The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1854-10-31

is offered Of liquor having been sold there with
in month previously while the l,tter may be
searched ithout any proof whatever. But this
distinction which would be obviously nuga-
tory in practice--is vastly weakened by pro-
viso excepting from its benefit all dwelling
houses in part Of which Q shop is kept" In
the first place. what is q shop? What guarantee
have we that an officer m ght not choose to re.
gard every DIV Wing house where ashes or rag.
are sold by the hou ,~maid to get rid Of them
as "shopw Again, how is the officer t.
know whether or NO there is any connection be
tween a shop and the dwelling house adjoining
II ne chooses to believe that oassage exists
between the two, he may regard the ~noie as
shop under the true intent and meanil. g OF tht
law. Again, what is proof of the sale Of Ii, 'auor
1t would cost, under the twenty third sectl> IN
something ess than twenty dollars to presume
such sale INA iciously and without probable
cause:" how many men would willingly give
$50 to be so conveniently revenged on an enc
my! In fine, we cannot discover solid groun lie
for expecting that any class OF houses would
escape the searches so lightly authorized by the
bill.
That those searches would be used as the Or
binary weapon of malice, envy, and ill-will, we
cannot for moment doubt Does manufac-
turer or storekeeper on Broadway discharg4
an apprentice? Forthwith the lad, with friend
like him. swears that he believes liquor
sold in his late masters back parlor and tn.
fyionr until ut axaI1
phant apprentice, and gaping mob, forces his
way into the said back parlor, goes up stairs
terrets out the kitchen, and does not spare q
single bedroom A rowdy is COZ ,,es,aea 70,
breaking windows on the a~' .u.,
BILE citizen: what ~ - =,
oe. :. lnstigate search upon the premises
;. MS enemy and to insist, with lying worus.
and devilish malce-as he could 50 easily do
that the Unlawful bottle lies hid under his wifes
pillow, or in his daughters dressing room! His
story might be improbable; but the magistrate
would be bound to credit it. He might perjure
himself; but what satisfaction would it be to
his victim to have him condemned "to pay the
costs?" Under the operation of Clark's law, he
would be u terly helpless. Every respectable
citizen who has house and home would
be at the mercy Of every vagabond whom he
might choose or happen to offend. This would
be the first effect Of the law,
But it is hot to be expected that men Of
Anglo-Saxon descent are going tamely to sub
mis, in the nineteenth century, to lose priv
iege their fathers conquered eight hundred
years ago, and retained in spite of kings and
lords, and armies. There will be msn in New
York who will refuse to the last to admit that
their house is no longer their castle, or that
their permission has ceased to be necessary to
enable the State officers to cross it's threshold
To many of these it will be futile to talk of the
sanctity of the law. They will reply that the
sanctity of their domicil comes first If the
courts avenge outrages on the former, they
will themselves see to the protection of the
latter There is hot blood enough among us to
give plenty of employment to revolvers, and
muskets under such law: and plenty of citi
zens who, though orderly and law-fearing on
ordinary occasions, would not scruple to defend
their wife's bedroom against the police at any
cost. Such rencontres we must expect to he ,r
of, almost as often as the law is enforced.
Who will gain by thiss Certainly not the
cause Of temperance, which will soon become
identified with every thing that is oppressive
and tyrannical and repugnant to the feelings
Every case in which domicil is violated, or
man shot by householder standing on hi
own threshold-and such cases cannot but be
frequent-will ALLEVIATE scores and hundreds
from the cause. A temperance man will
become identical with housebreaker !:
the suppression of drunkenness with the
destruction of liberty. The grogshops may
be put down but with them we shall
cease to have private dwellings, inviolate
homes, and houses in which we feel we are
masters Drunkards may cease to annoy us in
the streets; but any moment the rap Of the of !
Ger and his myrmidons may be heard at our
door, bidding us stand aside while he searches
from garnet to basement. What drunkard
could be more obnoxious than the leering,
insolent officer, poking and rummaging in eve
ry corner and Granny, and seasoning the exer.
else ofhis calling with appropriate ests and pro-
fessional threats?.
Does any man believe that in the face of such
things, an advocate of temperance would dare
show his face? Why, the boys would tear his
clothes from his back, and the very women boot
him out of sight. And is this the consumma-
ton honest foes to drunkenness are expected to
bring about!
Prohibitory laws may answer very we'll In
small States like Vermont and Maine, where pop
ulation is sparse, pluck developed under restric-
tons, and the consciousness Of power unknown I
There searches may be made legal, both because
farmers and fishermen have different notions
on the sacredness of the domioil, and also be-
cause the class Of individuals who would abuse
| them are rare in those States. Then. again,
evers one knows that the law in both is merely
| comminatory. 1t is understood that better