The Sun.
London, England, 1867-05-21 00:00:00

THE MAINE LIQUOR LAW.

Last evening the Hon. Neal Dow, of Maine,
United Stites, usually called General Dow since the
Civil War, delivered an address in the Guildhall,

in the city of London,- the use of which had been
granted, on application, by the Court of Common
Council for the occasion, on " the Legislative Pre-
vention of Intemperance, Pauperism, and Clinic."
The chair was taken by Mr. Alderman Ilale, and,
though the weather was unfavourable, there was a
very large audience, many of whom were women.
There were on the platform Sir J. F. Davis, Arch-

•
deacon Sandford, Mr. Whitworth, M.P., Professor
Newman, the Hon. and Rev. L. Noel, Dr. F. L.
Lees, Mr. Samuel Pope, Mr. J. li. Raper, Mr. W.
C. Fowler, Dr. Saunders, Mr. Rudking, the Rev.
J. P. Sargent, Mr. J. E. Saunders, Deputy Per-
kins, Mr. Whiteside, Deputy Fry, Mr. J. Figgins,
Mr. Bedford, Mr. lielday, Mr. Robert Stapleton,

chairman of the City Lands Committee of the Cor.

poration, and many more. On entering the hall
Mr. Dow was loudly cheered. He was briefly in-
troduced to the meeting by Mr. Alderman HALE,

who in doing so related some of his experiences as a
magistrate as to the prevalence of crime and misery
arising from drunkenness, which he believed to be
greatly on the increase. Referring to Mr. Dow, he

said he had done honour to his race, and conferred
immense benefits on the country which gave him

birth, 13 of the States of the Union having, chiefly
through his exertions, adopted the Maine Liquor
Law, and he (Alderman Hale) should rejoice to see
such a law enacted in this country.

First of all, on the motion of Professor F. W.
NEWMAN, seconded by Archdeacon SANDFORD, a
resolution was carried by acclamation offering a
hearty welcome to Mr. Dow "as an American

statesman and philanthropist, who had been greatly
distinguished through many years by his arduous
labours for the cure and prevention of intern-

perance."

General Dow then stood forward to speak, and
was enthusiastically cheered. Premising that that
grand old civic hall had never been more worthily
occupied than on that occasion, he said poverty,

pauperism, and crime were more prevalent in this

country than in any other, and that no English
statesman of any great prominence had ever at-
tempted to deal with them in a statesmanlike man-

ner. While in the city of Boston, where the Maine
Liquor Law had been adopted, poverty, pauperism,
insanity, blindness, idiotcy, and crime applied to
less than one per cent. of the population, in Eng-
land they affected nearly 5 per cent. lie stood be-
fore them, he said, to hold up the example of his
•
country to us in this respect. Knowing and feeling
that traffic in intoxicating liquors was in deadly
opposition to the happiness and progress of the na-
tion, his countrymen, be said, devoted themselves
to its extinguishment, and they succeeded. On
behalf of his countrymen he undertook to say that
they not only meant to have Englishmen for friends
rather than enemies, but they were determined to
have them for friends. (Cheers.) Alienation, he
said, if it happened at all between the two coun-
tries, should never proceed from anything on the
other side of the Atlantic. Ile traced the history
of the Maine Liquor Law from 1837, when its
establishment was first attempted, down to the
present time, when he said all the States north of
the Potomac had declared in its favour. During
the rebellion, when the American people were
engaged in a struggle, which would be memorable
for all time, to save their country from being
_ .

blotted out from the map of the world, the a 4
tation on this question necessarily slackened, but
now it was being maintained with greater vigour
than ever. In this country, he said, there were
168,000 places where intoxicating liquors were
sold—all tendinhey, in Am
g to paupereircasiea,
d the nwdacnrtietntiialis:e tfiecommunity. l
Eng-
lish people to put the liquor traffic down. The
subject had never yet appeared in the Queen's
Speech, but they would have it there, or they would
know the reason why. (Hear, hear, and cheers.)
It was high time British statesmen turned their
attention to the causes of pauperism, misery, and
crime among the people. £88,000,000, he said,
was spent in England every year in strong
drink, £60,000,000 of it by working men. They,
the Maine Liquor Law advocates in England, were
determined to have the liquor traffic out of the list
of the licensed trades, and they would do it.
(Cheers.) To men about to invest money in dis-
tilleries or breweries he would say " Beware," for
he gave them fair warning that they would come
down upon them before long like an extinguisher
on a candle. (Cheers and a laugh.) The other
day, he said, an old gentleman asked him when the
United States' Government were going to pay off
the rebel bonds. His answer was, " When you
pay off the Fenian bonds." Talk of the enfranchise-
ment of the people of England by Parliamentary
Reform ! The enfranchisement of them from in-
toxicating liquors was a thousand times more impor-
tant. Put the liquor traffic down, and the people
would enfranchise themselves, and would rise in the
social scale. Ile warned the meeting that Great
Britain would not occupy the same position in the
future as it did now unless it put down the accursed
liquor traffic. (Cheers.) One hundred and seventy-
sixliyterally borne
million being lost every year (said the speaker),
the na-
tion,peaik er),
and 6roi ,cohoaond of
sourtro
strong people
asit
k killed everywas
down by its deadweight of poverty, pauperism, and
crime. We could not run the race for national
greatness with his countrymen unless we threw off
that load. He enumerated four counties in the
were emptied in four
IStates h
months
the f prisonster
th o
enactment whiche
of the Maine Liquor
Law. One county prison he visited would have
been empty also, but that it had been turned into a
henhouse and the gaoler kept his hens in it. (A.
laugh.) In another there were five prisoners, and
three of them were grogsellers. (Renewed laugh-
ter.) Many of the workhouses he visited were
empty in the smaller towns and rural districts. He
advised the English people to try the experiment,
which had been successful in the States, of putting
the penalties for being drunk on the man who
sold the liquor and made another man drunk.
Or, said he, let the law stand as it was
—only strike out the word " drunkard" and sub-
stitute " rutnseller"—the victimizer for the
victim.
(Cheers.) Though the Americans might
not have the gift of prophecy, it was well known all
over the world that they could " guess," and, if the
reporters would kindly put it down, he " guessed "
that if Providence spared his life and health he would
be over here again in five years, and help us again,
and, it might be, to rejoice over the emancipation
of this grand old country. (Cheers.) Dixigo, "1
lead," was the motto of the State from which he
came, and she called on England and all the world
to follow where she had led, and they would find
perfect protection and infinite relief from the
miseries and evils resulting from the traffic iu in-
toxicating drinks. (Cheers.)
At the coucluJion of the address of General Dow,
of which the above is necessarily but a summary,
on the motion of Mr. B. WIIITWORTII, M.P.,
seconded by Mr. SAMUEL POI'E, a cordial vote of
thanks IV ;Li passed, congratulating him upon the
signal benefits—domestic, moral, and political—
secured by the adoption and eniorcement of the pro-
hibitory laws of Maine and other States.
Mr. WitrrwouTtr, M.P., in speaking to the
motion, confessed that England was not at present
prepared for the adoption of the Maine Liquor
Law. The State of Maine, he said, was prepared
for the enactment when the other States were not.
The Permissive Bill of the United Kingdom Alliance,
however, would meet the case, he thought. They
did not propose to urge that bill as an Imperial
measure, but as one which sought to give the power
to any district to adopt its principle where the people
or a comiderable majority of thew were in favour

of its adoption. He had lost all faith in moral
suasion as a means of putting down the gigantic
evils arising from drunkenness, and he predicted
that when 50 or 60 members of the house of Com-
mons met in the Tea-room, and told the Govern-
ment that they might not longer reckon on their
support unless they attempted to grapple with those
evils, a remedy would not be long in being applied.
Mr. SAMUEL POPE complained that at present it
was in the hands of a bare majority of the magis-
trates to refuse to grant a licence, and what the
advocates of the permissive principle said was that
they were not the best tribunal, because they did
not always know what might be the wants of the
people of the locality. The meeting might have
read in that day's paper what the landlord of a
public house, and who had once been a policeman,
thought of the independence of the licensing ma-
gistrates, when, wanting to get a license, he wrote
a polite letter to one of the body, enclosing £4O in
bank-notes. The Permissive Bill had for its object
to consult the neighbourhood into which it was
sought to be introduced before it was adopted. A
majority of the justices could refuse a license, and
what the advocates of the permissive principle con-
tended for was that the people of a locality should
have the right to refuse all licenses.
The meeting was next addressed by Dr. LEES,
who complained of the manner in which, he said,
the newspaper press had often misrepresented the
objects of the United Kingdom Alliande, especially
singling out the Times, Telegraph, and Standard
for comment in that respect. " Talented as were
newspaper writers," he said, " they had not the
brain to perceive the eternal principles of truth, and
could only discuss truth by misrepresenting it."
Mr. RAPER, who followed, said at that moment
there was not a single licensed liquor shop in the
State of Massachusetts, and, as a party, they, in
England, with that great fact before them, were
determined to go on. Upwards of £40,000 had
been subscribed towards agitating the question, of
which Mr. Whitworth,M.P., had subscribed £3,000,
and Sir Walter Trevelyan had promised £3,000
during the next five years.
The thanks of the meeting were voted to the
Court of Common Council for the use of the hall,
and to Mr. Alderman Hale for presiding on the oc-
casion. With that the proceedings were brought
:o an end.

IN7ERVIETV BE7 TVEEN GENERAL HAN-
COCK AND TALL BEAR AT • FOR?
LAR,NARD.

The following description of this interview, from
an eye-witness, will be read with interest. The
Indians have recently proved troublesome, and the
expedition, under General Hancock, is for the pur-
pose of either receiving or extorting assurances from
them that they will remain peaceable in the future.
The troops, under General Hancock, Lave been
camped for nearly a week, troops and animals
needing rest before continuing their march up the
Arkansas. Although no invitation was extended
to the Indians, numbers of the minor chiefs have
come to the camp to say " Ugh," -and get some of
the white man's sugar and coffee. The Indians have
a decided penchant for the little luxuries of the
camp, and seem averse to dog when they can get
beef ; or it may be, as they say, that the winter
has been very severe, that dogs are scarce as well as
out of season. Just at nightfall, on the 12th of

April, a number of chiefs of the Cheyennes came to
the headquarters to have a talk. General Hancock
was quite ready to have the confab at once. Not
so the Indians. They would not say a ward until
they could have time to eat, smoke, and decorate.
A Sibley tent was pitched, in which a fire was built,
and food was sent to the Indians, who immediately
proceeded to one of those astonishing gastronomical
efforts for which they are celebrated, i.e., eat a
sufficient quantity in an hour to last a week, if
they indulge in no more than their ordinary cxer-

cise.
While this performance was going on a huge
camp-fire ryas built of cottonwood logs. About this
fire officers assembled in a semicircle, seating them-

selves on logs arranged for the purpose. Groups of
officers, standing apart from the others, were dis-
cussing the probability of being ordered East, or to
the Smoky, or to the new possessions. Others were
determined to have a feast of buffalo meat just as
soon as they were arrived- in a country where the
herds were feeding.

Some of the officers were got up in uniforms suffi-
ciently gaudy to make it doubtful if the Indians
would not find it necessary to retire to their tent
for a second attempt at paint. As a general thing
the officers were habited in their best garments,
wearing also their sabres and revolvers. Two hours
passed in waiting, when Colonel Wynkoop arrived.
The colonel is an Indian agent par excellence, of
whom a slight description will not suffice to convey
any just idea. He is a Plains man, and the best
handler of Indians that has ever been on the
Arkansas. The Indians have every confidence iu
his integrity, and respect him for the " heap fight"
that he is known to be capable of making.
Entering the Sibley the colonel found the Indians
enjoying a little preliminary smoke. He remarked
that the big sword was fall of talk. This seems a
doubtful compliment to General Hancock, who,
tho.:igh sociable, is not a great conversationalist. A
grunt and numerous ughs followed the announce-
ment. The pipe took another circuit and was
finished. The Indian seems averse to the waste of
tobacco in any other way than a puff. Leaving
the tent they formed in a single line, walking not
in the customary Indian file, but abreast. A few
steps i❑ advance walked Colonel Wynkoop, with
the two chiefs of the " Dog Soldiers," White Horse
and Tall Bear, on either side of him.

As they advanced toward the fire, General Han

cock suggested to the officers seated at his right
hand that they vacate their seats on the logs to the
Indians. The leading chiefs were introduced to
General Hancock, General A. J. Smith, Generals
Custer, Davidson, and Gibbs. " Ughs" and ~,hakes
of the hand followed, and the Indians seated them-
selves, wrapped their robes or blankets about them,

and proceeded to study the fire with intentness.
General Hancock rose from his seat, stepped to-
ward the fire, which lit tin his figure, now rather
more portly than the campaigners with the Army
of the Potomac remember him. The General stated
to the Indians, by means of an interpreter—

Edmund Guerier—that he had come to their country
to see, them, not to fight, unless they did wrong,
when he should be obliged to punish them. He had
heard that they had proposed to stop travel on the
roads. If they did this they would do wrong, and
the Great Father in Washington would be very
angry and hit them hard. If they attacked the
trains on the Pacific Railroad they would do great
injury to themselves. The buffalo were going away
very fast ; they would all go away eventually, when
the Indian must depend on the white man for food.
If the white man was angry with the Indian, he
would not give him food. If a white man did wrong,
he should be punished by the laws of the white man;
the Indians must not punish him. If the Indian
did wrong, the Indian should be tried in the same
way. The General remarked that he had expected
to see other chiefs, but they had not come. "He
would start to-morrow morning and go to the vil-
lages, where he would have a big talk."
While this " talk" was being made, the Indians
had been passing the pipe, which had been several
times emptied, Colonel Wynkoop taking his whiff
with great regularity and evident satisfaction. The
generals did not indulge in the luxury of the calu-
met, but confined themselves to cigars. A silence
of some minutes' duration followed the General's
talk, when Tall Bear, a splendid specimen of an
Indian chief of the Cheyenne kind, rose, strode up
to General Hancock, and shook hands; stepping
back a pace or two, he wrapped his blanket about
his body in such a manner as to permit the folds to
be graceful, when he spoke for a moment, slowly
and distinctly, though not loud. The gestures were
simple and extremely graceful. Ceasing to speak,
he gazed steadily into the General's eyes, while the
interpreter told the sense of what he said. I say
sense, for it was but a skeleton of the words spoken.
He had made his treaties and had kept them.
The buffalo were becoming scarce; they had never
been so scarce as during the past winter. The white
man had made them scarce. When they were
. hungry he had gone to the fort for food. The ofker

in command had told him that he would shoot him
if he came to the fort. Why was this? They
would be glad to see the General. They desired
peace.
The command is moving, and will reach Fort
Dodge in two or three days.—Frank Leslie.