The true Democrat., 1854-12-27


 ble, 1t was reconsidered, by 40 in favor and 28 against.
 The Committee on Memorials, to whom were
 referred several petitions for the enactment
 of law Tn respect to the sale of ardent spir-
 Its, have maturely considered the subject, and
 beg leave to submit the following
 REPORT:
 The Petitioners declare, in substance, that the use of ardent spirits, as beverage, is not only unnecessary for any useful purpose; but that It IS injurious, alike, to the health and mo- rals of every community where 1t is indulged. In word, that It Is the cause of much, if not most ot the misfortune, crime, and suffering, which atfilct the country. To the truth of all this, the Committee fully and unhestatinglv assent They agree, also, that an evil of such magnitude and enOrmlty, as this confessedly is. demands that all good men should unite in op- position to Its continuance in our midst, and re- sort to all legitimate and proper means for its suppression. And they would be glad to go further with the petitioners, and agree with them, if it were practicable, as to the particular means that may be legitimate, proper, and use- fully available, for the accomplishment of this excellent purpose which, in common, they have 50 much at heart But here the Committee, while honoring the motives of the petitioners. are constrained, by what they consider sound principles of legislation, and the best mode of advancing the cause of Temperance itself, to differ with them in opinion.
 In this respect, indeed the petitioners are not entirely agreed among themselves In ev- dence of this, 1t seems proper to state that of the -four petitions (and there are no more) be- fore the Committee, one, with elqtty-fUe st0,ia- tures, asks for the passage of 'An act prohibit ing the retailing of ardent spirits within the State;" another, with thirty fUe signatures, asks that such traffic shall be prohJitetor or c,utaiel" while tue other ta0O one of which has ta0o h.4n- dred and ffteen signatures, and the other repre- sents an association of delegates from the Bap- tist churches in six counties, concur in urging 'the enactment of law giving or withholding license for the sale of intoxicating liquors ac- cording to the vote of the several townships" :" Upon one point, only do all the petitioners en- tirely concur; and that is in favor of conpaH- sorry penal law, of some sort, against the sale, or use, of ardent spirits as beverage; while, in respect to the particular provisions of the proposed law, they, severally, entertain differ ent, and somewhat conflicting, opinions. It will be perceived, therefore, that even if the DcLlGlOncrS upon this single point in which they all agree, it would be difficult, if not imprastcable to frame any legal enactment so as to embrace and harmonize their several views Moreover, the Committee do not feel authorized to admit, and do not believe, that the petitions before them express the views of a majority of the people of the State The petitions themselves, as well as the names attached to them, worthy as fhoir ic ofob1 +bo character, are, apart from other considerations, altogether too small in number, to authorize any such admission or belief. If majority, or even any considerable minority, of the peo- pie entertained such views and especially if they desired such legislation, it is but reasona- ble to suppose that, as it is so easy an so con- mon, practice, to sign and send petitions, they would have appeared before the Legislature in somewhat nearer proportion to their own nu- merical strength. By this, it is not meant that either this majority or minority desire or en- courage the sale or habitual use of ardent spir- its. On the contrary, the Committee take plea sure in declaring their conviction that an over- whelming majority of the people of Arkansas are, themselves, temperate, and desire to see all others so; and that, so far from favoring the traffic in intoxicating liquors, or their use as beverage, they earnestly desire the discontinu- ance of those pernicious practices and would gladly help to banish them from the land.
 The Committee, then, concurring with the petitioners as they certainly do, and with the people of the State, as thSy believe they do, in the sentiment of opposition to intemperance, and in the desire to suppress and eradicate 1t, recur to the only question of difference between them; and that is-Are the means proposed by the petitioners legitimate, proper, and best cal. culated to accomplish the good object in view?
 This question, as already intimated, the Com mittee are constrained to answer in the negative. They do so, because those means require the enactment of compulsory laso; and to this they object, upon the general ground that, neither in legislation, nor in any other scheme for the useful regulation of human conduct, should compulsion ever be resorted to, unless its neces- sity can be shown. Reason suggests, and ex- perience has proved, the best government to be that which goverms least. Or, in the language of an eminent Divine, "that government has