The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1873-01-21

! forced ensctments which place every one at the
these cases Illustrates the beauty OF the law, &C
| c0rdtng to Its advocates. A woman recovered
$500 damages from . saloon keeper, the ground
being that he had sold her husband liquor. That
| couple can do thriving business where the hus-
band Is not knswn. 1t is the panel game In q new
shape under the sanction OF law The law In some
| places Is shaped 80 that man who gets drunk,
ana while drunk commits violence or wrong, Dy
pleading drunkenness, has only to say where ne
| get his liquor, whether he got IL there or not anu
the offence Is transferred to the unconscious scape
goat VINO is sent not into the wilderness ou, 70
| prison. while the drunken iniormer is reeasea 10
seek for q new victim, or Tor the blackmall tnat
win cause him to look elsewhere ANY ha6tgal
blunted. unless he becomes saint by joining some
total abstinence secret order mas power 70 PUNISH
beating the one, and transferring the penalty Tor
| the assault to the other.
in it's form mas in it some points more objectiona
BILE than any Of the prohlbitory laws that have
| failed ia the past, or remain now
| DEAD LETTERS ON THE STATUTE BOOK.
| If the premises assumed by its friends, that any
drink containing alcohol In any per centage is
delegate to the majority OF community the power
to permit themselves or neighbors with suicidal
pr0penslties, to destroy themselvesS According to
them arsenic Is ambrosia and prussc acid Is nee
Tar, when compared with anything OF which alcO-
men are not allowed to sell these when It Is Known
they are to be swallowed by human beings, except
under the prescription Of 2 physician: Suppose
Of the Inhabitants decreed IT, and, II not, not The
laugh and shock others. Still more absurd would
1t be, while prohibiting prussic acid in its undiluted
bitter almonds or wild cherry bark ali Of which
contain prussic acid in appreciable quantities. lfa
coho In Its mllder combinations as in malt liquors,
be equally Injurious with its greater approach to an
absolute form, az In whiskey. and both have
such baneful efiects, why permit our community to
use It'll Why not burn down the distillertes, level
the breweres to the ground knock to pieces the
cider presses and turn the root beer fountains up
Again, by the proposed measure. Coldwater
township may vote to have no liquor sold
within its bounds, while Lush township, just adj
may vote the other way. On one side OF a line SO
fine that hairs breadth is a timber log in compar
to o wa a be
on the other side, not only with tmpnnity but
under direct sanction OF the law. In either case
bidden in one township, and permitted in st-e
other at the mere will-and 1t may be the whim or
petty political division That majority may consist
OF one IN each township. In COldwater 400 free
and enlightened citizens may take away the liberty
OF 800 other free and enlightened citizens; and in
800 angels in broadcioth BY allowing to be sold
lager and the maddenng root beer. This Is the
voice Of the people. and v0I p0pun por Del, but
| 1t ia impossible to determine. More than that,
Hrt COLD WATER TOWNSHIP
gets no protection against alcohol and tte various
compounds. A determined topper among its mi
| imaginary and imperceptible line which divides
nssp as
on # first story Of root beer, second OF cider,
third Of Hocheimer, fourth Of currant wine and
| fifth Of sherry and top all OF with mansard
roof Of whiskey, until beneath this monstrOus
superstructure his reason gives way, and he comes
| precincts with his h0wlings and to vex the bosoms
Of its Inhabitants with the painful reflection that
1 they reap all the disadvantages OF the traffic,
without having shared cent OF its profits.
! But good many bad fellows in COldwater town.
ship would object to many OF these pigrtmages to
can takes as naturally to labor-savng processes
young duck to the nearest puddle. Hence they
They. would bring the mounts to Mohanlmed,
in order that Mohammed might not have to 60 SO
whiskey by the bottle in Lush and bring 1t into
Codwater, and pocket pistols, whose contents 60
into the brains OF those who fire them on would Be
the concealed weapons carried. No need to SNUG
gle either, II the liquor be imported in glass Uncle
Sam desires revenue and he protects ''the original
lot in Maine nor Massa chusetts, nor New YORK: it
could not In New Jersey or elsewhere. 1t may stop
the consumption Of beer, since bottle only holds
drink And that brings rs to the whole gist OF
the matter, The law, whether so intended or not,
s in the interest Of the disers against that Of the
brewers Whether that is sound policy or not Is
the real question to determine.
the decrease in the consumption per head Of dis
ten years, and the increase in that of fermented
drinks is something remarkable. II there had been
decrease in both, Il might have been inferred that
we were growing to be an abstinent rather than q
temperate people. But the increase OF the one has
been at about the same rate with the decrease of
the other. The statistics of the manufacture and
consumption OF malt liquors have become first trust
worthy because OF the necessity for additional fed.
eral revenue, which made ale, beer and porter OBJ
jects OF excise. The ofricial returns show
THE AMOUNT OF TAX PAID BY THE BREWERS
and representing nearly as many barrels Of beer, a
trfng special tax making the difference, to be as
folOws:-