New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1866-04-16
A GREAT GOOD EASILY DONE.


did not and would not; but they do and will. And it
is deporable but very natural consequence of this
vicious taste and habit that almost every other vice
seeks and wins the aid of that which Graves Alcoholic
qualification. The seducer the swindler, the thief
the burglar even in those few instances where he is
not also a tippler, counts on liquor a means Of
molding victims accOmplices to his wicked will.
We have tried to stop the Liquor Traffic absolutely
We heartily approve of closing grogshops peremptory
and absolutely on Saturday night: we do not approve
of opening them again on Monday morning. But
they are opened and will be: so We have TO recOg
nze that melancholy fact.
Now then, come forward the more decent consid
crate reputable portion of those who drink and those
who sell these Liquors. and say, 4" Let MS frame an
act which will regulate the Liquor Traffic, and modify
ifnot remove its worst abuses, which you mistakenly
consider It's natural, inevitable results Let US fix
matters so that SOBER decent people may always get
good Liquor, to use in moderation; while sots and
brutes shall not be maddencd by poisonous stuff to
beat out the brains of their wives and children"
Every well, gentlemen" We respond; ave are
beaten; take hold and regulate the Lquortrahc since
we have tried to stop it and failed. Do faithfully
what you propose and undertake, and we will give
you all the help we can" Such Is the basis Of our
States present Excise Law.
But the Liquor Traffic in this City defes legal regu
laton as impudently as it defed legal suppression
II refuses to obey much Of tho Excise Law As for
bids sales on Sundays and Election days. II defes so
much of that law as requires every seller 70 DC IL
censed on the petition of twenty freeholders OF his
ward or township. II refuses TO pay the paltry annual
lcense-fee of $50 imposed by the existing law. IL
openly allies itself with gambling, lewdness. and
crime In short, it defes all restrictions and laughs
At regulation. And it elects magistrates and other
fnctionares on purpose TO secure for itself impunty
in thus defyng the law.
When three Commissioners of Excise were first to
be appointed, we were promised the naming of one Of
them on behalf Of the Temperance interest. That
promise was not fulfilled. Hence have for years
had a Commission with which the law-defying rum
sellers were perfectly satisfied. And well they might
be. If they have not paid the Commissioners heavily
for not doing their duty they have been very I'M
grateful.
At length, the denominations Of the Traffic have
become too papabe. The thief-dens and /" fences
for stolen goods, the pretty watcrgir saloons and
other vile resorts where Strong Drink is the proclaimed
allurement, have become abhorrent TO tho coarsest
moral There must be REFORM if our City is not
resigned to share the fate of Sodom.
Those citizens who desire decency even in vice,
have united in asking the Legislature to abolish our
do-nothng Board Of Excise and transfer its duties to
our new Health Commission, which really eyinces
fidelity and energy Nobody expects by this change
to suppress the Liquor Traffic wholly to prevent
the gigantic evils and crimes whereof is the prolific
Dut do and Ir tha aid If
the Police 10 shut up good many of the worst dens
wherein gambling, harlotry and crmefnd shelter and
alment and to reduce the number of the youth whom
Liquor now lures to swift perdition.
The bill passed the Senate with very little oppos
ton. The awdefying Liquor interest then rallied all
its forces to defeat it in the Assembly. Bribery
the agency relied on; stopping it in one another
Committee the means That was defeated-thanks
especially to Mr. Brandreth Of Westchester. The bill
at length came fairly before the House, and was or
dered to third reading. time for that reading was
set 30 that not disabled by illness should have
any excuse for lodging Yet, when the vote came to
betaken, after postponement, only ninety
bers tout of 1887 answered to their names and took
an hours hard work to drum up even this number.
Speaker Tremain rose from sick bed to give his vote
u
bered by the friends of Law and Morality. A few
members were absent by reason Of sickness; but not
less than trenty must have deliberately, wifully
evaded the vote. How many Of them were bribed TO
do So we cannot say-but we think not less than 49,
For an open manly adversary. we have due respect:
for skulkng dodger whether bribed or not we have
a contemptuOus detestation. And any dodger on this
bill who evaded the vote for less than $4,000 must be
q very cheap rascal
We write in ignorance of the name Of any one who
acted thus UNANIMOUSLY. We know that Messrs. John
L. Parker and William Miner were sick, so that they
could not be presents we presume there were Others
in the same category But why does erery Albany
paper suppress the names Of those voting for and
against this bill We presume our correspondent
pected to find them in Of those Journals and
neglected to send them. We look to him to re-
treve his mistake at once and let readers know
just what members were absent from the House un.
avoidably, and who were willGuly lodging We hope
to have the information for our next
p S.-Thanks to our correspondent, list Of Yeas,
Nays and absentees, has list come to hand. aud Is