Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1853-07-06
For the Spectator.
The License Law--s.

! lnc 1ICfuse IhW--cs
.Messrs. Editors Still supposing the Magis
trates invested with unlimited discretion III tht
administration of this Law, the inexpediency
entire prohibition of the retail traffic is urged or
the ground that those who advocate such course
are carried away by fanaticism. It'll very easy
to call names. None who have ever embarked Ii
the thankless enterprise Of reforming evils In any
department of human interest have failed to mee
reproach. The greatest ofChrstian Apostles was
deemed mailman. Many Of our patriot loretta
theirs were doubtless so esteemed by their tory
neighbors. Power never reingulshed Its hold
gracefully. And evil customs exert such influence
over their votares that they are rarely surrender
ed without resistance. When men are at loss
for argument it would certainly be better to yield
than to call names. 1t is very bad practice In
school boys and is not improved when INDUCED by
men. ~
1t is cheerfuly admitted that according to the
usual definition, there have been and still are men
who hold fanatical views on this subject. But
certainly it cannot be said that desire for rigid
enforcement of Law of the State is fanatlcal.-
| The whole temperance movement has been char
acterised as fanatical 1t may be 'wlld and ex-
travagant' to hold that drinking one glass OF wine
is in itself wrong, but to hold that men in danger
of becoming drunkards had better abstain altogeth-
er, that to encourage such, others not in danger
should make common cause with them, and that
to relieve many thoughtless youth and our ser
wants from constant source of Temptation, the re-
tail traffic should be prohibited-are all certainly
very plain, Ineligible and reasonable propositions
But is the prohibition of the Liquor traffic the
act of fanatcisn2 Let the facts of the case an
swer Better than any reasonings are reliable
facts. Here are testimonies from those who have
seen the good results Of an entire prohibition OF
the sale of spirituous liquors for ndiscrlmInate
use They are the statements of reliable men
detailed by the correspondent of the Richmond
Examiner.
In letter dated Chicago, June 10th, the wri-
ter says
s.Everybod in Michigan now is full of a law
against the Liquor Traffic, like 'the Maine Law. }
1t has been passed by the Legislature; and is to
be voted upon ('YEs' or 'No,') by the people
on the Goth of June. Among those talked with,
the opinion seemed universal, that the YEs-es
would prevail, very greatly. The newspaper
press, on such subject, is apt to lag behind pub
lie opinion as far as the Legislature does; yet
there is now before me an article from the Detroit
.Aduertiser noticing fifteen Democrats and sixteen
Wing papers of that State, as advocates OF the
Law And know Of one Democratic paper the
Kalamazoo Gdzette) which is warmly on the same
side, but is not in the .4drertser'S list. can find
but three papers in Michigan opposed to the Law
of these, am very sorry to say, two are Demo-
cratic The question does not appear to connect
itself in the lesNt, with party politics.
'.Here, in cago, there is an assemblage OF
men from many the States, and from several of
the British Pre-. IS, as Sons of Temperance
Judge O'Nea,i, the Supreme Court of South
Carolina, is the ,residing member, or Most
Worthy Patriarch and Neal Dow. author OF the
Maine Law, is next in office, or Most Worthy
Associate.' Both of these gentlemen, and Gene
raj Cary of Ohio, have spoken to large public au-
ditories here on the Temperance Reform gene
rally, and on Legal Suasion' in PARTICULAR
I,egal Suasion, as to the drunkard- maker-the
man killer-the poisoner of domestic peace, and of
human happiness. AS to the drinkers, nobody
thinks of any punishment for them; or of any pro-
hibition, except what is necessarily involved in
forbiddng the sale-in keeping temptation away
from them.
"Dow's and Cary's speeches were very pow
erful. Dow's was perhaps the most remarkable
1t was not eloquent, in the common acceptatlon OF
that word. There is no brilliancy, no sparkle,
about the mans mind Massive, compact good
sense. is the great feature. Facts and reasonings
brought out lucidly and forcibly, formed the sta
pie of his discourse. A distinct utterance, strong
enough voice, an earnest manner and face full
of goodness, constitute, altogether, an excellent
delivery: SO that his crowded auditory many of
them standing all the time, listened not only with
patience, but with eagerness, for nearly two hours
urging him on by cries of $50 on. Go on !"
when he would give signs of closing. The stan
ders up were just behind me- Many of these
cries came from among them and often looking
round, to see what expression was in their faces
saw the most earnest conviction legible thereof
the 900 hearers. doubt if a single one remain
ed unconvinced that LEGAL sUAsIoN, addressed to
makers and vendors, is sacred duty OF society
to the bottles vctims-amongst whom the wives
and children oedrunkards are entitled to protec
ton even far more than the drunkards themselves
A vast majority| of the crowd appeared, by their
dresses and locks, to be working people.
"From Mr.. Dow's clear statements, and from
those of other Maine men or near neighbors to
Maine, that1 have talked with, there is no ques-
ton that The Maine Law is triumphantly sue
cessful The quantity Of liquor sold and used in
that State now, is not twentieth of the quantity
sold and used before the law went into operation.
The agents chosen 10 sell for medical and mechan-
ical purposes are commonly shrewd men. that
know ,yto's ,cho and uhat's ,ohat ; and can almost
always tell whether an applicant for liquor wants
It bona fde for lawful use or not. Certain 9TH
or added precautions as prohibiting any sale
| to minor, an apprentice, or a known drunkard,
without a certificate from The parents, master, or
physician-fight eflectually guards against im-
position. Some ludicrous, and mean tricks have
been detected, in attempts to evade law: but its
efficacy has been sighalized in detecting them
and they have now almost entirely ceased.
"Mr. Dow gave some striking examples Of the
happy results In Portland "a city nearly as large
as Richmcnd.) There is not a single open or
known grog-shop in the city. And if there are
any secret ones, they are obliged to skulk from
the face of day, and are very hard to find, even
| by topers, who are thus saved from temptation,
and enabled to cure themselves. 1t is of great
importance, to make an alluring vice hide itself
in secret holes and corners where only the low
est knayes will adopt it as their trade, and where
the ingenious will disdain TO seek, and the weak
minded will fail to see it.
"a friend of Mr.. Dow's, in Portland, had
known poor little girl who, before the Law be-
gan, used to call at that friends house almost ev-
cry day, begging for cold victuals for her mother
and the family: her father spending all his earn
ngs at the grog shops. A few months after the
| Law commenced, the gentleman and his family
missed the little girls visits entirely; and at
length meeting her in the street, (better dressed
than she used to be,) he said, 'Why Sally, how
do you do? How is it that you never come to
see us nowp -sO'-sad she-"We are all We
ry weIl-and we, have warm victuals at home
every day. And on questioning, she told of an
entire change in her fathers habits. Mr.. Dow
mentioned two other incidents, that showed it SC
hard to get liquor in Portland Except from the A
gent that inveterate and resolved drinkers were
reformed almost in spite of themselves"
In another letter dated Kalamazoo, Mich, June
l4th. the same writer says
( ..The nroposed law TO abolish the Iiuuor Traf