Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1851-10-14

Of those who were best calculated to deal
with sin. the whole matter was commit
ted to The pious care of the Bishop of
Manchester.
With this admirable model to assist
them, our wise. men commenced their
labors, and finally produced the license.
system. The trade IN alcoholic drinks
was thenceforth to be harmless. The
vender, the buyer, and the place of sale
were hedged about with ali manner of
cunningly devised safeguards and defen-
ces. AT least twelve reputable freehol-
ders' mist give formal certificate that
the proposed Inn or tavern is necessary
and will conduce TO the public good. -
The applicant must also be certified to
be 'of good repute for temperance and
honesty Moreover. he is required 10
give honassfes bis good behavior, as If
he were already suspected of criminal
designs, and to crown all, as they had
lamentable proof of the fact that men
placed IN close proximity to alcohol.
were liable to sudden backslidings from
good morals, they ordained that the H.
cense should be valid only one year. at
the close of which the whole process
must be repeated or the sale abandon
ed. Amultitude of regulations was de-
vised to make the traffic as little iniuri-
Gus as possible. But all this provdent
care was vain. 1t was no wiser than
the caution of the cunning Hibernian.
who IN firing the cannon, thought to mod
crate the explosion by touching it off
easy The lawmakers were not salts
he'd with the practical results of their
own handiwork and soon AN act to al
ter and amend was added. And then
supplement upon supplement-, and further
supplements still, were concocted to
supply that which was lacking And now
ior some years past, at almost every
meeting of the Legislature, the weari
some subject is dragged up, and effort.
are made to mend that which former leg
Islators have failed to make satisfactory
Ii IS not without reason, then, that we looI
upon the license system as failure in legisla
tOn. 1he serious part of the community ar
not satisfied with its morality. 1t does no
even meet the expectations of those who fran
ed 1t. The tide Of death sweeps on, despit
the puny barriers which they would fain throI
across the channel. Some of the reasons for thi
failure are obvious. An essential part of tn
law depends for its effect upon certain matter
which are In their very nature intangible, an
consequently unavailable. The twelve signer
OF the recommendation for instance, must b
: reputable freeholders.' But who is a lepall
reputable man ? The law nowhere defines
) good reputation nor can ii be done so that tn
Judges can decide, In a moment, whether thos
whose names are appended 20 the paper befor
them, come up to the true standard. We ca
easily point out the extreme cases. We ca
show that Washington, or Dwight, or Fish
was reputable man, and that a convicted rot
Der or swindler, is not. But who can draw th
line which will define clearly the position c
every man in large community2 If on
should attempt it, another would declare tn
standard too high or too low, and wish it ad
justed 10 his own notions, and both, in apply
ing their own rules, would find multitude Z
: cases which it would puzzle them sore to dc
: eide. In task like this even he would hay
failed who
Gould divide
"A hair twiXt south and southwest side.'
, And thus, from the vagueness of the term
employed, this part of the law has been rende
ed almost wholly powerless. Any freehUIde
out OF the State prison, may consider himse
: sufficiently reputable for this purpose. Th
5 law, as applied. demands neither intelIgenc,
nor sense, nor virtue. When the Jewish NOR
! arch had made his immense aver for The ten
pie, he cast twelve oxen of brass, and place
r them beneath it, as its supporters. And S
with our modern Solomons; they are not will
7 ing that the traffic in alcohol shall stand upu
2 its own bottom. They must needs mount the