Los Angeles daily herald., 1874-07-15
LETTER FROM GALLATIN.
water and Whisky-Local 0stiOn-Onc
way TO Suppress HnteEnperancc.

"Uy w SuVPFtSs peEhEttcs
EDITOR HERALD: - All quiet, no
fights, weddings, cholera or sma'
pox, not even n drunk for Il week.
Crops are looking fine, and bid fair
for an abundant harvest. The or, u
cry among the farmers at present is
water, water! water!! notwithstand-
ing there is more water III the rivers
this year than usual; but for the want
Of some system of regulating our irr:-
eating bitches, some men get all Il G
water, while others get none. Our
Legislature passed an Act, at its last
session, to regulate irrigation in por-
ton of this county, which is inst
about as incomprehensible as hoop
with neither head nor tail, side, end or
bottom, leaving all the discretion in
the hands of the people, and at the
same time denying a portion of our
citizens the constitutional right of
suffrage in all questions submitted to
the people for their votes.
LOCAL OPTION
Is the all-absorbing topic at present,
and we'll it should be, for it is set
tied fact that the Incorporate use Of
Intoxicating drinks is a growing evil.
The question of how can this evil be
abated is one which is worthy the at
tention of every one who has the in
terest of the community at large at
heart. But the question that suggests
itself to our mind is legislative, pro-
hibitory, restrictive or coercive laws,
the best means of accomplishing the
desired end, we think. Take the his
tory of the past thirty years of those
States that have been experimenting
in prohibitory whisky laws, and you
will find that the incorporate use of
liquors has steadily increased in a
greater proportion in those places,
than in places where they have either
had free trade or license to RETAIL at
the time of the passage of the first
Maine liquor law King Bacchus was
but an infant, wrapped in his swad-
ling clothes, that no person either
feared or dreaded, except the descend
ants of Blue Law making families of
New England, and through their per-
secutions of the young child he was
fed with the invigOrating nourishment
of the principles of a free government,
and on that the child has grown to b.
a mighty king, power in the land
We do not charge upon all the advo-
Gates of Local Option as wishing or
desiring to do wrong. They are
honest in their intentions for good,
but they are greatly mistaken in the
effect that will be produced by the
adoption of that and all other prohib-
-itory whisky laws. History and the
statistics of the world will furnish
abundant proof thatin countries where
they have no prohibtory laws, intoX-
ication and confirmed drunkards are
less frequent than in any of those
countries where they have prohibitory
laws. AS we have shown that the
child was taken in infancy and has
grown strong and robust under perse-
cution, we suggest a plan that we be-
lieve, if properly carried out, will in
few years starve him, with all OF his
armies, without the loss of single
man. First, we would repeal all laws
requiring duties, licenses, revenues or
taxes on Intoxicating liquors of all
kinds or nature whatever-let it be a.
near free as water as possible. Al d
what would be the result. 1t would
be so cheap that men could not afford
to traffic in it. Instead of having one
hundred and fifty groceries in your
city, you would probably have one or
two. And the millions of dollars
now invested in the traffic would he
used in building railroads and other
beneficial investments that would tend
to develop the country and make 1T
desirable place to live and rear fam
lily. We verify believe that if the
water that runs in your beautiful river
of Los Angeles was changed into good,
pure whisky, and as free as the water
is now, there would not be as much of
it drank daily as there is at present in
your saloons. 1t is Ii Ike any other ar
tcle of merchandise. Take, for in
stance, the article of calico or muslin.
When it is down to eight or ten cents
rer yard, merchants do not care to
deal in it, because there is no profit to
be made. But put it up to twenty
five or thirty cents per yard, and
they do not care to sell anything else,
because of the profit; and so through
the whole catalogue of articles of mer-
chandise. But, says one, your plan
cannot be put in operation for the
reason of the immense revenues
FROM DUTIES ON LIQ UoRs
TO the Government. That may be
true; but that is no argument against
the theory of the plan, and we only
have to say that if government has
to resort to the perpetration of intoler-
able misery on its people in order to
raise money, the sooner it is revolu-
tionized the better. We are of the
opinion that legislatures of States have
Experimental long enough with those
rrOhihitOry liuuOr laws in many cases
FOR popularity among the descendants
of that family before referred to. 1t is
becoming monotonous, and has ever
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