New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1855-11-16
sEW-YOBK on PROHIBITION


three Supreme Court Judges, has been practically
nuIled, so that the Liquor Traffic in all the cities
and in many rural localities is practically unre-
strained even by the paltry License tax formerly
;uposed ON its yotaries We had in the late can
vass TO encounter all the alarm and hostility which
the effort TO prohibit necessarily aroused among
the distillers Importers, merchants, tavern keep
ers and grog-sillers pecuniarily Interested
in the Liquor Traffic, while we were
deprived by the course of Mayor Wood,
Recorder Smith, Judges Morris, Dean, Brown
and Strong, of the countervailing advantage
Of at least partial suppression OF the traffic
What is the benefit Of your law asked oppo
nepts and twaddlers; it don't stop selling, and
LIQUOR DOW flows more freely than ever" On
the other HAND the Liquor dealers, augmented in
number and helped in pocket by this impunity,
and understanding quite well that it was but .em-
porary. held conventions, organized secret cOun-
cils raised ample funds, nominated candidates, and
did their utmost to develop public sentiment
and throw an overwhelming vote against Prohibi-
ton. How have they succeeded!
They nominated State officers taken in equal
numbers from the two rival Democratic tickets,
and undertaking to accomplish "fuiiOn" there
on They advertised largely, circulated the dOcu-
ments and printed lots of ballots. They probably
spent more money in the canvass than any other
party-perbaps than all other parties. Yet we be-
heye it will be found when the result is clearly
known, that they have polled lees than Thirty
thousand votes for their distinctive State Ticket,
and have elected no candidate upOnit
For Appeal Judges they had an excellent oppor-
tuDiy and they tried to improve it. They nOml
mated Samuel L. Selden, who was on both the Hard
and Soft tickets, and Nicholas Hill, Jr,, who was
on the Soft-botb able, respected and popular
LAWYERS. Mr. Hill had been the fret to give legal
opinion adverse to the validity Of our Law; Mr..
Selden was committed to the same view by an
express resolve of the Convention IIard) by which
be was first nominated. Against these were two
distinct tickets-the Republican" and the
Know Nothing' each presenting good can
ddates for Judges, but claiming for them
no superiority over the Liquor Candidates;
in fact Metsrs. Seden and Hill were more
popular with the Bar than either Messrs.
Wood and Mullin or Messrs. Campbell and
Comstock. Yet Hill is certainly beaten,
and we think it an even chance that Seldom is
also at all events, the votes for his two rivals
will exceed his combined Hard, Soft aud Liquor
poll BY more than One Hundred Thousand. Aud,
while Messrs Wood and Mullin were directly
nominated by the Prohibitory State Convention,
Messrs. Campbell and Comstock gave no indica-
ton whatever ofsympathy with the opposite views,
but pontodly refused to d, So
To the Supreme Court, we know but a single
Judge elected who is understood to favor the
Liquor Traffic That one is James II. Whiting in
this District, and be has barely. even if fairly,
beaten Judge COwles. No other Justice of the
Supreme Court who has evinced any leaning to
that size is chosen in the State so far as we know
On the other hand, Judge Dean is supplanted by
James Emott, whom the friends of Prohibition saw
fs to support, while Ransom Balcom, an ayowed
upholder of the consttutiOnality of the Liquor
Law, is chosen in the With District. We believe
Judges Wright of the With District and Marvin
of the With are also outspoken PrOhibitlOnists
we believe those elected in the lid, WITH and
Yth Districts will be found of the same faith
Certainly, Free Rum" can derive no solace from
ibis feature of the result.
As to the new Legislature, we believe the
Senate is for Prohibition and the House in doubt,
with q fair prospect that it will snypathise
on this question with the Senate. Should the
Court of Appeals so decide the cases before it as
to make breaches ia the present law, the Legisla
ture must of course mend them as il best eau
but, unless some extraneous influence is brought
to bear, we believe that our new Legislature will
not discard the principle of Prohibition.
lie! the friends OF Temperance, then, take cOur
age ard prepare for action. The first point is to
obtain from the Court of Appeals distinct indi-
cation of the powers of the State and their limta-
tons, with regard to the Liquor Traffic. Wehave
no particle of fear that the doctrines of Judge
Brown will be indOrsed by that high tribunal
Having settled this point, let the Legislature be
respectfully petitioned to correct any imperfec-
tions of detail which may be found in the present
law making the clause respecting imported Liquors
SO plain that the wayfarins man. though rum
sellers lawyer, with fee of $1,000 tucked away
in his inside pocket, cannot mistake mistate it's
import Then let us resolve infexibly to enforce
the law as amended, and Intemperance, Pauper-
ism and Crime will soon be seen dwindling rapidly
and steadily toward those proportions which, far
better than their present befit an enlightened
Christian Commonwealth.
ALARM IN ENGLAND.