The Idaho world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1864-1918, 1874-12-05
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:. .,.r,. nov 10 b nosted qsestaon w
,.nv whether prohibits acssany pro-
-. -. and MA Of intsxicating drinks leey
-. that because the drinking csston he N
$1,000 in Maine since The passage OF me ha-
.or l,v in 1851, prohibitory laws are an e.
--....;.,, If the evil Of drunkenness instead Of
= remedy f.~ il Prohibition h N exper'"ea'
;,,,oauced into the country By reformers 10 VIC
natter Of strong drink, and it u proper ma
,;.ht that its operation and effects should %
carefully watched and reported for the iu'"fe
Guidance Of those concerned in the aoa'e"e''
Of the gigantic curse which the law was ~
tended 10 bring under control. Ii It can o
shown that the prohibit"ry laws are aeauA"'
f.;u,s a. the friends Of the liquor trafhe' ana
their hired servant, DR.. Dio Lewis. preseod
,har .re let them be repealed. and osnef
means tried. and the sooser the better. But I'm
,o;ng to Maine to gather statistics BY when :"
condemn prohibition gentlemen forget the TO
Al causes, both for the increase OF druo3eone"
,h.,e and in the whole country, since ieoi'
and of the greater number OF arre''. "'
a,,n.e.ne.. in that State and elsewhere.
wherever stringent anti liquor laws are in force.
and where they are not. When man i 'ou"'
:, =, ;oebr;ated condition in Maine, or IN BIOS
too Massachusetts,, il is the duty Of the omeer
n arrest him whether he is otherwise misoe-
having himself or not; but where there no
.u.h Law in force arrests are usually deferred
until a crime has been committed, and then INC
.-,e., {. M. made for drunkenness. ~ in Maine
hut for the crime committed. For instance
A ia arrested in Boston for being drunk ano
on the same day 10 arrested in Chicago 'or
an assault with a deadly weapon: oo'h are
drunk. but the Boston officer arrests A. before
bis insanity has eliminated in crime As II sure
IL ,rould have done. il he had been permitted
n run at l.rse; be is charged with drunken
s.. the Chicago officer waits until B. has
committed assault, and it may be murder
and then arrests him and charges him Win the
crime. which in bis case also would NOT nave
h.eo committed il he had been arrested an
hour previously. on charge OF being or"nA'
a be should have been. So the strained c"m-
harrison derived from the records OF ponce
courts falls to the ground Of itself.
The causes for the increase Ut the drinking
habit. since 1851, not alone in Maine. but all
over the country. are two-fhe discovery Of
gold in California, and the excitement and H.
eentiousness consequent thereon. and the gener-
al upheava al of society accustomed BY the civil war
Thousands and tens OF thousands Of men who
had never tasted liquor of any kind IN their
lives. allured FROM home, its associations and
restraints, By the unprecedented excitement OF
lSl9, so. 81 and -. forgot all respect. love.
reverence. everyt thing they had been wont to
cherish. and swelling the great wave OF hu
nani,y. which sweeping over mountain and
sea, inundated California and the Pacific coast.
naturally. perhaps from physiological causes.
drank Just as the crowd did. Familiarity with
the vice soon raised it to the dignity OF custom,
and men who had all their lives abhorr-d it and
Stunned the company ofthose who INDUCED 10 il
became confirmed tpers and then drunkards.
The custom thus established spread 10 and
over the Atlantic States. taking stronger bold
4 in the cities than in the country, as more Re-
turned Californians sought homes in the towns
and cities, and temptations were more frequent
IIy met than in the country until the outbreak
r. L. al ,ha,. hrn
ken up; young men again sent out by hundreds
of thousands, under no more restraint Of Law
nor Of moral influences than are the savages
of BorneO, and our country is transformed int
a huge ginmill and our government is engaged
In trafficing in the evil passions, misery and
degradation Of ito citizens. These-the ban
ishmeut OF the young from home aud its rein
T ing and saving influences, and the sudden ~
Z bridling Of the licentious passions Of grea
multitudes Of men-are the causes which have
led to the deplorab)e practice Of drinking now
so prevalent everywhere. and not the enact
: ment Of prohlbitory laws. Al well might VI
) contend that murder and perjury being more
frequent now than twenty-five years ago. the,
: are increased BY operation Of the law forbid
: ding them. In both cases the -enforcemen
Z of the law and not the law itself accounts fo
: it, inedectiveness. When honest. sober officer
: shall honestly enforce the law. ~ they viii d
1 sometime then, the result will be . very sud
den and marked diminution Of crime. w,
: think prohibition prohibits; and we think, too
T that statistics COLLECTED and arranoeA wifi