The Findlay Jeffersonian. [volume] (Findlay, Hancock County, Ohio) 1870-1881, 1873-04-04
From the Ohio Safe Journal.1
PHOHIBITORY LEGISLATION I'M
THE CONSTITUTION, +.

"No license to traffic in Intcxicat-
ing liquors shall be grsnted in thC
State and the General Assembly
shall have power to legislate against
such traffic, and evils resulting there.
irom.n
This is not "prohibitory" except
as to the granting Of license, and in
all else "declarstory.n For what
other construction can be put upon
it than that the traffic in intoxicating
liquors is an evil? Taken in the tuil
sense OF a declaTdtory lac it points
oCt the wrongs to be avoided, and
the rights to be observed are clearly
defined. Il gflrnls, or recoqnizss.
a pocer Sotieh already exists, if not
dertced from the State CoRsti.tltion.
and achich must from necessity and the
inan'addble nature Of things, continue to
e.riSt If the tckOle Constition be de-
Str0yed. The article as q whole, then.
shows that if made part of the Con
stitution the people of Ohio do mt
sanction liquor tro6fe, but that on the
other hand desire It's suppression, and
thsreby tendrr to the General As
senbly q formal recognition of its
power, and, IS it were, guarantee
that the people will respect its rights
and enforce observance of them.
What more does this declare? Thst
the State will not tolerate liquor traf-
fc, and BY special recognition Of
the power of the General Assembly
to legisls.e against it, declares that
while it is not "direetory" it is er-
pected the General Assembly will by
remedial ard vi,a9jcatOry laacs free the
State, if 1t be possible, from this
curse Can it be construed ether
wise? We are sure it cannot. We
have consulted high legal authority,
and our views have been confirmed.
What is it to legislate against every
thing? What is legislation against
the admission OF infected animals into
the State? Certainly not projecting
q plan fer their admission! The
right to legislste sgainst an evil GER
tsinly cOnfers the right, if necessary,
TO suppress it. 1t does not imply
that it will be successful, but whether
successful or not, the power
to make the effort shall not be
abridged. Neither do we see in it
any restriction upon the extent to
which the power shall be exhibited
to suppress drinking upon the
premises where sold," more than to
suppress sales by the hOgsheadfull. |
II the assembly esn prevent the sale |
of liquor by the drink it can by the
quart. If it can prohibit drinking
at one place it can at all places, and |
totally suppress it. 1t may say
liquors shall be sold only for medi-
cinal purposes, for the arts-that
violation of theIlsw shall be no longer
a misdemeanor butts felony, the penalty
in the State Prison.
Thst c man who sells liquor in viola.
tion of the law shall be convicted, if
circumstsntial or presumptive evil
dence works in the mind OF the jury
a belief beyond reasonable doubt of
the guilt Of the accused.
But what are we to understand by
the old article? That the people OF
Ohio intended bv it to Indicate their
desire to prohibit the traffic, and that
The General Assembly would enact
such lsws as would compel the OBJ
seIvsnce of such prohibition. If this
be not true, did the people desire
that the sale OF liquors should go On
under its disaPprOyal, and that the
General Assembly, in trying "tO pro
vide against the evils resulting there
from," only should have power to
provide asylums ior the insane and
idiotic and paupers, and prisons for
Did the State intend to
Deget these h0iqg evidences of it's in
oecility and disregard of morality,
and disown them? Shall its legili-
n4'e children be made bssterds, and
Ill in one common class of criminals.
Fsgrants, prostitutes, insane, orphans,
1aupers, go down to their graves as
/ succession of ever returning monu
ncnts Of the States disgrace?
Want of space forbids US to enter
lpon the ground we would desire to
niger upon. We could show how
hat every civilized nation of the
world to-day acknowledges the truth
,i ou- views--that scientific men Of
very people-the voice Of ali author
ty echoes this truth. Let us cite q
ew before We ask Whist is the duty
}! the COnstitusionsl Convention.
1--WE have larger experience of
he results Of habiLual alcoholic ex-i
,ess than We have in regard to any
,;her nervine stimulant , and all such
experience is decidedly in favor OF
he hereditary transmission of that ;
perversion OF the normal ;
.u,rI;ioH OF the nervous system ,
Which it hes induced. Thst this ,
0 enliests i'self sometimes IL congen- ,
TAI idiccy, sometimes in q predispo- ,
ition 10 insanity, which requires hut
very slight exciting cause 10 deyel-
p it, and sometimes in a strong crav- /.
1g for alcoholic drinks, which tie 4
nhsPpy subject OF it strives in vain 7
0 resist, is the concurrent ties imony !,
Z eli WEo have directed their atten
ion to the inquire Taus DIR Ht.we,
D bis report on the Statistics of Hi
cy 10 Massachusetts, states that The !,
bits Of the parents -: 800 IDIOTS :
aving betn learned, 145, or nearly
ne-half, were found u b; drur ksrds :
z one instance, in which both par
nis were drunkaFds, seven idiotic =
hildren we're born TO them !
DR.. Down, whose experience of n
liocy is greater thsu that OF any
lan 10 this country, has assured me !,
Ia. he does not consider D.. Hoze's :,
.>tenent as st ali exaggerated Sir =
z. +. Brown, the fret Medical Lu- a
ecy Commissioner for Scotland, :
nus wrote when himself in charge of :
large asylum '.The drunkard not :
My Injuries and enfeebles his own !
ervous system, but entails mental :
isease upon his family His daugh. !
srs are nervous snd hystericaI, his :
obs ere wesk, wsyvard, eccentric, 3
nd sick unGer the pressure of ex-
i;eneut, Ct some unforeseen tx
grncy, or the ordinary calls OF datv. !
)r Howe remarks that the children .
I drunkards and dedc;e1t in bodily :
cd vitsl energy, ard are predisposed /,
y their very organization to have
rawlings for alcoholic stInulants. >