti-
sans, the question would seem TO be, has
it been demonstrated that there Is
body of public opinion opposed to pro-
hibition so large that q decent respect
for 1t, even il 1t should turn out 20 be a
| mir III civ q
how large it is?
Suppose the referendum should show
that a ma ioritY of the neople. or a ma