The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1875-08-12
For Governor,
CHARLES W. ROBERTS,
The Prohibitory Liquor Law.


hybrid liquor law of the state a ,Janu:
faced enactment that can be either "pro
hibition" or permission" as the cXigen
cies of their party require - are mucl
! troubled by the unpalatabe truths tina
are being told concerning it. They see
that after a half century of trial it has
produced nothing bet wrangling. hypoc
risy, deceit, fraud, and even bloodshed
that other states which hastily adopte,
the prohhitory idea are repudi;tting i
and returning to license; and that Their,
is \ strong inclination in Maine to dc
likewise. Seeing this tendency, they en-
deavor to turn the tide of public opinion
| by cutlery against those who are exposing
the hypocrisy of the present law and its
supporters. Among these props Of the
Maine law is the Rockland Gazette. which
comments upon the. position of this paper
1t sans
The Republican Journal says the great diff
| Guilty about the prohbitory law is It's utter in
L
standing the large amount of rtmselling that i,
carried on in spite of the law, to say that ii il
| utterly inefficient shows cool ettrontery in
setting aside the facts as to what has been ac
complished by ii. The prohibitory law has no
| stopped rum>elng, but it has outlawed the
rum traffic; it has SET the seal Of disgrace upol
| all engaged in it; il has contScatcd and de
! >troyed many thousands of gallons of liquors
it has recovered many thous lndS of dollars in
| fines, and sent ruln-Sellers to Jail in many in
| stances.
And in spite OF all this liquor selling
still llourishes. There are forty or fifty
places in Rockland where liquor is sold
there are thirty in Belfast, and in the same
proportion in nearly every city or large
! town in the state. And all this in spite
of the pains and penalties named The
destruction Of liquors. the fines. and the
| imprisonment are the price which the
seller pays for his license. Under a Ii
cense law he would pay a fixed sum--say
| $500. Under the so called prohibitory
law he may pay that amount or he may
pay nothing He runs his chance, anC
| thus the law puts an element Of gambling
/ into the business But he sells liquor Just
the same. 1t is by these undeniabie facts
that we prove the utter inetliciency Of the
law The more coniiscations fines, and
imprisonments can be shown, the better
will our position be sustained that the
prohibitory law is utterly inefficient
The Gazette SAYS the law has outlaWed
and made disgracelul the traffic. SO fan
as that law can do it, this is true. The
| tendency is to drive decent and respect
able men ont Of the business, and to leave
it to outlaws And when this is done,
the same papers that uphold the law will
turn around and complain of the brutality
of rumsellers. There is in Maine class
Of men, generally highly respectable, who
keep public houses. They have constant
| lY for guests people from this and other
| states, who are accustomed to the use of
malt liquors, wines, and spirits in moder-
alton Doubtless it would be better for
these people if they did not use them
but the prohibtory law does not deal
with the drinler, but only with the seller.
If the taverner supplies this want he be
| comes, in the ethics of the prohibitory law
and the Gazette, outlawed and disgraced
Ii the want be not supplied by the keepers
Of public houses, the guests trave! with
their luggage furnished with certain pack
ages that do supply it. How much more
is accomplished in the interest of absti-
ncnce or ever sobriety by such u law,
than would come from a license law like
that recently adopted by Massachusetts !?
Passing over one or two points of no
Importance or force, we come to the CON
ciuslon Of the Gazelte's article, thus
Finally, the issue joined against the prohibi-
tory lazy is not the question whether that law
Is the best means Of suppressing the liquor
traffic, but 1t Is II question us to whether the
liquor-tra1ic ought to be made utterly odious
and to be suppressed. The cry of "hvpocrit-
cal law" against the Maine Law is itself hypo-
critical, because the thing sought by the oppo-
nents of the law is not better way to suppress
The rum traffic, but Il system TO egalZe il and
make it respectable. If Gen. Roberts means
ANYTHING when he says the prohibitory law is
putting a prohibition upon rumsellng in any
city dcpriNes its merchants Of the custom Of
those who Will only go where rum is free, and
depriVes those who would make money bv
making, buying, and selling liquor, al whole
sale or retail, of the desired profits of their
devillsh business.
We make issue not only against the law
as being inefficient, but against the sup
porters OF the law as being hypocritical
and dishonest. They work not in the in
terest of temperance, but of political
party. They are for prohibition when
party interest demands it - they are for
free rum when that will better advance
their party ends, Prosecutions are made
OF omitted to be made, as either course
VIII best influence Or compel voters.
The Gazette speaks of 'the profits of
the devillsh business Now
any one would think that paper making
such Il declaration would in no manner
countenance OF support party that was
openly for liquor license in state of ma
tional affairs But it does The Repub-
lican party, that administers the affairs of
the national government, permits numer-
Gus whiskey distilleries all over the coun-
try to carry on ''their dcvIish business
Tor the sum of seventy cents per gallon
1t makes fifty millions of dollars year in
this devilish way. That money goes to
pay the salaries of good Republican Off
Gals in Maine and elsewhere-men who