Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1872-01-05

i The encouragement of a cautious but wise
and liberal policy, should be extended to these
enterprises.
sHIPBULDING AND COMMERCE.
! Our superior facilities for shipbuiding and
commercial pursuits which were well inn
proved prior to the war, and on which
more than thirty thousand of our population
depended for support, makes the present
prostration Of these interests all the more hu-
initiating, and adds intensity to the conviction
that our national legislation has been un-
friendly to these important elements of our
national success. do not entertain the idea
that this neglect arises from desire to see
these interests remain crippled as now.
therefore have great confidence that, before
the close of the present session OF Congress
some relief will be given. 1t may be that
the demand for rapid transit of merchandise
will seek transportation in steam rather than
sailing vessels, and that other causes will
create demand for iron instead of wooden
ships. These may have tended to the present
depressed condition of these interests; but
they furnish no argument against lifting these
burdens, or removing the CALLING fetters of
which we complain. If, when this is DONE
our American shipbuilders cannot compete
successfully with others in the construction
u StiiiH5 fNcSSiS, VI II WY hiS NV ~ w
mand, they will turn their attention to the
building and sailing of such vessels as are re-
Quired
TEMPERANCE AND THE EXECUTION OF THE
The evils resulting from the use of intoxi-
eating drinks are alarming, and demand the
earnest thought and wise, persistent effort Of
the christian, the philanthropist and the
Tbropuh ba Ii oh that hoa bppp
given, the moral influences that have been
exerted, and the removal, to some extent, of
the temptation to drink by the prohibitory
law, there is very much less drinking in
Maine in proportion to the population. than
formerly, and less than in most other portions
of the country. These facts are demonstrat-
ed by the recollection of those whose memory
goes back over the las. thirty or forty years,
and who have compared this with other States
Still intemperance in Maine is great public
evil, destructive of private morals and virtues,
promotiye of degradation and ruin, an enemy
to industry and good order, and serious
detriment to all the higher interests of the
State.
The time and money expended, the intel
lectual and physical powers destroyed, the
hopes blasted, the homes desolated, the pow
erty and crime occasioned, and the lives sac
rifced, through the drinking habits of our
people, would make an appalling chapter in
our history. If we inquire at our State
Prison, we shall find that prior to their con-
viction, eight per cent. of the convicts were
not in the habit of using intoxicating drinks,
twelve per cent. drank moderately, while
eighty per cent. drank to excess, and their
crime was the direct results of this practice.
A visit to our county jais would reveal SINH
lar facts. This shows that four-ffths of the
crime and consequently that proportion of all
the expense, as well as all the private and
public evils resulting from the commission OF
crime, are the legitimate results of intem-
perance.
Our own observation furnishes convincing
evidence that large portion of the pauper-
ism IN the State is directly or indirectly at
tributable to the same cause. If these state
ments are correct, the State, aside from its
interest in the moral, intellectual and finan-
cial well being of its citizens, has a direct pc
cuniary interest in this subject equal to four
fitths of the whole cost of the execution of
our criminal laws as well as the support of
paupers and Juvenile offenders, made such by
intemperance. The statesman, then, charged
to promote in every proper way, the welfare
of the State, has duty to perform in this
regard which he is not at liberty to ignore.
The eradication of an evil like this must be
oouSut' PiiHaiHF, throuSh tHe pulpIt, IHe press,
the platform and the influence of organized
effort, thus awakening the public mind and
quickening the public conscience. AS re-
suit of the efforts made through these instru-
mentalties, large portion of our population
abstain entirely from the use of intoxicating
drinks as a beverage, many drunkards have
been reformed and a public sentiment has
been created that has found expression in one
of the most effective laws nm our statutes.
1t is fact worthy of notice and one which
has attracted the attention of every careful
observer, that, in most places in the State,
intemperance and crime and all the evils in
cident to intemperance have decreased about
in proportion to the enforcement of the
law, and increased in proportion to the
neglect to enforce it. The State has done
wisely in supplementing individual and or
ganized effort with such legal aid as it has
deemed proper. The law itself is believed to
be generally satisfactory, but there is much
complaint that, in many parts of the State,
it is not executed as it should be, and, by
many additional legislation for the enforce
ment of this and other criminal laws is de-
sired. The conviction is very general that
the necessity is not so much for more law, as
a better enforcement of the laws we have
The Importance of faithful and impartial
execution of all our criminal laws is too ap-
parent to require discussion here.
am not unmindful of the fact that no law
can be enforced through any instrumentalty
however efficient in itself, for a term of years,
unless it be sustained by the public sentiment
of the people.
On that all our laws depend. If they meet
that approval they will be sustained and en-
forced; if not they will be repealed or be-
come a dead letter in the statutes. The
officers who execute the laws come from the
people. They are the servants of the people,
STILL as a general rule, execute their will
Whether the judgment of a majority of the
people be right or wrrng-whether we accept
or reject it personally, it will, in this country,
assert itself in the enactment of the laws,
and the election Of public officers on whom
their enforcement depends.
A proposition has been made that the
sheritfs of the several counties and their dep
uties be charged with the duty of inquiring
into the violations of all criminal laws and
attending to their enforcement within the
limits of their respective counties, when the
local authorities neglect or refuse to do so,
and that these officers be made responsible to
the Chief Executive of the State, and sub
ject to his directions. The friends of this
measure suggest that as the laws now are,