, 1854-04-01

whole people, the good Of the whole-the
principle of the masses. The great corner
stone is moral principle of right-destroy
it, and where is your hope ? gone, like the
morning mist before the rising sun. With
out that moral sense, that principle of right,
your laws would remain dead letter on
your statute books Tell inc 1t is uncon-
stitutional to abate nuisance, to provide
for the benefit and comforts of the whole
In city would a nuisance be permitted :?
Would you, here in Olympia, permit a
slaughter house to be erected on your Main
street, where blood and offal would be col
lected and disease spread around by the
filth produced Could tannery or tallOw
chandlery be located here No What
wonld the Legislature say ? what would
the people all say? You must remove it !!
But the answer comes" it is improperly,
have ! not right to use my money as |
please ?' We freely answer, certainly,
provided you do not trample on my rights;
you must not affect the health of those
about you, nor injurc the rights of your
neighbor.
All these establishments are of service
are of benefit to the community in supply
ing their wants, but they must be removed
beyond the borders Of your city. They
are necessary, but they are not salus pop
uli"-hence it is wisely made police regu-
lation of a State or city to control these
matters. That has been the extent Of the
decision in regard to the Maine Liquor
Law. The principle of that law has been
sustained in courts of New York and Mas
sachusettSs, and never in any court has it
been pronounced unconstitutional. 1t is
true an adverse decision has been given to
one of the provisions of that law That is
readily explained. In the original draft it
ificted certain penalties upon a citizen
found retailing it, and gave the privilege to
any one suspecting liquor to be concealed
about building the right to search and
destroy the same. 1t required no affidavit
of ihformant-no jury to try the question
of property. This provision, court decided
to be unconstitutional and that before a
search could be made, a search warrant
must issue. That is the decision, and the
principle of the law has never been affect
ed. 1t is constitutional, and is it not right?
Let me ask, what good does traffic in ar
dent spirits produce What good arises
from the use thereof Does it brighten
the intellect 7 Does it strengthen the mindl
Does it give clearness Of perception or
beauty Of expression Does it not rather
weaken and finally destroy him who indul-
ges in their use Does it give it moral
characterH Does private and public ad-
vantage result from it Does it confer
wealth. Does it add weight to the purse?
No 1t detracts in every way, and creates
much more injury than any other traffic.
Look back through your past lives
some two, three or more years spent in this
Territory go back to the State from
whence you came. We meet here together
from every section of our Union from
every State in the confederacy. Look at
your school boy days, when you and your
companions sported on the green sod-how
very few have risen to station one here
and there may have attained eminenee, but
he who then had brighter promise, and
better chances now sleeps in drunkards
grave. How many can we point out as
ruined. What is the cause Traffic in
ardent spirits did It, Has it not robbed
every class From the humble laborer,
earning his fifty cents per day, all the way
through every grade to the pulpit, you see
its victims; and yet this traffic is defended
from one end of the Union to the other.
But we are told we are trampling on the
liberties Of our fellow-men-liberty to deal
out poison to its victim-that which Is sap
ping the foundation Of his moral growth
and carrying him to sure and certain ruin.
II he could drink alone-drink on and sink
down into drunkard's grave, it would be
a thousand fold better. But that's impos-
sible in the very nature Of things. We are
bound together by cords so closely, so inti-
mately, that a shock in'one part, like the
electric spark, bIasts and withers a whole
community. The loss Of the man who sinks
is not the great evil, bad as that is. What
is felt Afterwards in consequence Of his ex-
ample is what is most to be deplored.
Let us now look at it in a commercial
point Of view. One man grows rich by this
trafic-lo do which, how many are made
poor How many drunkards and paup-
ers 70 be supported by the community are
made while the seller Of ardent spirits is
becoming rich While one man is making
bis hundred per cent, twenty, aye, an hun
dred men are losing their position, and to
sustain this one man in his traffic. Are
you, members Of the Legislature, ready to
consent that whole community should be
impoverished by the acts you pass or omit
to pass
We cannot do justice to the eloquent
gentleman as he depicted the gradual
course Of making drunkard, and will not
attempt to give his language. He spoke
feFvidly Of the evils Of ihtemperance, and
went on to address the Legislators present,
telling they were not legislating for grog-