Daily State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1861-1865, 1865-05-03
workings OF the Maine Liquor Law
in Nassat huSetts

I'm Wassa, huSetts.
By the Seth chapter of the general statues Of
Massachusetts, il u provided that persons shsllhe
imprisoned in the House OF Correction tor selling
cider. malt liquors, wines. The expediency
and rightlulness, as we'll as the good resulting
from the workings OF this enactment being ques-
toned. special committee was appointed in the
Legislature OF THAI state 10 consider the expedi
euey OF licer sing the lie OF intoxicrt ng drinks,
which committee reported on the 26h The
committee state that The inquiries lead TO PCS
sible change Of policY By the state; md in order
10 ascertain as fully as practicable the working
of the present law, witnesses were examined
| from oil parts of the state The first question
proposed was, Are spriiuous or fermenied
mented liquors druok by he people OF your
| neighhoI hood; and il so, TO what extent. ard
/ how generally. when compared with the time i'm
medialely preceding the enactment Of h frs'
prohbitorv law and with previous iimes?"
The answer to this was, that what WAS called
he Cause Of in;emperance was on the decline in
all parts Of the state M,nv of the gentlemen
who testified had been COM ec;ed with the ienI
persnce re orm from s inception. aud were able
TO trace in he r Own experience the progress OF
public sentiment Their testimony was that the
! elimination of the temperance excitement WAS
! hetweeB lr4J and 1850. when a large N ! ,,ty
o; the peopie-sufici 10 control elections and
public Opinion--h4d sanctioned and adopted the
| theory OF total abstinence. The committee
quote from a large number OF witnesses. aud the
| following is the substance of the testimony on
this POM:
"lntcx eating drinks are freely cold in every
city ard large town in the state. in most of them
without aDy attempt III cOnceslment and in some
| with considerable osteBtston In come smaller
towns, and in one or two clusters Of SIN I'll towns
none is known TO be sold. But in these cases
such inhabitants choose to drink can he freely
supplied from the shops in some larger town
within easy distance. In the greater number OF
! towns. the statement is doubt true that il is
easier for stranger to get glass of spirits than
glass OF milk. Ia most farming towns. how
| ever. The ir" flic is disIeputabie and private"
| " In no city, town. or cluster of towns with
The exception OF SPENCER and ifs neishborhood
and perhaps one other town in Worcester county,
Ia the sale 0! intoxicating drinks more restrained
oF prohibited than il was before the passage Of
the pToh.ht0ry law OF 1889; in m0st of them the
sale has decidedly increased since that time"
The committee next propounded the irqurs
I 'Whv is not the law invoked 10 suppress this
! tr fii.-and, il invoked. why j. il not more sue
ces-inlf' The testimony Of the district attor
| mles, summoned upon this poiut. ia that in prac-
| ice all the cases tried under what il called
the nuisance act the penalties being less, and
the proof easier There has also been difficulty
with iuries, which has been felt in all the coun
|
| contributed to prevent the enforcement of the
law. There is inisposition the ptrt of all
juries to convict respectable people, and wh.n
! convictions do occur. prominent citizens in
teriere ard the penalty ia not enforced
The mayor o. Spring field said in the course of
his testimony: Il m ide spec =, eff,rts suppress
/ the sale Of liquors unier the law: They were
mixture OF sucCess and failure stopped Sun
! dsy sales. and public sales week DAYS. but L
don't think there was much less ssld when |
ceased TO be m lyor than when began" The
subsnncc of the testimony thus part of the
enquiry is, that while there are difficulties in the
! enforcement OF tie law. both from iuries and
witnesses, the greatest difficulty is from want
OF cooperation BY the people. The people,
! though not content with success so imperfect
and necessarily becoming more So accept il, ard
make NO persistent effort TO improve the condi-
ton of things They are much more attached
| TO the law than to the enforcement of it, and SO
long as matters continue In this way, not only
are their Eft iris to aid the officers intermittent
and weak, but they constantly embarass these
! officers by Interfering in favor Of the criminals
! IT, what repre- ented hard of uenitent
offenders, which, after they get to court. such
persons commonly are.
After summing M the general arguments
1 against prOhibtory law, and against allowing
Z Law TO remain on the statute book which canno,
/ b. enforced. or which is opposed IN the conyc-
tons of q large majority OF the community. a ma
] jDriiy OF the legislative committee state their
! final conclusions as follows: That a license law
! is exDenient-and that the sale OF wine beer
snd malt liquors should not be punished by i'm
| prisonment IN the House of Correction. They
report 10 bill. because they believe that none is
expedent or desired. The law which thew re.
commend is Of strict regulation merely,
! limit ne the number Of persons licensed. and en-
forcing lis provisions by heavy pecuniarv penal
tiss upon unlicensed ,les They would reserve
{" the cities and towns the rght within their ia
ri>dictions 10 refuse to grant lirenses IT, in their
opininn. not demanded by the public good Such
law. properly applied would. they hope es
seutisliy improve the condition Of he cities aud
! large towns: and woui place the rural districts
! whore they were in ls52
! NJ Allen. one OF the committee. assents TO
The report. except as 10 its recon- mendiag a H.
cenSc law He prefers retaining the present GRO
/ htitory lfv, with the change of the penalties on
the sale OF fcrmen'ed liquors. from imprs n
meut 10 fne. minority OF the committee pre-
sent supplementary report. in which they give
thsir reasons for dissenting from the views and
conclusions of the mi lrity. They say that The
! present law i well executed excep, in The cities.
and that II can he * cuted there; that the policy
of the state j. inst licensing evil and that
no eyigenrv t. cen shown for 4 Oh ,nge of that
policy They o., ore report lhst il is inexpedi.
en, TO license the sale of Intoxicating drinks
| Philsdelphis A-e.