here were
positive proofs that organized labor had obtained a large share of power
in the councils of the country.

=Federal and State Relations.=--If the interference of the government
with business and labor represented a departure from the old idea of
"the less government the better," what can be said of a large body of
laws affecting the rights of states? The prohibition of child labor
everywhere was one indication of the new tendency. Mr. Wilson had once
declared such legislation unconstitutional; the Supreme Court declared
it unconstitutional; but Congress, undaunted, carried it into effect
under the guise of a tax on goods made by children below the age limit.
There were other indications of the drift. Large sums of money were
appropriated by Congress in 1916 to assist the states in building and
maintaining highways. The same year the Farm Loan Act projected the
federal government into the sphere of local money lending. In 1917
millions of dollars were granted to states in aid of vocational
education, incidentally imposing uniform standards throughout the
country. Evidently the government was no longer limited to the duties of
the policeman.

=The Prohibition Amendment.=--A still more significant form of
intervention in state affairs was the passage, in December, 1917, of an
amendment to the federal Constitution establishing national prohibition
of the manufacture and sale of intoxicating liquors as beverages. This
was the climax of a historical movement extending over half a century.
In 1872, a National Prohibition party, launched three years before,
nominated its first presidential candidate and inaugurated a campaign of
agitation. Though its vote was never large, the cause for which it
stood found increasing favor among the people. State after state by
popular referendum abolished the liquor traffic within its borders. By
1917 at least thirty-two of the forty-eight were "dry." When the federal
amendment was submitted for approval, the ratification was surprisingly
swift. In a little more than a year, namely, on January 16, 1919, it was
proclaimed. Twelve months later the amendment went into effect.

COLONIAL AND FOREIGN POLICIES

=The Philippines and Porto Rico.=--Independence for the Philippines and
larger self-government for Porto Rico had been among the policies of the
Democratic party since the campaign of 1900. President Wilson in his
annual messages urged upon Congress more autonomy for the Filipin