The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1871-03-02

have been tried in various States. The
first is the revolutionary plan, known
as the 'fMaine law,n which has prov
ed a failure by reason of the impOssi-
bility of enforcing it in any section or
district of country where the temper
ance sentiment was not strongly in
the ascendant. Where nearly every
body praetised total abstinence, the
Maine law was rigidly enforced; but
where a majority, OF large minority,
INDUCED in the use of stimulating
beverages, the law was disregaTded
and remains a dead letter. Thus,
where il was not needed it was main
tained, but where it was most needed
it was nullified.
The second scheme Of prohibition is
merely the maine law "in spots" and
is known by the name Of local Op-
tiOn." Instead Of enaeting prohibi-
tory law for a whole State, law is
passed empowering each county,
township, or other municipality, by
popular vote, to adopt the Maine law,
and enforce tiff it ean-by the aid of
! the courts and cOnstabulaTy. But, if
they get tired of the law, the voters
have the right at the next annual mu-
nicipal election to repeal it. The OBJ
! lection to this system is its inethcien-
cy. 1t fOrbids tippling in temperance
districts where few or none indulgei
| but it is not in force where the taste
for liquor prevails and where the evils
of fintemperance exist. Hence it is of
| litt.e practical value.
L.. third is the license system,
which simply seeks to derive a reve-
nue. from the sale Of spirits and to re-
strain to a small extent the rOwdy
character of the worst dOggeries. The
people of Ohio are now tryinga fourth
system, which promises to prove ex-
| ceedingly useful. The popularity Of
the law is that it secures popular sup
port everywhere, and is entirely free
/ from all partisan entanglements. No
demagOgue can get into Office by Op-
posing il, or strengthen his party by
assaiIing it, and it is impossible, even
in communities most afflicted by
/ drunkenness, to array popular hostili-
ty against it. 1t is self-enforeing.
| There is no trouble in finding courts
and iuries that will infiict its penal
ties, or persons to prosecute viOlatOrs
of its provisions. While it will not
| eradicate the evils of the liquor traffic,
it may greatly mitigate them. The
/ leading provisions of the Ohio law are
| these-and we may say, in this con-
nectiOn, that it was enacted by the
votes Of both political parties,
L 1t prohibits the sale of intOXicat-
I ing liquors 20 minors, and makes it
/ the duty Of grand juries to indict, and
of public prosecutors to bring to trial,
all rum-sellers who furnish liquor to
children, or persons under age.
2 IL prohibits the sale of liquors to
adult persons who are hRbitually in
/ tOXicated.
5. land this is the backbone of the
law 1t makes every grog-seller, and
every real estate owner who furnishes
a tenament for the sale of liquors, pc
cuniarily responsible 1Cr all damage
or loss Occasioned by the intOXicatiOn
of their joint victims. L. treats the
I landlord and his Fum-vending ten
ant as partners, to the exteu of hold
| ing both responsible for the mischief
they do. The provision reals:
every husband, wife, el lid, par
ent, guardian, employer, or other per-
son, who shall be injured il person,
property, or means OF support, by any
intoxicated person, or in consequence
of such intOxicatiOn, habitual or 9TH
erwise, shall have a right of action
against both the person who sold the
liquor and the landlord who owns the
premises on which the sale was
made.n
4. Exemplary as well as actual dam
ages may be recovered! and may be
commenced before Justices of the
Peace where the damages claimed do
not exceed $500; for larger amounts
IN the Circuit Courts.
5. Any fine levied upon rum-sel-
| Ter for violation of the act becomes a
lien on the premises until paid; and
| judgement obtained by a wife, widow,
or parents for damages against rum
seller, is also a lien on the premises
occupied by him, in whole or in part,
/ and said premises shall be sold to pay
such fine in case Of default.
The act only went into force nine or
ten months ago, but one can hardly
open an Ohio local paper without find
ing report Of sOTue wife, widow or
mother bringing suit or obtaining
/ Judgement against dOggery-keepers
! for pecuniary damages growing out of
| their traffic. Rum-seliers are becOm-
! ing more careful as to whom they fill
with fusel oil whjskey and benzine,
and material abatement Of drunk
eness is already visible in many pOr-
tions Of the State In very many 10
| calities an end has been put to whis-
key-selling by means Of this law. Re
Gently, in a single village in Central
Ohio, fifteen grOg-sellers voluntarily
put up their shutters and permanently
went out of business, and are now
/ giving their time and attention to less
! banel-j and more productive pursuits.
They were persuaded to do this upon
| learning that numerous suits were
| about being brought up against them
| by persons who had suffered loss by
their traffic in drunkenness. In all
/ parts of the State Of Ohio, landlords
are becoming circumspect as to rent
| iug their premises for dOggery pur-
poses, and in many instances offer TO
cancel back rents due, on condition
that their tenants stop selling liquor
to women's husbands, and widows
sons, lest they be made % smart in
| damages for the mischiefdOne as part
ners N the business.
1t first the rum-sellers stOutly re-
sisted the law, claiming that it was
unconstitutional, and in violation OF
their vested rights. But the courts
have taught theI1 their mistake. The
validity Of the law has been upheld
I IL every case, and no appeal has been
sustained. The juries never fail to
give exemplary damages when the
proof iUstifies il; and il is not necessa-
~ to PACK juries, either, to obtain
verdict against the rum-sellers and
landlords who divide their gains.
! Juries composed of men who drink
more or less liquor themselves are
found TO be as inexorable and deter
mined to enforce the laws as the tee
tOtalers. With a woman for plain
tiff and a ruined husband or son for
q victim, the courts and Iries Of OHIO
4 never fail 10 make the rum-vender
pay smart money" for the injury he
has committed.
Il was only ths other day that the
widow Of a physician recovered 81
/ 500 damages against the liquOr-seller
who had piled her husband with
whiskey until he sank into a drunk
ards grave, leaving her, in rags and
beggary, to support herselfand wretch
ed orphans. In another case widow
recovered 81, 800 from a rum-seller for
! the loss Of her son, who died OF deiiri-
um tremens-the defendant having
furnished the liquor that killed him.
Since the success that has attended
prosecutions in Ohio, under this law
has become know, and the beEeheient
effects therefrom are being made
manifest, various Legislatures. that
Of Illinois among others, are seriously
considering the advisability Of adopt
ing the Ohio law. 1t is exceedingly
popular in that State. The woman
enthusiastic ieally defend and uphold IT,
and only the self-interested or degrad.
] ed class Of men venture TO say Word