New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1852-01-28
The Temperance Csnveatioas-Liaser
and Law.

This week viii Vc oiS"a"N y VIZ
sembling at Albany of two Temperance
Conventions. one Of them the first State
Convention of Women ever held. we
trust those earnest advocates of Total Alb
s,;,ence who can attend will do SO, and that
The convention of the both will be one OF
the iarpes. and most influential ever held
In our State.
But will its immediate object be at
tanned
Ne who allows himself to be chosen
legislator should be quite sure That ne Is
qualified morally if not intellectually to
discharge the duties of that most responsible
trust He should be sure at least that ne
desires the prevalence Of knowledge,
Virtue and Happiness. The end of Law is
the supremacy of Virtue, the protection OF
the weak and simple from the tolls of the
unprncipled, selfish and cunning. When
it disclaims this end, and sells its power to
the corrupter of morals and the destroyer
of innocence for a bribe, no matter how
dazzling or how paltry-no matter whether
called bride outright or shielded under
the potter term license'--then it proves
recreant to its lofty duties and forfeits the
respect Of the community.
But will our Legislature give US twin
brother to The MAINE LAW?
Ask each member privately and casually
- Do you believe that the stringent re-
preston of the Liquor Traffic would ele-
'vate the standard of public morals and
promote the general well-being and we
do not believe that forty of the one hundred
and sixty would or could answer in the neg
alive. But ask them to frame and put
through law which uW effectually repress
the Liquor Traffic, and they will at once be-
gin to claw off 1t can't be enforced,
says one. But we answer, MAINE does en-
force it. Here is undeniable fact against
your unsupported assertion. And even if she
did not, you ought to be studying how to
frame your law so as to secure its enforce
ment, rather than be contriving excuses for
neglectiug your duty.
But the people wont stand so stringent
a law'-We answer, MAINE does stand
it Nay, more; she upholds it. The
devotees of Rum dare not make the main
tenance of the Law direct issue and 90 to
the People upon it. They know that they
would be defeated and the Law upheld by
an overwhelming majority.
The People won't endure legislation
which tells them what they may and what
they may not eat or drink. '--Ah Sir,
that is not the question 1t concerns not
what man may drink but what he may
sell, and this sort of legislation is as old as
any other. We have laws on our statute
book forbidding the sale Of other Poisons,
except under very rigid restrictions why
not Alcohol as well The fact that it is
not universally knO,on to be a poison is an
additional reason for putting Legislative
brand on its forehead. The sale Of Gun
powder in cities is forbidden; but Rum is
far more dangerous and mischievous there
than Powder would be, and is tolerated.
The law guards against the lesser danger
but tolerates the greater. Is this con-
sistent
But the argument is exhausted. Of
those who have ever carefully heard and
candidly weighed what is offered on either
side, nine. tenths demand the enactment Of
the Maine Law. The other tenth would do
likewise if they loved not liquor more than
the public welfare. They must know that
suppressing the Liquor Traffic would of it.
self prevent more Crime and abolish more
Pauperism and Misery than all our present
costly machinery of Criminal Justice and
Aims House Charity can repress or ale
viate
Then why is there hesitation as to the
passage of the Law
We answer-Because many legislators
love Liquor and dread the hostility of the
Grog- selling interest. They think Tem-
perance men will desert Temperance for
Politics whenever Election comes round,
while Liquor-dealers and their disciples
will sink Politics for Rum. This is the
reason why We are likely to have no Maine
Law this season.
Friends of Temperance who will assem-
bic this week at Albany, our Legislators
will give or refuse us the Maine Law as
they see ifs; but beg them not to give US
some miserable though specious counterfeit
of it which will not be enforced, and then
lay the blame at our door, Entreat them