The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1850-04-23

That these laws have signallv failed 10
accomplish any Of the objects Of their en-
actment is matter Of easy demonstration
Under their legitimate operation intempcr-
atce has grown 10 its present giant form.
and shot forth IFS many hydra heads. Their
utter inaificacy to restrain the evils Of in
Temperance or 10 prevent their indefinite
extension, has arisen from the fact that they
have attempted to regulate what they should
/ have prohibited.
Kindred or similar evils have mover bocn
removed or prevented by attempting to reg
ulate their cause. All regulations however.
stringent, that could be imposed on gambling
houses, and houses Of i'll fame. would tend
Z 10 increase rather than diminish the evils Of
gaming and licenliousness, because this sho'S
of decency and of being regulated by pub
lie authority would diminish public cdium,
and draw in class Of visitors from the CONS
para,ively vrtuous, who could not otherwise
be gained. Hence, whatever may have been
the practice in the dark ages, or in semi
barbarous countries, the policy of all good
governments is, to suppress such houses ~
an offence against the well being Of tho
State, not to regulate their number nor the
manner Of their being conducted, NOR 10
prescribe the good moral character of their
occupants, or those who patronlze them,
And this is the only policy that can avail To-
restrain any Of the evils of intemperance.
WHO ARE REsPoNsrBLE?
Indeed the licensed sale of liquor is
worse than the unlicensed in this respect,
that it involves more persons in its guilt.
The licensing of any wrong act by the civil
authority, or the permitting of that act to
| 4 L 1 1 f1.o Iatr, -,
individuals or the community, which bond is
/ nothing but license under another name,
does not screen from guilt the pcrpelrator
of the wrong but it assumes upon the per
sons who give the license, and upon the gov
ernmeut whose laws provide for the license,
and upon the whole people who permit such
laws to remain among their statutes, the re-
sponsibiliy and the outlines of all the
wrongs that may lcgilimately flow from the
acts thus licensed
If the officers to whom the power is Civ
en- refuse 10 license. and if any other per-
sons do, in all suitable ways bear testimony
against this wrong, then are they free from
further responsibilities Yet SO long as tho
present excise laws remain among our stat
utes, whether licenses are or are not gwen,
the people will not only continue to suffer,
but will be held responsible for all the evils
that may result from their injurious influ-
ences. And the people Of this State cannot
free themselves from the guilt of all evils of
intemperance, as now experienced, or as
they NAV be in tenfold terror experienced,
but by using their best efforts 10 have these,
laws repealed bv the enactment of wise and
rghteo us prohibitory statutes"
The committee maintain that the strong
desire of the liquor dealers to have liberal
system of license, such as the more liberal in
New York compared with the more restrict
cd, is proof, that the repeal Of the more
stringent law by the New York Legislature
was injurious to the temperance cause aud
the best good Of the State" And how was
it in Vermont two or three years ago, and
how is it now? q? Who deplored the license
vote? Those who most deplore to have the
debasing fluid accessible to all, and the cx-
cessive use Of it, or thos. who are endeaYor-
ing 10 reclaim the inebriatc and save tho
temperate from danger? What are those
doing to save the community, who are op-
posed TO stringent law or even oEs pro-
hbitory?
is PROHIBITION CoNsTITUTfo>AI
The committee c,incc that the Supreme
Court of the United States has settled the
question and shcwn that the entire sale Of
Intoxicating liquors is constilutionally within
the legitimate province Of the State Legsla-
ture." AS some persons in Vermont, who
claim 10 be learned IN the law have main
tanned, flat the Legislature of State havo
no right to pass laws peculiarly restrictive,
especially prohibitory in regard to the sale
OF alcoholic liquors, it may be useful to
quote few extracts from .he opinions Civ
en- by the Judges of the Supreme Court Of
the United States. Chief Justice fancy
said -
"If any State deems the retail and inter
nal traffic in ardent spirits Injurious to its
citizens, ! see nothing in the constitution TO
prevent i, from regulating and restraining
the traffic, or from prohibiting it altogether"
Mr. Justice Mclean said, " No person can
introduce into a community malignant dis
eases or any thing, which communicates its
morals or endangers its safety" 1t was re-
marked by Mr. Justice Catron, If The
State has the power of restraining by licenses
to any extent she has the Discretionary pow
er to judge of is limit, and may 90 20 the
length of prohibiting sales altogether
Mr.. Justice Grier's remarks are so en-
henily calculated TO she'd light on this sub
ject, that we presume many will be graiiied
in seeing an extended extract from his opin-
ion officially given -
alt is not necessary to array the appalling
statistics of misery, psupersm and crime,
which have their origin in the use or abuse
of ardent spirits. The police power, which
is exclusively in the states is alone compo-
tent to the correction of these great evils,
and all measures Of restraint or prohibition
necessary to effect the parpose. are within
the scope of that authority. All laws for
the restraint or punishment of crime, for the
preservation of the public peace, health and
morals are, from their very nature. of pri-
mary importance, and lie at the Foundations
of social existence. They are for the pro-
lection of life and liberty, and necessarily
compel all laws on subjects of secondary i'm
poriance which relate only TO property, con-
venience or luxury, to recede, when they
come in contact or collision. SdiuS lopuH
Suprema Ter. The exisencies Of the sociaA
compact require that such laws be executed
before and above all others. 1t is for this
reason that quarantine laws, which protect
public health, compel mere commercial reg
ulations TO submit TO their control They