Litchfield enquirer. [volume] (Litchfield, Conn.) 1829-current, 1846-05-14

tors. therefore recouAueno " yoG must "a
yorable consideration, the passage ETA law, lin
ting the number of select men IN each town TO
CIV for such other convenient number as the
legislature may prescribe) aid puDviding that
in their choice such elector shal deposit q
ballot containing four names onl land that the
six having the greatest number q votes shall
| he declared elected. This would ,ecure to the
minority in every town the voices of at least
two members Of this important board, to be
heard whenever oppression, injustice or par
tialitylshould be practiced.
I recommend also modification of the law
by which provision is made for the election Of
representatives on the second Monday of April
when there has been a failure 70 elect on the
FIRST Monday. The I'd electionshould be on
the day following the LIST Monday. The cleo.
tors are present, and those whe have returned
home for the purpose Of exercising their right
can more conveniently tend Onat that day than
the Monday following There.will be less
room room for intrigue, and espe cially those
Influences from abroad which ought not to be
countenanced.
At the last session of tho General Assembly
an act was passed prohibiting tie sale of wine
and spirituous liquors as crime, and authori-
sing commissioners to license NE prohibited
traffic at their pleasure
1t is most deeply to be regrdted that any
thing should occur, having tsndency in the
least degree to prejudice the Cause Of temper
ance, or to hinder the labors of those who are
engaged in effecting most bentcent reforma-
ton. The associations which have been form
ed, under whatever name, to deselope strong
public opinion on this subject, b guard against
the terrible evils Of intemperaice, and to lift
up the fallen brother and shield him against the
harsh severity of that false sentiment which for
merly prevailed, are entitled t, the warm ap-
probation and jealous cooperation of all true
hearted men. These societits were formed
upon the voluntary principle. They took the
high ground of appealing to thu understanding,
to convictions of duty, to the synpathles otour
nature, to the best sentiments Of the human
mind and they have not appealed IN vain to
those elements of more thai legal power
Since the repeal in 1912 of al laws on the sub
iect, except the tavern law, leaving the pur-
chase aud sale as a mere mater OF trade SUBJ
stantally unrestricted, the laSors OF these asso-
Citations have been crowned With signal success,
and never perhaps, at any period, was the pow
er of public opinion brough. to bear so fully,
directly and universally, infavor of this cause
OF humanity, as in tie year 1915, when this
new law was enacted. II is not the least. and
perhaps is, practically, the faremost objectionts
this new law thet it is Likely to prejGdice the
cause of Temperance, by departing from the
high ground before occupied. and descending to
the use of coercion by legal pains and penal
ties, in a manner which mary will deem incon-
sistent with their just rights;
But independently OF the general influence
of this new law upon the cause of morals, 1t IS
in itself liable to objectionsof the most serious
character. 1t denounces the most innocent
acts as criminal, and Furnishes them as crimes.
1t prohibits any sales Of wines or spirituous
liquors, in any quantity. for any purpose, I'M
der any circumstances, as crime, which
may subject the offender to criminal prosecu
ton. The law in many places has been, and
in all might be, left in full force, in its origin
al and unmitigated severity. In all such cases,
if any one should sell the prohibited article for
medical pur poses in a case Of the last extrem-
ity, or to the officers of Christian church for
the most holy purpose of our religion, he
would be criminal by this law, and might be
dragged to the bar of court of justice, and
subjected to penalty of one hundred dollars
and all the costs and expenses of his defence
and conviction. This is now the existing law
in many parts of the State in which we live.
1t is another most Objectionable feature Of
this new law, that it confers upon three men
in every town, legislative power-the power
to alter this law at their pleasure. or dispense
with it altogether. This is most extraordi-
nary proceeding. The will of two men in every
town ia made tho law on this interesting sub.
;ect. II .nay be one thing to-day and anothe,
timing Tomorrow. 1.-THE trado is rern.is.od one
week, the establishments Of all or any one who
may have embarked in it, may the next week
b, broken up. No reason need be assigned
nor explanation given. hut the motives may be
locked up in the breasts of these new law.
makers. If the cause be this mans political
sentiments or that mans religious sentiments
or however Hagran:ly the power may be abused
it is all the same-there can be no inquiry
The courts OF justice would have no control
over these new legislative officers, but their
arbitrary will is the only rule Of action for the
citizen.
But this act of 1915, as If fated to'have every
possible objection concentrated in its provisions,
actually on the face Of it, provides for the legal
sanction of the traffic in wines and spirituous
liquors, and takes care that those who engage
in it under license may be able to say to all
directors, " My business is sanctioned express
ly BY the law of the land. Instead of being left
open to the assaults of reason and argument,
the traffic, when license is granted, is express.
ly upheld by positive law. What should we
think Of criminal law prohibiting theft under
severe penalty, and then authorizing the board
Of select-men TO license such as they saw fit,
to commit theft at pleasure: Would such a
law by its legal and moral influence tend to
check the prevalence of crime, even if no Ii.
cense should ever be granted!
The code of criminal law should be certain,
uniform, and universal, imposing one and the
same rule of action upon every citizen Of suf-
fcient capacity to be responsible for his conduct.
II the act prohibited be crime, and punished
as crime, it should be crime throughout the
State, and no man should be able 10 escape the
law, or bend it to his purpose. The Judge who
may purchase and use, openly and freely, the
prohibited article without legal offence, ought
not TO be able to ascend The bench and
sentence fellow-citizen to imprisonment, or
amerce him in fine, for an act he himself
participated, or which he himself commits
every day with ilnpunity because he lives on
the other side of an imaginary line Such
spectacles as those shock that just public SEN
timent which uphold all law. civil and Grimm
al, more efectually than the combined influence
of all other causes. II follows necessarily, as
the result in all such cases, where the p.e-
sumed rights Of men are rashly interfered with
that the law itself becomes dead letter, and
while on the one hand the sober sense of the
community is outraged, on ,he other the sworn
officers of the law are in danger Of tampering
with their consciences, in conniving at its
open and notorious violation.
should be guilty Of an objectionable omis-