Holmes County Republican. [volume] (Millersburg, Holmes Co., O. [Ohio]) 1870-1895, 1874-05-21
WHAT is THE LAW.
Legal Aspect of the Temper
ance Movement.


The following article from the Gin
cinnati Go=ette was published i'm the RI
PUBLICAN three weeks ago. We re
publish it this week by request.
There are several aspects of the TEN
perance movement, entirely listinc
from what is called the "woman'
movement" and that may be carrie,
on TO any extent and yet leave othe
great questions to be settled by society
OF course the first great political ques
ton is what part the law ought to take
If we suppose all drinking shops to b
abated OIL any one day or year, the!
might arise again.
A controversy of this sort is perpet.
ual in every sense in its very nature
Society must, in the end, determine
whether it will interfere ut all by law
and if it does, in what way. The law
not only does interfere, but has done 81
for many years. Not only that but i
interferes in some way stringently and
severely. That point is settled. But
there remains open (and upon which
there are various opiIiions) the question
in what way shall the law interfere
There is large party OF Prohibitions
and that party is increasing. Then
there is a party of licensists, who think
the best way to regulate or prevent the
drinking-shops is to encourage the great
ones and kill the small ones. That is
by putting the license so high that the
rich ones can pay for it and the small
ones can mott This process will be very
much like Il man who undertook to
drive off serpents by killing the garter
snakes and leaving the rattlesnakes and
other vipers to go at large. Ithas been
tried in Cincinnati in all possible way,
and the history of it can be found in
the files of the newspapers. The coun-
ell used to license grog-shops, and they
tried it high and low, with no percept-
ible change in the state of affairs. Bat
there was one..good came of it. As the
chief business of the grop-shops is to
pauperism and crime, the
city got revenue to support the paul.
pers and punish the criminals. But in
was not diminished by
drinking in lager and beer houses. The
WashingtOnian movement did more
good than all attempts to regulate
drinking. If the municipal govern
ment wishes, as the United States gov
does, to raise certain amount
,f revenue, the more it taxes whisky
and tobacco the better. They are the
proper subjects Of taxation. But what
10 you mean by licensing them? Have
you any right to make drunkenness
and then license it: Ii is a
of terms. The reason, as
we'll as all moral principle, reyolts
against it. TO license Il house to make
is precisely the same as to
license house of ill-fame. The OBJ
ects and results Of both are criminal.
I on cannot find saloon in the ceun-
Try which is not selling liquor to a
lrunkard If man merely manufac-
,ures whisky, or sells it to men who are
not drunkards, it is lawful business.
This is what they assumed when they
began their ridiculous application for
njunctiOns, one of the most absurd
things ever undertaken by the legal
profession. 10 understand this, let us
see what the law is, and how it works.
l. Drunkenness is criminal by the
law and every man who contributes to
make drunkard is liable for his o,on
support. This seems to be forgotten,
and the Directors of the infirmary can
sue any liquor sellers who, by selling
liquor to the paupers, contributed to
make them so. Perhaps by going into
an investigation they may get fund.
2. Any liquor seller who. by selling
lrams, has made, or aided in making
is liable, not as some suppose
only to the wife and children of the
but to the employer. In one
word, any one interested In the labor of
the drunkard can sue for the loss of the
labor Of his employe.
3. The liquor sellers are liable for
selling to a minor and can be indicted
for it
4. 1t is unlawful to sell Oh Sunday,
and they can be indicted for that.
5. All gambling is criminal, even to
ten pin alleys, and the drinking houses
can be indicted for permitting it in any
form.
Now, how many drinking shops in
Ohio, are not violating that statute :?
How many can be found who are not
the criminal laws:
The TACT is, there is not one i'm five
which is not liable to be indicted or to
damages for making drunkards. This
is the law; and does it not present a
beautiful foundation for an Injunction
against the women? An injunction as
every lawyer knows, is simply to pre-
vent something, which, if done, would
cause irreparable damages. Isn't it
beautiful to ask an INDUCTION against ir-
damages to saloon keeper :?
But such suits do good. They make
the people look into the law, they rouse
the public sentiment, and they lead to
clearer and more enlightened views OF
what ought to be done, and what may
be eflectual. IL may be, and
we believe it is, impossible TO Danish
unnatural excitement, and more than
that, all the depravity from the human
heart. Moreover, we would not be hard
upon the intemperate, The greater por-
tion Of them would be glad enough to
escape from their tolls. Nor. would we
be hard upon the saloon keepers. y
great many Of them are simply endeav-
oring to support their family in what is
a common, and they suppose, lawful
occupation. The law of love, there
fore, requires that we should not visit
altogether, upon them or their victims,
the evil and the crimes which society
deliberately permits. All! society
What crimes has it to answer forr You
and |, my leaders, make society, and
can we escape from the responsibility
of all the evils, and the crimes, and tho
wrongs which have accompanied In
temperance? Perhaps we can say W,
N