Delaware gazette. [volume] (Delaware, Ohio) 1855-1886, 1871-01-27
THE TRAFFIC. IN ARDENT
SPIRITS.


The provision of the eonstitutfon of the
State Of Ohio on fhistrade is as follows: tsEJo
license to trafdc in Intoxicating liquors
the General Assembly may, by law, provide
against evils resulting theFefrOm.7' The
legislation which ths General Assembly
has nasfed to provide AGAINST the evils Of
this traffic is to prohibit It. Under this we
have had practical free trade in intoxica-
which is an immediate agency OF pauper-
Ism and disorder has. been made exempt
rom any share OF the burdens which 1t
throws upon the community.
Public opinion is ripe for q change of
policy. It is not satisfied with the Pontius
PLATE washing of hands from responsibili-
ty for unlimited license to grog shops by
the cheap process Of enacting dead statutes.
By tax upon places where Intoxicating
drinks are sold they can be regulated to a
beneficial extent, and can be made to bear
a part Of the burden which they bring upon
society. Under the State Constitution the
traffic In liquors is free. Like any other
trade, it needs no license. By statute law
1t is prohibited. The repeal OF these laws
and the substitution Of q system Of special
taxes on the places of sale would make
nish a means Of regulation by which the
number of places could be reduced. Ifit be
fooltshly objected that this will be recOgni-
ton of the trade, whereas the perfected
mode Of reforming social evils is to assume
that they are banished by dead prohibitory
citing the fact that the national govern
ment taxes this trade and manufacture,
and thus the State of Ohio as an integral
part of the nation has already recognized it
as taxable.
The above from the Cincinnati Ga
setts may be sound in its application to
some localities of the State but not to
all. That the liquor traffic ought to be
compelled by some means to contribute
to the expenses Of government in full
proportion to the extent it promotes the
violation of law and the aggravation Of
public burdens. we do most heartily
agree. We furthermore believe that a
good license law would be far more eff
fective in this regard and would much
more restrict the traffic in the large
cities of the State than do the presen
enactments But while this is true of the
cities many of the country districts and
smaller towns would prefer and couIc
enforce. an absolute prohibition of th'
traffic. Instead, therefore, of having {
a general license law for the State why
not confer upon each incorporated towr
and township the absolute power tc
regulate thetraffic precisely as it chooses
Thus the people would themselves be
come responsible for its federation and i
they choose to prohibit it can do so
Where tolerated it may be made to pay
its proportion of the public burdens anc
wherever public sentiment is strong
enough It may be exterminated.
We may say in this connection tha
the United States does not license the
traffic as is sometimes supposed. The
Federal Government levies a special ta2
upon thetrafic, and under the laws o
the United States any one may be Sc
verely punished for engaging in tht
business without paying the tax, but Nc
license is issued to any one. A sellei
who pays the revenue tax is quite as Ii
able to prosecution under the State laws
as if he had not paid it.