Thank you for visiting SNEWPapers!
Sign up free
Editorial
August 18, 1917
Custer Weekly Chronicle
Custer, Custer County, South Dakota
What is this article about?
The New York World editorial criticizes Southern Democratic senators for supporting the Prohibition constitutional amendment, arguing it abandons the doctrine of state rights by centralizing sumptuary laws in the federal government. Without their votes, the amendment would have failed, potentially reviving Republican pushes for federal election control like the Force Bill.
Clipping
OCR Quality
98%
Excellent
Full Text
THE SOUTH ABANDONS
STATE RIGHTS
N. Y. World: The vote in the Senate on the Prohibition amendment to the Constitution of the United States shows that the South has definitely abandoned the doctrine of state rights.
Of the 36 Democratic votes cast in favor of the amendment, 19 came from Southern Senators. It is significant that both of the Senators from Mississippi, the home of Jefferson Davis, supported the amendment.
From South Carolina, the home of John C. Calhoun, only one Senator voted, and he voted in favor of submitting the amendment.
If a State has any right at all, one of those rights is to make its own sumptuary rules and regulations. When that power is centralized in the National Government there is very little left to the States except their names and their geographical boundaries, and that little may be taken away from them at any time.
Except for the votes of the Southern Senators the Prohibition Amendment would have been defeated. They alone furnished the necessary majority, and now that the South has turned away from its historical doctrine it can hardly be astonished if the movement for a Force Bill and Federal control of elections is revived whenever the Republicans gain control of Congress.
STATE RIGHTS
N. Y. World: The vote in the Senate on the Prohibition amendment to the Constitution of the United States shows that the South has definitely abandoned the doctrine of state rights.
Of the 36 Democratic votes cast in favor of the amendment, 19 came from Southern Senators. It is significant that both of the Senators from Mississippi, the home of Jefferson Davis, supported the amendment.
From South Carolina, the home of John C. Calhoun, only one Senator voted, and he voted in favor of submitting the amendment.
If a State has any right at all, one of those rights is to make its own sumptuary rules and regulations. When that power is centralized in the National Government there is very little left to the States except their names and their geographical boundaries, and that little may be taken away from them at any time.
Except for the votes of the Southern Senators the Prohibition Amendment would have been defeated. They alone furnished the necessary majority, and now that the South has turned away from its historical doctrine it can hardly be astonished if the movement for a Force Bill and Federal control of elections is revived whenever the Republicans gain control of Congress.
What sub-type of article is it?
Constitutional
Temperance
Partisan Politics
What keywords are associated?
State Rights
Prohibition Amendment
Southern Senators
Democratic Votes
Federal Power
Force Bill
What entities or persons were involved?
Southern Senators
Jefferson Davis
John C. Calhoun
Democrats
Republicans
National Government
Editorial Details
Primary Topic
Southern Abandonment Of State Rights Via Prohibition Amendment Support
Stance / Tone
Critical Of Federal Overreach And Southern Democrats
Key Figures
Southern Senators
Jefferson Davis
John C. Calhoun
Democrats
Republicans
National Government
Key Arguments
Southern Democratic Senators' Votes For Prohibition Amendment Show Abandonment Of State Rights
19 Of 36 Democratic Yes Votes From Southern Senators
Both Mississippi Senators Supported The Amendment
South Carolina's Voting Senator Favored Submission
States' Right To Sumptuary Laws Is Fundamental; Federal Centralization Erodes State Power
Without Southern Votes, Amendment Would Have Failed
This Shift May Revive Force Bill And Federal Election Control By Republicans