The Jackson standard. [volume] (Jackson C.H., Ohio) 1847-1888, 1873-09-18


who can be induced to do it. shall be
chosen TO conduct its sale; twenty-five
years ago or thereabouts we were induced
to believe that it was the .respecta5Ee
LIQUOR seller who did all the mischief;
that IL il could be taken out of his hands
and placed in those of the irresponsible
and dissolute, society would no longer
| tolerate the evil but would rise up al
most as one man and put it down. The
doctrine was a captivating one, and IN
our youthful simplicity we fell IN with II;
SO much so that had we been in the State
when our present Constitution was form
ed we should have supported the anti
| license clause. Time and experience
however, have not confirmed US in these
views. An increase of the traffic 200 per
cent. greater than that of our population,
without the promised uprising and sup
preston, has led US to conclude that
there was a mistake somewhere in the
calculation. Instead of the two or three
places where liquor was then sold, we
now have forty or fifty. At that time a
drunken or even drinking boy was al
most unknown; now they may be seen
on our streets at almost any hour of the
day. This change for the worse, too, be
it remembered, has taken place amid a
crusade in behalf of the legal suppression
of the traffic unequaled in intensity in
any other age our country We confess
that the situation does not please us. 1t
is not possible to witness such demor-
alzation of society-such a letting down
of its moral tone in any direction, with
out fearful forebodings as to the future of
| our country But what shall be done to
arrest this tide of evil? He would in
deed be a wise man who could tell us to
certainty Mr.. Norton would probably
nnct oil
try and then prohibit their future manu-
facture or Importation All very simple,
| isn't it? Mr.. Norton will pardon us when
we say that we can never look upon one
of his style of reformers without thinking
that if he had been in Eden at the be-
ginning, he would have solved the prob
lem of the forbidden fruit by going out
| with mattock and digging up the tree
on which it grew, and destroyed it ut
terly, root and branch. They do no seem
to reflect that it is in coming in contact
with evil without becoming partakers of
it, that men grow in strength and virtue
We regard it as an utter impossibility to
prohibit the manufacture and sale of in
toxicating drinks in this country; at the
same time we believe that its sale may be
SO restricted that very many of the evils
now resulting therefrom may be materi-
ally lessened. For instance if the sale
can be confined to adults of sound minds
and sober habits, very material point
will have been gained. This may not be
now, when men of no responsibility
whatever often engage in its sale. 1t Will
therefore become necessary to take it out
of the hands of the many and confine it
to the few. Of course this will have to
be done, if done at all, by means of jju-
dicious license law. What, cries your
modern temperance reformer, would you
license an admitted evil? Suppose, how
ever, we call it by another name, to-wit:
an attempt to throw around an existing
evil, which now runs riot, but which we
may not wholly suppress, such legal re-
straints as will bring it more nearly in
conformity with the principles of right
and good order in society, does it not
materially alter the whole aspect of the
case? But we find this whole subject SO
well argued in an article which we repro
duce from the Chicago Adcance, the rep
sentative of Congregationalism in the
West.and one OF the best religious papers
in the Union, that we adopt its senti-
ments as whole in place Of further re-
marks of our own on this point:
'TENPERANcE.-Conn too, is
about trying a new temperance law and
making its experiment as to the best way,
so far as legal force can contribute to the
result, by which TO lessen, seeing il cannot
loholLy prere,'t, the harm being done by in
toxicating drinks. It denies that The grant
ing Of license involves any uoluntary assent
to or act,,aE upproral Of the business; but,
taking facts as they are, and finding So
ciety so much at fault (whether because
so vicious, Indifferent or cowardly, it mat
ters not to this question:, that prohib-
itory law is impracticable, it makes a new
start and aims to do a0hot IL can rather
than a1hat Il can't In the meanwhile, it
undertakes to hedge in the sale when
licensed as much as possible, by due re-
strictions, penalties and liabilities. 1t
provides that licenses shall be granted
by the County Commissioners on the rec
ommendation of the selectmen, but any
town may instruct its selectmen not to
grant licenses, and in such case no
liquor can be legally sold in the town
Every applicant for a license must have
his character reviewed by the sclectnen
of his town; he must give bonds to the
| amount of one thousand dollars for faith.
full compliance with the conditions of the
license, the penalty for selling LIQUOR
without license is set at from fifty to
five hundred dollars, or imprisonment not
exceeding six months, or to fine and i'm
prisonment both; a special penalty of
twenty or fifty dollars. or imprisonment
not exceeding thirty days or both, is
imposed on licensed dealers for selling
liquor to minors; for selling to a known
drunkard, or to an intoxicated person, or
to q husband or wife when notice has
been given by either husband or wife not
to sell to the other involves a penalty of
from twenty to fifty dollars or imprison-
ment not exceeding sixty days, or both;
and actual damages done by person
while in state of intoxication, to the
amount of one thousand dollars may be
recovered from the person selling the
liquor which caused such intoxication.
and in the case of licensed dealer NAV
be recovered on his bond. Morever, the
legal voters of any town may, at a special
meeting, duly warned, by a majority vote,
instruct the selectmen not to make anv
recommendation; proper penalties are
imposed on a selectman who's makes a
recommendation after being instructed
not to do so; provision is made by which
County Commissioners may revoke the
license for any violation of the law: and
all applications must be open to public
inspection in the Town Clerks Office, at
least two weeks before a license is grant,
ed. AS for the funds resulting from Ii
censes, they go to complete the circle-to
support the expenses Of crime and pau
perism caused by the use of liquor. Some
of the towns have already voted an EN-
phatic No license. New Haven, since
the result of its town meeting" hopes
for an annual income of little over
$25, 900 from its saloons
"Mr. Norton will probably conclude
from all this that if we chance to be
elecfad tn the T,aUiSlatupo aud H. 80