Windham County Democrat. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1836-1853, 1853-01-26
Nol5

evil by law his is not the province of laly 10 re-
aore evil is its purpose. That such attempts have
been made is not denied but the adoption Of such
principle in legislation is the extreme of absurditvs
what would this community say, if the Legislature
IN their wisdom should frame laws on the principle
+ 'at kaurder, aud adultery, and theft were only to be
sfsVftaed act s,pzeSssa, BY awl Murder 10 be pr,
hibited except in certain circumstances. and adultery
permitted by certain privileged few, under nroner
restrictions And on the same principle ihs The evil
OF righteousness was to be so regulated bv law nc 90
allow but one hodse Of nfanly in town licensed nm
der proper checks and with suitable securv in regard
TO the moral character Of those engaged in The bust
ness Apply the principle TO any acknowledged evil.
ana lis aosurdy appears. Admit thing to be wrong
""u evil ana tle law can do nothing 1ightluy but
suppress It, And this is what is now done in REGARD
to lotteries and horse racing and gaming and arson
and MURDER aud adultery, and poypamy and why.
should not the same be done in relation to the sale of
intoxicating liquors! which is confessedly product
i've of more evil than all these combined.
Society has the right to abate nuisances to prohib,
1t property from being used so as to create them and
II need be, to destroy property when it is so used
1t Is laid down by Kent in his Commentary on
American law, that ''the government NAV bv general
regulation inerdict such uses of property as would
create nuisances, and become dangerous to the lives
or health, or peace, comfort of the citiz7ns I'M.
wholesome trades, saughter-housea operations often
sye TO The senses, (rumsellng is surely all thesel
The deposit OF gunpowder the building with tombus-
tlbe materials, and the burial of tho dead NAV be in
terdcted by law in the midst of dense masses of pop
'ation nm the soneral and nn'ianal srinsibto
cry person ought to his properyas not to nure
subserveni the general interest Of connt iii
1t follows incontestiby, from these principles, that
the traffic in intoxicating liquors TO be used for drink
being fraught with evil and danger at all times and
1 all places. of riUht and should in sill iusfic
be entirely prohibited
Sd. We come now to the third principle which
embraces all that is peculiar to the new Law-the
right to enforce prohbitory enactments by adequate
powers and penalties, the as provided in other
cases. The essential defect in the law now in force
is that it wants the power and efficiency which are
necessary and such granted by other statutes
The law against counterfeiting, for example, gives
authority to search for counterfeit money and tools
and implements; it makes the presence Of these in.
suspicious circumstances, pr6na .facia evidence of
guilt and it authorizes the breaking up of counterfeit
ing establishments by the seizure of all which belongs
to the unlawful trade Without such authority the
law would be nullity, and counereiting would be
as common rumselling. Suppose the law against
counterfeng modelled after the pattern Of the exist
ing law the subject of temperance, giving author
y apprehend and punish only such as convicted
of making or passing their goods and then only by
nnP OF Ten dollars ana suppose lnC carried
out, making the countereiter's establishment safe from
search or seizure what would be the effect A man
might be fined every day in the year, and still find
lucrative business Such fines would be regarded as
a mere mockery of justice, long he protect
cd in the undisturbed possession of his implements,
and enjoyed the opportunity to manufacture much
as he pleases 1t would hardly to him-or to
any one in fact-that such law really meant to
be prohbitory and all can that, practically, it
L., II, i i
seize and conscae, is granted by the law for the sim
pie purpose of making it prohibiiory, and because
these were deemed indispensable TO such result.
But no such power is granted by the ''Liquor Law"
now in force If man is convicted of selling, he
can be fined ten dollars but his establishment may not
be touched, and when he has paid his fine, he is all
furnished to proceed with his Unlawful business be-
fore Now is it right that the same power search
and seize and confscae be granted by this law by
the law against counterfeiting! The answer to this
question must depend upon two things-tbe import
dpce of the aoand the necessity Of such power TO male
effective. For, since the right TO make prohibit
tory law this subject clearly established it is but
simple Justice to give it equal efficiency with other
laws of like importance.
Is il then as important to prohibit the manufacture
and sale of sprtuous liquors for drinking purposes
it is TO prohibit Smuggling goods - or making coun-
terfeit money or pocket picking The proper rule
by which to Judge the Importance of law is by the
evil it is adapted to prevent and the benefit it is de-
signed to secure. That Smuggling goods is an ev-
H. no one denies. II deprves the state of portion
of her revenue. The public consequently salts
fled that such goods should be searched for seized and
confscated, and this too without warrant, dwelling
houses excepted Counterfeitng, also, is evil be-
cause it tends to r0recate the established currency.
1t endangers mans life, but it weakens the public
confidence 1t is therefore perfectly right enter the
house of a counterfeer search his premises, seize
and confscate his tools and implements and to imprs
on the offender. These stringent measures album
dainty justified by the evils resulting from the business
But are the evils resulting from the manufacture
and sale of spurious liquors, as great as those result
ing from smuggling goods Are they as great
the counterfeter producesl If so the law is as i'm
portant, and should furnish great powers and pen
allies. What then is the fact 7!
Does it rot seem like insulting your understandings
TO institute a comparison What compare the loss
of a little revenue with the loss OF thirty thousand
American citizens annually, together with the evils
arising from three hundred thousand living drunkards,
with all the wretchedness and crime of every name,
and poverty and 1agrancy that belong to them There
is no comparison All the Of the land, would
not tempt one of to suffer what single drunkard
suffers. The sum of tho evil deies computation
''There is property that certainly and so uni
formy works evil in community, as that which is en-
ployed in the manufacture and sale of intoxicating
drinks and all the capital the face Of the earth,
invested in contraband goods and eounterfeteFs TOOLS
and damaged hides, and corrupted drugs and tainted
butchers meat is not doing an apprecable quantity