New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1852-03-23

,scrsrtrtsi purposes il esnfers the eeiaesf the
r1ghf to imp port the choicest wines and Liquors OF
Europe The right to use sach beverages Is tsas
made dependent on the pecuBiafy condiuon oil the
parties Interested. The mechanic the agricIlIurst,
the trsdesman and the laoorer. constituting the
mos, numerous and important element OF society,
ton any Of those drinks which their more fortunate
neiehbors may import without liIni, and indulge IN
without restraint"
Here you see il assumed and asserted
that the Maine Law, as reported by Col.
Snow, inUests the rich with privileges =
that it conters on the affluent the right to
import liquors, &c. Now look at this para
graph from the same Report
"H the Maine Law. or that row proposed to DO
enacted In this State intsreres with the importation
OF foreign wines and liquors to an extent almost
equal to ohbton 1t limits and conflicts with those
powers TO regulate trade and commerce. possessed
by Congress uEder the expressed provisions OF the
Constitution Chief Justice Tsney himself declares,
Howard that If the State law comes In collision
win the act OF Congress, and prevents or oostrucss
the importation sale OF the articles by the importer,
IL would be the duty Of the Court to declare snsm
void.'"
Comment ON rascality so barefaced can
not be needed.
Again; we have (page 2D congratu.
latiOn on the fact that the manufacture of
whisky diminished 25 per cent between
1910 and 1850, while our population ia.
creased 81 per cent and page 36) the fol-
lowing peroration:
"Your Committee cannot conclude their la6ors
without distinctly concedDg the advantages no Epg
from temperate and aostemious habits. THIS
important moral reform, 1t is respectfully insisted,
must be the result OF education conscience aud re-
| ~ h~ .bs
ties Of the law, invacing personal rights or disturb
ing the existing relations Of property"
Here we have Messrs. Rose and Smith
rejoicing over the alleged progress Of Tenn
peraDce, sand even abstemious habits.
Yet this same Report (pages $50 parades
an aggregate of 4,625, 300 bushels of Grain,
24,5O0 hogsheads OF Molasses, and l,3ll,44O
pounds of Hops annually consumed by
our distillers, and proceeds
"The effects Iof the Maine Lawl on the real and
personal properly Ia cities and villages would be dis
asirous, bat especially so in the City of NewYork,
the mart and metropolis OF the State. Its commeI-
cial, shipping and tracing interests would BE- re-
various cities and counties OF the State at the pres
ent time, upward Of $40 900 900 is permanently In
vested IN dIstileIits and bIewsnes. giving direct
1
ture and construction OF the buildings employed for
such purposes, and the machinery and apparatus
connected with them, the instant opeI alton OF the
law would necessarily involve sacrifice oil ut least
/ 81 0O0,000.
The amount Of the investments made in hotels,
taveTLs and groceries, including stocks OF wines,
alss and liquors. it is difficult to estimate with accu
racy but may be safely calculated at $780, 600, Of
which, perhaps the largest proportion 10 invested In
the Civ OF New York. Under che provisions Of the
proposed bill, the property would be reduced so per
/ Ara ~ red n
and sanction measure that must thus evsntuate in
such ruinous sacrldces!"
Are these men honest in protesting to re-
joice in the prevalence and diffusion Of
"even abstsmious habits 2" II these men
shrink appalled, from the Maine Law be-
cause of the "ruinous sacrifices" its en-
actment would involve, how could they
rejoice at the universal adoption Of "abste-
mious habits" which would inevitably In.
volve those same "ruinous sacrifices y
Who can fail to see that these men are
iaus hing and crying on the same side of
their faces!
- But what are we to do with all this
Grain, &c. now transformed into Liquors
asks timid soul. We answer, Feed the
wives and children of the drunkards withit
Many families are now in urgent need Of
barrel Of -four, and would have it if the
husband and father did not spend half of his
time and most Of his earnings at the grog-
shop. Stop the Liquor Traffic, and the
drunkard's house, now empty and desolate,
will be gradually filled up with meal, meat,
and vegetables then with beds and cloth
ing; afterward with furniture, crockery,
books, &c. Not only will more and better
food be consumed in his family, but his con-
stantly expanding purchases Of necessaries
and comforts with his increased earnings
ard savings from the grog-shop, will
enable the cabinet-maker, clothier. mer-
chant, chair.maker, halter, &c. &c. to
employ more journeymen, withdraw more
apprentices from farm labor, &c. &c.
and thus increase steadily and largely the
demand for Grain and other Produce, in
stead of reducing it. There might be less
Barley required, but the enhanced consump-
ton of Wheat, Corn, Potatoes, Flax, Tim
Der and Fleetwood would more than make
good the deficiency.
So Of Hotels and Groceries. In 30 far a
these are not tipping. houses, we maintain
that their interests would be essentially pro-
noted by the suppression Of the Liquor
Traffic. The tipplsr buys perhaps six
drinks per day, for which he pays the gro
ser eighteen pence, and lounges about in
idIeness; step his grog, and he would earn
n dollar, of which half would coma In the