The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1852-05-27
For the National Era.
MAINE LIQUOR LAW.

terest for the greatness of the evil whose cure
it seeks, and the vast incidental aid it promises
to every other reform. II is the subject o.
vigiant scrutiny for its claim of singular eff
cheney.
All admit without debate the evils Of intern
perance Yet only they realize its manifold
curse, who have pledged heart head and hand
to the work of human advancement. Intern
perance is their ever-present foe. They visit
the prision, the poor-house and the hospital,
seeking to soften, aid and cure. While they
rescue and protect by units, intemperance
poursfn recruits of misery by hundreds. They
establish free schools, but the children of the
drunkard cannot come. They study the fear
ful question of pauperism-the grand impoyer.
Usher is intemperance This is a prolific root
| of poverty, ignorance brutality, and crime
And where they spring Immediately from Other
vices, or from the force Of circumstances how
often these originate more or less remotely in
that fatal cause We bewail the low, selfish
dishonest spirit of American politics; it is but
the exponent OF a constituency who hold the
balance of power, while they learn their De
mocracy in the grogshop. The world wonders
how nation of free voters can be drilled blind
fold by the Million in support of party nom
necs without talent or moral worth, and oil
party measures repugnant to freedom and to
common sense They forget the myriad places
all over the Union, where reason sleeps while
prejudice and passion are retailed, mixed with
liquor at three cents glass.
OF all the widows and orphans of America
how many have been made SO by intemperance
or by the disease and destitution it induced
OF the degraded children of our large cities
ignorant Of all but vice, poor little heather for
whom the neghboring free schOol-houses open
their doors in vain, how vast proportion were
made what they are, and are surely doomed to
hopeless future, by this suicidal and murder
Gus vice
Whence arises the necessity for jaIs, crmi-
nal courts and police for hospitals and asy-
lums! Certainly more than three fourths of
the enormous tax society pays for their support
IL made necessary, directly or remotely, by the
use OF liquor Among the obstacles to human
progress, there is none in our country more
deadly or so universal. Slavery is the only
specific evil comparable to it in extent as a
source of human debasement-and who can es-
innate how long emancipation will be pOstpon-
ed by Southern intemperancei
AS intemperance is the nucleus and prime
stimuant of all kinds of crime and forms of
suffering, so the liquor trade is the grand
tempter and incentive to intemperance As the
post office and press awaken and increase in
telligence, while they facilitate its transmits
sion, SO do establishments for the sale of liquor
deepen and aggravate the vice they crafty.
The simple, distinct object of every establish
ment for the sale of liquor is of course TO fur
nish the utmost facility to those who drink il,
and to make use Of all allurements to form in
others the taste it is their business to supply
Perverted social influences centre there. The
weary labOrer, the idle youth, the acquiescent
friend who but for the peculiar attractions of
the coffee house might have rested, lounged,
and refreshed themselves harmlessly elsewhere,
softly enter the road to ruin there The liquor
sellers of America with innumerable hands
meet the free citizens of America and "com-
mend the poisoned chalice to their lips" There,
corrupt politicians ply their trade and carry
thence millions of blind and th0ughtless votes.
There, home delicacy and filial love, and all
the graces of domestic life, decay. There, the
heart is blghted and betrayed, and the fresh
ness OF the young mans generous spirit lost
forever. Ii il the gamblers haunt and there
the plots of the criminal are ripsned. There
the hard earnings Of the laborer are wasted,
while the wife dies slowly without home, and
the children take the likeness of the father.
Ifintemperance be so enormous an evil, and
if its growth still more than its qualification
lies in the lquor trade, may not the State re-
gard that trade as criminals
What is the first demand of society, and the
fundamental principle flawl Plainly the pro-
lection Of the injured and helpless. Are not
the wives, children, and dependents of the in
temperate suchl And who can count the
number of these, so destitute. and 10 strongly
challenging our sympathy, hitherto unshielded
by the laws strong arm!
Since every official report affrms and year
by year reiterates the fact, that very large
majority Of criminals, whose thefts, arrest, con-
6nement trial, and punishment, costs the CON-
munity so much, become such by intemperance,
may not the State prohibit the sale of that
which is the admitted cause of so vast o
tax
Since all the statistics of the origin of crime
attribute to habits and occasions of intemper-
ance SO large an influence, may not the State
prohibit the sale of that which has proved so
dangerous TO reputation life, and limb?
Is any principle involving sacred personal
rights violated or endangered by law prohib-
ting the sale of liquor as a beverage, OF its
manufacture for such salea Certainly not
Does u man choose to drink intoxicating liquor
He has right to do so to any extent which
does not injure and impoyerish others--a per-
sonal right which no legislation can impair.
Let him buy it for has otcn use, from any place
he chooses beyond the jurisdiction Of the law,
if drink he must Even the stringent provs-
ions of the Maine law authorize no search or
seizure in private dwelling, except on evidence
of an act of sale. This right to drink, the law
does not propose to touch. Butt claims the right
to prohibit the sale of liquor as a trade involv-
ing vast distress and injustice TO a large class
Of inhabitants whose defencsless position en-
titles them peculiarly to the protection Of law
1t claims moreover, the right to suppress a
trade, involving by its certain consequences an
immense pecuniary tax, oppressive to the
State
But while such law treads not one inch
upon the reserved ground of personal right, it
throws bulwark around tho mind, body, and
estate Of the poor and helpless, and of the citi-
zens at large in which every republican phi.
lanthropist must cordially rejoice
! The suppression of the liquor trade within
the State is the gist and central principle OF
the law under discussion the minor provisions
of the Maine law may be adopted or modified
without affecting them. II by its enactment
any manufacturer find his machinery rendered
unsuitable, or his premises reduced in value,
let the State apprase and pay his loss. She
will be very soon remunerated by the reduction
Of her tax list What the farmer may lose in
the sale of grain by the suppression Of distil.
leries, he will gain by the increased demand
tor his. produce in the shape Of meat and
bread.
After all, is this mere theory, OF has such a
law been found to work weli
In Portland Maine, with population of
over 10000, the Mayors annual report closing
March 20, 1882 presents the following facts.
The liquor law came into force June I'd, 1881.
There were then in that city 900 dram shops,
whose receipts were over 100000 per annum.
There are now none, and the mony saved du-
ring the year is estimated sufficient TO furnish