The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1933-03-10
by William Bruckart

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told me he thought the weight of the
moral argument would be just as i'm
| portant in this campaign on the liquor
issue as it ever has been. He suggest
| ed that it might be slow in gaining
momentum. but he is convinced it will
| pick up speed as the campaign pro-
ceeds.
Such wet leaders as Bingham of
Connecticut, and Tydings Of Maryland.
however, maintain
Battle Is On there has been an
in States awakened public sem
timent. Their argu-
ment, oft repeated, is that hundreds Of
thousands Of right-thinking people,
once prohibitionists, have reasoned the
thing through and have reached the
conclusion that national prohibition
has been failure. They are willing,
therefore, to vote to do away with the
policy which they hoped fondly would
eliminate the curse of the liquor traf-
fic. They found. so Senator Bingham
says. that they were misguided.
So as the state legislatures pass leg
islation providing for conventions in
the several states, the battle is on. 1t
legislatures where attempts will be
made to defeat even call for a state
convention. If that fight is successful,
of course, it is almost as good for
the drys as though the state refused
to ratify in convention. 1t takes one
potential supporter from the list Of
forty-eight of which thirty-six must
ratify.
Here is the language of the resolu-
ton upon which the states will act:
Resolved by the senate and house
ofirepresentatives of the United States
of America in congress assembled
(two-thirds Of each house concurring
therein), That the following article is
hereby proposed as an amendment to
the Constitution of the United States,
which shall be valid to all intents and
purposes when ratified by conventions
in three-fourths of the several states:
"Section 1.-The Eighteenth amend
ment to the Constitution is hereby re-
pealed.
"Section 2-The transportation or
importation into any state, territory,
or possession of the United States for
delivery or use therein of intoxicating
liquors, in violation of the laws there
of, is hereby prohibited.
"Section 3-This article shall be in
operative unless it shall have been rat
flied as an amendment to the Consti-
tuition by conventions in the several
states. as provided in the Constitution,
within seven years from the date of
the submission hereof to the states by
the congress"
And for the further purposes Of
record, it may be said that the pro-
posal to ratify by conventions in the
several states is the first time it has
ever happened that congress has speci-
fed the use of conventions. The Con-
stitution, of course, permits that meth
cd.
It was contemplated by the trainers.
of the resolution in the senate that
no side issues should be allowed to
muss up a determination of the ques-
ton. Delegates to the conventions
will be chosen solely on the issue of
whether they advocate or oppose re-
peal. The plan works both ways. AS
proof, attention need be called only
to the arguments. The vets claim a
direct vote on the question means re-
peal; the drys claim direct vote
means retention of the Eighteenth
amendment 1t certainly means that
the one side or the other will get
licked, and the side that gets licked
has no alibi.
If the undercurrent of talk be cor
rect that Senator Harrison, of Missis-
sippi thought he
Demand for could cut down the
Imitation Weakens vast demand for in
flatiOn of the cur
rency by staging the series of hear
ings before his committee Oh finance,
it must be admitted he has made some
Roadway. To be sure, there are SEN
ators and representatives continuing
their free advice to the world about
the need for additional millions, even
billions. of paper bills without any
gold backing. but they are not now
believed to possess the strength in
congress they once had.
Senator Harrison is aiming at gath
ering in all shades of opinion into one
record, a course that may or may not
be productive of anything worth while.
But it is established that the deeper
purpose of the hearings was to keep
many of the inflatiOnists quiet.
How much easier it will be then to
draft legislation! Then, and not until
then, will it be wholly apparent how
much Senator Harrison has accom-
plished by arranging a Laboratory"
or "clinic" for analysis of the economic