The Richmond palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1855-1875, 1875-02-03

behesss Of the whisky power fail 10
| Iexecute the Law. VIII ycu be iooiish
enough to repeal it, ONiil you not
set the wiser part Of assis ting 10 ELECT
persons to Office who will exeeuse the
law and assist in Strengthening the
defective points
|, What injustice er oppression IS
there In this local option principle
that IL should be thus assslied In
the Declaration of Independence the
great primary principle of American
government is set forth in these
words hold these truths 70 be
self-eyident-that all men are created
equal, that they are endowed by their
I Creator with certain inaliena bic
rights; that among these are life. lib
! cry, and the pursuit of happiness;
that to secure these rights govern
ments are Instituted among men, de-
irving their just powers from the con-
sent of the governed" Thus recog-
MIXING the grand central idea Of a
republic, that the people shall decide
what In their government they deem
! best adapted to promote their safety
and happiness. Why not apply this
principle of popular sovereignty to
| the people, instead of the County
Commissioners or Auditor IN granting
license TO sell that which is so inimleat
to the public god? Who Is so com
petent to pass. on this question as
| those who are most Immediately at
! fected by the sale or nsaie of
| liquor? 81
IF the sale of intoxicants will pro-
mote the welfare. effect the happiness
land decrease the burdens of any com
munity, will not they know it as well
as any one else in the county or State?
If. on the other hand, such traffic Is
| injurious to their interests, interfercs
with security TO their lives, liberty or
happiness. which they have the ina
/ lienable right to demand, who shall
dare to SAL those persons shall not
express their condemnation of the
traffic, and refuse 10 sign petitions
thereafter? But, it may be asked,
why apply this principle to the sale of
| intoxicating liquors alone? Why not
apply the same rule -4s
TO OTHER KINDS OF BUSINESS :,
/ answer, because all the ordinary
| business OF life is sustained and con-
Quoted under the provisions of com
mon law. In our State any one can
follow whatever pursuit he pleases,
provided he does not interfere with
| the rights of others. But the very
| moment he does that the common law
steps in to restrain and debar him.
At no time in the history of the Uni
ted States has liquor selling at retail
| been treated as common law traffic.
1t has always been the creature of
statutory law, because the experience
has shown that the traffic in alcoholics
| as beverage Is q curse to the drunk
ard, curse to the State, and cense-
quently no State can afford to give
this business the freedom which is
granted to other trades.
And what, / ask, can be more in
accordance with the genius of re-
publican form of government, than to
allow the people to determine for
themselves directly whether the traf-
fc in intoxicants shall or shall not be
licensed in their midst? This is ear
rying out the great principle so ably
advocated by the gallant and eloquent
Douglass, that of popular sovereign
ty." Local option virtually declares
that if the people want licensed sa-
looms in their midst they may SO elect.
If, however, they do not want them
system than this can be devised passes
4
construct general system of license
that will adapt itself to popular feeling
half so well? Certainly not! A gem
eral system of license must in hun
dreds of cases overbear the popular
will, and thereby become oppressive |
and unjust Wherever it does, that
locality is governed not by its own
votes, but by those of other counties
and townships which have no right to
meddle with 1t. An act of the legisla- |
ture is passed by fifty-on votes in the
House and twenty-slx in the Senate. |
Now, if the requisite number of rep
resentatIyes and senator's decide that !
liquor selling shall be licensed for |
500 or $500 a year, that decision |
makes it legal in townships and coun-
ties that don't want it. just as fully as |
those who do. Hence any man who |
chooses to pay the license fee can sell |
anywhere in spite of the people. even |
if he be the only man In the township |
that favors the traffic. A majority of |
Fifty to one is just as powerless to pro-
tect itself from what it esteems great |
evil, as a majority of one in fifty or |
500. So the popular will is forced to |
yield to a general, unbending, unac-
commodatine Law. Surely not hing can |
be further removed from pure demo |
cratic principles. Of government than
this. What tempest of opposition
would there be all through this State |
it the legislature were to pass a law
empowering the county commission |
ers to appoint even road inspector, |
without first having the consent of a |
majority of the voters in the road dis i
trict And yet of how much more i'm
portance is ii to the we'll being of so
ciety that the people should have the
right to decide bya majority in refer
ence to the granting of license in their
neighborhood? Again, a license sys
TEN being established by law may be
the work of . bare majority of the
two Houses-hfty- one members of the
lower, twenty->ix in the upper House. 1
These are furnished by forty-one out
of ninety two counties. A majority of /
one Is. elected by Minority of ten of I
the counties, o majority OF the other /
by minority of~tKenty of the coun- /
ties.x This is the effect Of the differ /
ence in population. Marion county in /
connection with Morgan elects three
Senators. and in conneeion with Shell +
by elects Eve Representatives, making
her equal in legislative power to Ben
ton Newton. Jasper. White. Mar t
shall. Fulton. Pulaski, * osciusko and I
Whitley in the Senate. and equal in |.
the House to Jasper. White, Craw- /
ford. Orange Martin. Dubois. Brown. /
Bartholomew, Fulton, Pulaski and /
Starke. She equals nine counties Ia /