The Placer herald., 1874-11-21
PROHIBITION IN MAINE.

With the exception of about two years
Prohibition has been the settled policy ol
Maine for well nigh "A quarter OF a century.
In the mean time the merits of the law have
been heralded il the utternost parts of the
earth. | have recently read II very interest
ing document, which has been much crcu-
lated in England. 1t is entitled "A Cloud
of Witnesses Success of Prohibition ii
Maine" The document comprises about
eight pages of testimony from the "most
auhortive and most unimpeacllabe
sources" including the Hon. Sidney Per-
ham then Governor of Maine; our Rcpresen-
tatives in Congress at that time Messrs.
Blaine, Frye, Hale, Peters and Lynch; our
Senators Hamlin and Morrill,; the exMay
or of Portland, the pastors of the various
churches of that city, besides Judges of
municipal courts and others throughout The
State TOO numerous to mention. They all
give it as their opinion that Pr libiIion has
heen "a wonoerfu success" Ex-Governor
Prrlmm in his opinion, which was given in
1872 says: "lhe liquor trade IN this
State, think it safe to say, is Very much
less than before The enactment of this law
probal ly not one-tenlh as large" Gen
Dow, in the State Temperance Convention
Of 1873 in an address TO the people, said ::
"Prohibi,ion has been a success in Maine.
Tho amount of intoxicating liquors CON
Sumed in that State is not one-tenh so large
as it was before the Maine Law" And eA-
Mayor Wheelrght, of Bangor, in his opin-
ion. says lit is safe to say that in our city
not one tenth rs much is sold now as in
years prsl;" and ga Professor in the Theo-
logical Seminary" the exMayors, lie Col
lector Of Internal Revenue. and hosts Of
others, all ''fuy concur in the above state
nent" Judge Lane, Of the Supreme
Court of Portland and other officials, also
say: "We are OF the decided opinion that
the liquor trade is not one-tenih of what IL
was prior to the Maine law" Ard Senators,
Congressman, and hosts Of clereymen all
concur. 1t may seem like presumption,
therefore, in one to question the above
statements Opinions Of men who have
gained name are always looked on as a
( ind of authority. These opinions may moi
be questioned with impunty. | suppose
we may be allowed to ask TIE question:
Are they founded OIL facts? Certainly no
facts appear in the document. That is Il
mass Of opinions. Now | would call a
cloud of Witnesses men who have
| lived in tile State all their lives, men who
nave won name and place, men of equal
learning, of equal observation, friends and
workers even in the cause of temperance
who would tell you that the Prohbilory
law was failure; had failed utterly to pre-
vent iniemperance, or even to close the grog
shops. This would simply present a war of
opinions. 1t would prove nothing. What,
then, are the facts in the case? for facts
alone must decide the question. Take first
in order the statements of ex-Gov. Perham
and others who say that not one-tentl' as
much liquor is sold now as before the en-
actment of the Maine LAWN other words
that ten times as much liquor was sold be-
lore the law as now. II that is so-if ten
times as much liquor was sold before The
law as now then there must have been
ten times as mucl, drank, and, consequently
ten times as much drunkenness. How
much drunkenness was there in Maine IN
1878? Get that fact and you have the
data to show the amount of drunkenness
before the Maine law. The report of the
inspectors of the State Prison shows thai
for the year ending Nov. 30Ih, 1873, ilerr
we e il, Maine II ,S0S arrests for drunken
ness. Now, suppose that every man who
rot drunk in Maine in 1873 was arrested
Then. according to Mr.. Perham and others,
as there was ten times as much drunken
ness before the Maine law there must have
been then ten times II .S08, making 49,
OSO drunks each year before the Maine law
This would allow a drunk to every man,
ministers not excepted, who voted for Gov
ernor in 1S50-S0 6G5-and still leave 9S,
$50 to lie accounted for. The statement Of
Mr. Perham and others proves too much.
LIQUOR SELLING AND LOU DR. DRINKING.
Another observation. Mr.. Nye, in his
Constahulary report for the year ending
1867 saws: "It is estimated on reli'l''e au.
rloritv that. in 1866. more than 81 800.
600 were p,id for liquors brought INTO This
State" The ProlI,itory law was IN Il"
lo,ce that year. !. had been for welI-''g''
len unbroken years. Mr.. Nye further says
More than 5000 PERSONS in this State
we're engaged in Ihc illegal sale of intoxichi.
ipa liquors in 1866" Yet Neal Dow and
Others had already been proclaimlng the
"wonderful success" Of the Prohihitory law
for fifteen wears. What evidence il there
to show that matters have mendcd since
1866. or in fact at all sin tie birth Of the
H. oavy IaQV