The daily comet. [volume] (Baton Rouge, La.) 1850-1856, 1855-07-10

~'o"0o w -" WV W WV '06'~~Sf' WI
corporate authorities have ordered an.
other election to be he'll III this city,
in order to ascertain if there hos been
any change in the "Sense " Of the
People on the subject Of granting Ii.
cense to cofee-houscs. We opposed
the law at the time of its inception,
and have fought against the prohibi-
ton, every time the question has pre-
scented itself; and now, with renewed
strength are We prepared to do battle
again upon principle.
There should be Legislation from
time to time, to repress as far as it is
possible to do so, not only the evil Of
intemperance, but other evils, equally
baneful to the interest Of society; but
there is limit for legal enactments,
beyond which, it is neither wiSdom or
good policy to step. A bare majority
in community have no right to make
laws /; and if the legislature shift the
responsibility on the shoulders Of the
people, then its Office Of law-msking
is at an end. Neither the Legislature
nor the majority Of citizens have a
right to interfere with private habits,
and pass ordinances to lash the com.
munity into the path Of virtue and
morality. We oppose such ordinances,
first, because it is direct interference
With vested rights, and second, be-
cause such laws are imperative and
only have tendency to weaken 9TH
ers that might be enforced. Prohibit
ing the use Of liquor (which is the
next thing 10 come after closing the
shops) instead Of correcting the evil Of
iutemperance, only aggriva'es itS We
believe coffee-bouses not only necessa-
ry but indispensable. Ifthey are not
respectable places Of resort; it is not
because they cannot be, but because
they are cried down by would be NOR
alists as =" miserable doggeries. " The
evil is in the moral atmosphere of the
town; not in the cofee-house itsef.-
If man with all bis reason and inlelli-
gence is to be treated-is to be guard
ed and restrained as child, then it
would be we'll to ignore manhood
unhinge society and let it fall back in
to its primative condition. To show
that the ground we occupy in refer
ence to this subject is the true one,
read the following extract from the
Portland, (Maine) Enquirer, in refer
ence to the workings Of the prohibito-
ry law in that State:
"In this city the law has been al
most powerless during the current mu-
nicipal year; drunkenness has in
creased, and things are fast relapsing
into their old order. This is obvious
to all, nobody denies it.
Again it says:
"1t is the impression Of many, that
10 this State, where the Maine Law
and has been in operation
ior several years, crime has wonder
fully decreased. Such, however, it
appears from an official statement, is
not the case. F"
A'report on the State finances made
o the legislature few days ago, com.
plains of the increased cost Of criminal
prosecutions, and states that they
more than doubled within the past six
years. In 1916. the cost Of criminal
prosecutions were $14,926; in 1850,
s23, 57S; in 1851, $26.877; in 1852,
1913, 1856; in 1853, S35,3S8 in 1854,
s35, $40. And yet we arc told that
he traffic in liquors has been entirely
in Maine-a statement not
justified by the official testimony of
he proper officers of the State.
There is nothing but fanaticism to
upport the mo License movement.