Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1856-05-03

COIlutCNtu DN UNITY uuu DlOOu VII 49,
thousand victims Sufferers whose bitter and in
consolable an uish no human tongue can ever de-
scribe, and no pen but that Of the pittying and
sorrowing angel will ever record. Ought this
murdcrous business, the parent of. so many crimes
to find any favor or mercy at our handsf Mono
would say to this Senate, Let not thine eye pity
nor thine hand spare Until thou hast brought forth
judgment into victory" determination, total, ut
ter and complete, Of the whole business Of selling
intoxicating liquors as q drink is the goal, which,
in my opinion, we should aim at, and any law,
with an object short of that, will, whilst 1t fails IN
much Of the good tina! may be done by legislation,
not fail in exciting as much opposition and
hatred Us q better and wiser law would encoun'
ter.
This was the object aimed at by the prohibitory
liquor law in Maine, and | will venture to say that
it has achieved greater results, suppressed more
crime, prevented moro misery and produced more
happiness than any other temperance law ever en-
acted over an equal extent. of territory. l know
there is n very general impression here that that
law has at last proved q failure even in Maine, and
that it will soon be repealed, and the people again
return to the old license system. Let me assure
you this is a great mistake. The people Of Maine
have reaped too many blessings from the principle
of prohibition to abandon it, and return to the old
disastrous and wicked system.
have taken some pains to learn the true state
of things in Maine on this subject, and l will read
a few extracts from recent letters from that State
III NnohtI W tIldln ihlulllGs vi lhlo buADONN'
l read from u letter of Hon. Arson p. Morrel,
late Governor of Maine, a gentleman who must
be perfectly familiar with the state of things, past
and present, in that region, and who. / take it, is
better authority in the premises than the liquor
champions there or here. The letter is dated Jan.
Sls., 1855. lie says:
at affords me pleasure to give you such infor-
nation as | have, and my views on the important
subject to which you c2ll my attention. l have
taken n deep interest in the cause OF temperance
for many years. and have tie qualification of see
ing it steadily advance in our State Until we have
become, ] have no doubt, n more temperate people
than can probably be found in the Union.
We have had a hard warfare with the rum-sel-
Ter, who, desperate and reckless, has fought de-
mon like for the right to poison his n~eighbor with
alcoholic drinks; and although the cause of tenn
perance has received a temporary check in our late
State election (Which l will more particularly no
tice In this letter., the days of grog shops hare gone
by IN Main, never again to return upon us as the
present law found them"
In an answer to an inquiry as to the difficulty Of
enforcing this law, he says
Notwithstanding all the bluster and threats of
which was presented by rumsellers, the
has been quietly and e6ectuaNy enforced in all
parts of the State where executive officers have
been faithful to duty: in such districts %intemper-
ance has been comparatively swept away. The
has been no greater than attends the
of any other penal statute"
III lVSulu " tlC SiuNlNiSJ VI thO ia" iO Days ~
is "~pertectly efficient" 1t takes hold of the inYet-
crate rumseller, whom no persuasion nor argu-
ments could reach, and holds his hands, and by
prosecuting him to the fellon's cell, causes him to
abandon a traffic which now promises him the just
need of his doings. The law has done almost in
finite good in this State. Thousands of grog shops
and drunkeries have been closed by it, notwith-
standing the hard opposition it has met from po-
.litical hacks and faithless demagogues.
1.-THE enforcement of all laws at times stirs up
strife, but let me assure you, as | do from q full
knowledge Of the operation of the law, and the
State of society before its enactment, that it has a
had a tendency very much yes, almost tncdtcutd6ty,
to suppress strife, litigation and crime, the legiti-
mate offspring of rum selling. Hundreds of hap
Ply and quiet villages are n0,C to be found in this
State, when before the law went into operation,
drunkenness assaults, riots, petty thefts and MUIR
der, were committed, making business for two OF
three petty lawyers almost constantly, oil Of which
the law has abnted." He also says: "The law i.
not difficult to enforce. and is effectual to tho dc
struction of rum selling and drunkenness. The
principles of prohibition which it contains arc in
valuable, and without them any law, Regulating"
the sale of Intoxicating drinks as q beverage is OIL
no value to the public"
The late election in Msine did not turn upon thu
temperance issue, or the Maine law, but upon 9th
or questions, and the result is not certain, eyel
temporarily, to endanger the law. The Ex-Gover
nor says: Should the present Legislature repea
the law, certain defeat awaits them at the mex
election; of this there can be no doubt"
This is the testimony of the late chief e~xecutiv
officer Of the State. whose business it is to see tina
the laws are faithfully executed, and who ought t
know, and who does know, whereof he afirms.-
His positions are all fully sustained by Mr.. Vose
at present and for many years prosecuting %attorne.
in the city of Portland. | have mislaid his letter
but he is quite as full in his endorsement of tn
! great efficacy of the law, and the deep hold it ha
| .-o- H. ,oon1o &c tlo C.o+o D,t oc,Io c,ao. IA
conflict between the friends of the different mode
J of restraining or curing these evils, there is n elias
|. large and clamorous, who are opposed to any leg
islation on the subject unless it be simply to pun
J ish men for getting drunk, and then only whe
I they have become common street drunkards. Thi
class, however, are as unjust as any with .hei
I complaints against the burden OF taxation, whic
they say is too great to be endured, and complain
s of high salaries, high school tax, costly benevoler
|, institutions, of any thing and every thing, but th
genuine cause.
{ Nor, careful estimates of the different source
= Of expenditure in our government show that abor
: seyenty-fve per cent. of the costs of carrying
r on are owing to the sale and use of intoxicatin
- drinks. The necessary civil expenditures of til
i State government are small compared with tn
:, amount sunk in the prosecution and punishmer
: of crimes and offences, most of which are the d
'. rect outgrowth of the use of alcoholic drinks
) Taking only this view of its evils, its enormor
Cost III money, tnere is no OtDer question OF Stal
= interest which will bear a moments compariso
u with it. If then, the evil is in any way curabl
by legislation, none of our duties as legislators an
9 guardians Of the public interest call with sue
pressing urgency upon us for action. Senators sa
it is folly to legislate in advance of public opinion
True, but it is a 10 less folly to legislate in ii
Y rear CT public opinion; and besides it is q cowar,
ly and sneaking folly. When an evil becomes
n monstrous and intolerable it can no longer |
borne, when the very stones in the street are read
X to cry out against it-when the wives and mothe
in the land, in the great extremity Of their wronI
are obliged to be a law unto themselves, and
W visit with summary and wholesome renibutit
r the wretches who are numbering by piece me
a their husbands and sons, small thanks is due
the slow, hobbling march of your tardy law,wh
re only comes when It is no longer needed.
N There is as much lack of wisdom in not legisl
ting up TO public opinion, as in legislating beyoi