New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1854-11-07
h ,,A ,be bot.,a arsd keeping tas ss petwesa him

II hut only employs sn0'ner to furnish IL me PIT
some two, three, or four Zines a. much Y s.s;o;
II sfording the vender the mesns to pay ss'ol
II aIIy. | understand, from good authority fnH ts
taller in country town, near here. now cells one 70
ared barrels yearly 10 his fifteen before the A0. r
faGt, the Law Is as much nuly As tne Sas ~ @
nass 7 am told the criminals in their cells nsve
psssed 10 them BY means of long poles through me.
grated windows ard 90 not douot II IN ,ue t0aa
from the tumult and CONFUSION nen lrom ,ue1o.
Maine cannot keen il from her prisoners in their cell
what ia New York 10 do with her people az large
ON one Sabbath since have been hsre, eight wer'
committed, FIVE Of whom were convicted o, roun )
probably caused by intemperance In tins an sIno
ii have been here, there have been from nttecn .
twsntv.6ve imprisoped constantly, and four hav'
baen sent 70 the State Prison mention these fscts
because have it stated in some OF the papers
that the ails of Maine were "empy and 70 lei sre'
the Maine law | understand that Judge Rice, OF IN
supreme Judicial Court says the Last session was I'M
most corrupt criminal court since ne mas Deen on 'h
bench-s1 years.
have been searching the records OF commitments
here since the commencing OF 1884, and una mem a.
foIlows l will give the figures under three nesH
for each wear; the first is the whole number OF CON-
mitments, or criminal commitments, mo debtors;
the second figures are for drunkenness, ana tue t'u
for selling liquors:
lsa4. lsas lsts. , .sa, ISIS ISIS , lsis;
h hiise.r $751;! assi 1sei9.is si,s'i is5si
The lest. Gs54 is only for ten months. Adding
the same ratio fer the two months, and II VIII give
as many as any other year, and much more thsn any
other except one or two: The law went into force
in ls5l So it will be seen there is no diminuon in
commitments for Drunkenness but an increase by
more than double. A part Of this may be IN conse-
quence of more vigilance or severity toward inc iae-
brete. JAMES A. OLAi.
Remarks.
We thank Mr.. Clay for the above statistics,
which we presume to be correct, though we de-
tect one touch Of unfaiIness. The year 1851
happens to shew a large aggregate of ofenses,
and Mr.. C. says, I" Tie lan rem into force in
"1e51." In fact, it was enacted in May or June
of that year, and did not take effect till consider
ably later-we think in September or October.
Nearly all this heavy catalogue Of offenses for
1851 belongs, we are confident, to the months
preceding the laws taking effect. Should not
Mr.. c., as an honest servant of the truth, have
made these facts manifest
1t il undoubtedly true, IS Mr.. c. suggests, that
drunkenness aud illegal liquor. selling are both
more yigilantly watched and vigorously dealt
with now than they were before this law took Of
feet. Of course, there are more ofenses in the
aggregate where all or many evil-doings are de-
nounced and dealt with by law than where few
are. II there had been no law against Mr.. Clay's
offense, there would have been one less commit
ment to charge to the account Of 1854; and IL
there were no laws against any offense but muir
der, there might be many fewer commitments
than there now are. Our own State Furnishes
Seduction now, whereas up to q few years ago
this crime went wholly unwhipt Of legal JUS
tiee. There are of course more commitments
under this law, when enforced, than there would
be if no such law existed; but does that prove
the law bad one Not to us.
Lotteries were formerly legalized in our State,
as in moot others, and many people made money
out Of the business, while nobody could be i'm
prisOned for pursuing it. Now lotteries are pro-
hibited, and dealers in tickets are frequently ar
rested and punished for doing what they did with
perfect IMMUNITY few years ago. OF course
there are now commitments where there were
formerly none; but what then Lottery tickets
are still sold; any man who wishes can buy them
in this City, just as he can buy liquor in Augusta
and what of it We all do know that far fewer
tickets, in proportion, are sold here now than
there we're thirty years ago. and it is just as GER
tain that less liquor is cold in Augusta, though
Mr.. c. does not see it. And when the law shall
have had more time to imbed itself in the habits
and IDEAS of the People, there will be still less
liquor sold just as there are fewer lottery tick
cts sold than there were three four years after
lotteries were outlawed in this State-just az
there will be fewer seductions when our new law
thak a,,bi IL. hava hal taru nj
stood and more generally enforced than it now is.
Have patience, Mr.. Clay Great moral changes
ore not consummated in day; therefore, it is
we'll to begin them soon, or we may die of before
they are fully accomplished.
We have always heard that Augusta was a
pretty hard place in the way of Liquor; indeed,
Rum triumpbed there in the election of 53,
though not in that of "a. Probably some liquor
will be sold there, and at other points through
out the State, for several years yet; and of
course men will get drunk and rumsellers will
now and then get jagged, as is right. If the
Law Of Prohibition is not enforced at any point
(as has been the case in Boston it will there do
little obvious good; though even were it nsrer to
be enforced, we prefer that rumselling should be
done in defiance rather than in obedience to law
Let those who piu sell take the full responsibility
of their doBgs; we wish to bear no part in it nor
to enjoy any share in its gains. Aud such we be-
lieye to be the very general sentiment Of TEN.
persnee men.
We have given Mr.. Clay all credit for sim
cerity; but we ask him if this part of his state
ment is not hard to believe: Herepresents rum.
selling and rum-dinking as about as common as
ever in Maine, yet ssys that Liquor row costs