The Union and eastern journal. [volume] (Biddeford [Me.]) 1854-1858, 1858-01-15


70 srsrciss the power "to prohibit the traAe
In ardent spirits a. Q beverage" and "to
provide for the con6scation and destruction
thereof by due process Of law"
The expediency Of this exercise Of power,
il, In my Judgment, equally clear upon prin-
ciple. Hit be assumed that the trafic in
intoxicating drinks for o beverage, Be inju.
rious, then 1t necessarily follows that such
trafhc cannot, with propriety, be permitted
cannot b licensed or tolerated, bat tho
enacting power must forbid II altogether.-l
And this rule il a imperative in legislation |
a. in morals Prohibition Is the only intel.
ligent action In the case ola conceded wrong.
The annals of legislation in this country
upon this subject may also be appealed 70,
in proof Of the CORRECTNESS Of this position,
a. practical question. The license system
has proved wholly inadequate every where.
Under it, the sale and consumption Of in
toxicating liquors have greatly Increased
Our type Of intsmperance, both a. to guam
tity and quality Of liquors used, il ssvercr
than is known elsewhere. Experience proves
how futile are oil attempts to subject to au.
thority, and wisely control practice which
claims to act by permission. The utmost
vigilance over licensed houses, has always
been in vain-all efforts to prevent abuse Of
authority, to no purpose.
Under the present law, the traffic in intox-
icating drinks for beverage, is becoming
quite general in oil the cities and towns
II 10 fraught with ills innumerable to the
State with beggery and crime. Il may
well be considered whether, for such use, 1t
should not be declared contnband.
While experience and history clearly indi.
cate the duty Of the State TO prohibit the
traffic, for q beverage, 1t is not equally clear
that those liquors have not important uses
in medicine and the arts-if indeed the con-
verso DO not true and therefore II would
seem their sale for such purposes should be
provided for to such extent, and under such
restrictions and regulations m the public in
terests and safety require. commend tho
whole subject to your especial attention.
In popular form Of government, where
the efficiency Of the laws will depend upon
the unanimity OF the people in their sup
port, particularly in that class Of enactments
which intimately effect the social habits Of
the community, it is highly important they
should have tSe popular sanction. With
the hope, also, that some common ground
may be found upon which all well wishers
to public sobriety may unite, and thus place
the question, by decided expression Of the
people in their primary assemblies, above
the reach of mere partiIan aims, commend
" your consideration, whether 1t be not
wise to submit to them for approval, in
such manner M shall most likely elicit o
general expression, any law you may enact
upon this subject.
Such is our plan Of government that each
State has deep stake in whatever effects
the general welfare. BY 1t tho several States
are made to move around the general gov
eminent Us common centre and to receive
from Ii their national character, while each
moves within its own sphere, and is LETT per-
fectly free 10 the pursuits and policy pecul-
lar to Its interests; and hence the people of
the several States must ever view, with deep
est solicitude, the acts Of the national gov
ernment, bearing upon this two-fold rela
ton.
While itlis conceded that no more general
power can be exercised than has been ex-
pressly delegated, experience proves that the
most important results depend upon the in.
depreciation Of this power, and that out Of
this Interpretation have sprung diverse pol.
itics, giving rise to, and keeping alive, polit-
ical parties in the several States and nation.
Ii is in this manner also that constitution
nj governments, by false Interpretation, be-
come distorted, perverted, and ut length
reyolutionized, the constitution itself re
naming unchanged.
The nation has entered upon an epoch Of
such Interpretation Of its coustitu ton and
theory of government. Its. immediate effect
is seen in the dissolution and reconstruction
Of political parties, while the remote conse-
quences are Swallowed forth in the new gov
eminent policy, new sentiments and opin-
ions which are inculcated upon the subject
Of negro slavery.
At the period of the formation of the gov.
eminent the character Of negro slavery and
tho traffic in slaves had been accurately es-
timated and determined by the civilized M.
tons Of the earth, in regard to which there
was no difference Of sentiment, or opinion
among the mass of the people Of this coun
try, Its statesmen, philosophers and philan-
thropists.
Ii was held to exist in derogation Of tho
natural rights Of the slaye-that it was an
unmitigated evil-that it was the duty and
interest OF the nation to diYcountenance and
inhibit the traffic and to restrict slavery to
the localities where it existed by force Of the
local law. The colonies had denounced the
mother country for its participation in its
establishment and for neglect OF duty in its
refusal to cooperate with them for its aboli-
ton. AT the period Of the revolution and
during the confederation Of the States, the
detestation in which slavery was held by the
people is expressed in their literature, laws,
Jurisprudence, and resolutions Of their Leg
islatnres and primary assemblies, and the
acts Of the Congress. When the constitu-
ton was formed, rs nation, the American
people had adopted and published to the
world, rs the fundamental principles Of that
liberty they sought to establish through the
forms Of government, political maxims Who'll.
ly opposed to all forms Of slavery. They
had proclaimed their hostility to the slave
trade and slavery itself-they had provided
against its spread into any portion Of the
territories, and contemplated its final ex-
tinction. The nation began its career by
the recognition Of the inalienable rights Of
man US self evident political truths, as form.
ing the basis of all just governments, and Us
containing the principles Of political moral.
ity and immutable rectitude.
Tho constitution Of the United States was
based upon and recognized the same princi.
Piles and theory Of government which had
been before asserted; and the constitution
and the declaration Of independence arc
parts Of one consistent wholo-and that work
was consummated by the former which had
been begun by the latter.
- The government, under the constitution,
was conducted upon these principles and the
sentiments and policy heretofore existing,
still prevailed-slayery IN the territories was |
prohibised-the slave trade was denounced
as piracy and interdicted, and the Congress,
in repeated instances, interposed to prevent
the extension Of slavery into free territory.
The judiciary of the country, both Feder- |