The Weekly Kansas chief. [volume] (Troy, Kan.) 1872-1918, 1880-05-06
Prohibition.

|
bitiou people are tremendous on statistics.
They will pile mp statistics mountain high, to
prove every phase of their case, but their stats
ties manufactured to or,ler and cannot he
| found in any official or reliable form. A murder
committed here and there by a drunken man,
they will harp week after week, AMI assert
that whisLey ses nine trnths of all the dea ih,
desolation and misery in the world. Acycione
may kill hundreds ia an hour; falling wall
may crush scores; an explosion may slaughter
dozens-snch calamities, which cannot be avoid
ed. by human foresight, but are attributed to
the had of the Almighty, for no known cause or
provocation, produce a thousand deaths to whis-
keys one. Religious hypocrtes aud preachers
of temperance may seduce and murder by whole
sale--and one of this sort of murders can he
found for every whiskey mnrder-but that goes
for nothing. The only way 10 reform the world
is to prohibit the sale of liquor. Experience
has proven that prohibition cannot be enforced
by the most stringent laws that man can enact.
The only wise and practical policy is to enact
stringent license laws, that can be enforced.
Make liquor dealers contribute largely TO the
public revenue, and hold the traffic under strin-
gent regulations. 1t is claimed that those laws
now on the books cannot be enforced. That is
a confession that men cannot be prevented by
law from drinking. 1t will he ten-fold harder
to enforce q prohibitory law than q reasonable
license law.
An exchange gives this true picture of the
situation in Maine, where they have tried pro-
varions sources goes to prove exactly the same
thing:-
The NEW MAINE LAw-The new Maine law which
has just been passed by the Legislature Of that STATE
is curiosity in its way, showing to what extrav-
agaDt and impotent extremes fanatcism can be car
ried.
of this absurd enactment, the Chicago Times says !:
Year by year the prohibitory Law in Maine has been
made more stringent, and year by year drnnkenness
and the liquor traffic iH Maine hare increased This
practically is confessed by the passage of new law
the present session of the Legislature This law
not be enforced 1t is largely sumptuary, inter
fering grossly with personal liberty.
The folly of the successive failures at prohibition
in Maine will not be admitted by the fanatica people
who control legislation in this regard and the sorry
farce will continue to be played until common sense
gains the ascendant"
In illustrating the folly of this and like legislation
the Boston Adrerfiser, paper which is spoken OF
everywhere being certainly the reverse OF senti-
mental upon questions of the rights of liquor dealers
says The police court reports of men arrested for
being drunk show that the most stringent liquor law
passed is Intellectual and the long list of young
in the cities of Maine who are going TO the bad
in consequence of mad drinking tells the story
As long reliance is placed upon increasing the
strngency of laws too strict TO be enforced the story
will continue to be told"
But, say the Prohibitonists, that is only as
sertion. There are no statistics or authentic
facts here. The facts are as good as any of the
assertions of the Prohbitionists. But let us
pass that by, and come down to real statistics.
This anti License question has been agitating
Illinois, as well as Kansas and there, as well as
here, every man who cannot see the practicable
ity of prohibition, although he may have lived a
sober man all his life, is stigmatized as "whis
keyite." r. P. Porter, an able statistician of
that State, publishes communication in the
Chicago Inter Ocean, in which he ives live sta
tistics from the official books, showing the re-
suit of prohibition where It has been tried, and
where it is sought to be enforced by the most
stringent laws. He also gives those righteous
people a deserv ed "dab," who ready to
cry "whiskeyite" against those who look at
the question differently from themselves. We
herewith print his article:
1t is with feelings of little temerity that ap-
proach the temperance question. 1t is an old subject
and one in which statistics do not count much. The
Prohibtionists usually appeal to the heart and too
often the license people TO the pocket don't know
but the former is the safest guide, and do know
that IL could he convinced that prohibition would
stem the current of crime, misery and pauperism
that swiftly follow drunkenness, would, to-day en-
roll myself steady worker in the cause. But in the
absence of facts demonstrating this TO be true, and
in the presence of facts showing il TO be false, there
is but ore course left. The freshest and most vau
able facts in regard to this question have just
to hand, and are presented below.
FACTS THAT COUNT.
In 1874 when Massachusetts had a prohibtOry
liquor law, there 364i Judgements rendered by
q he on
in 1877 under lcenese there were l,6s3. In 1874,
under prohibition there "a 9Sl arrests for drunk
enness in 1877 under license there were only ll s2
So much for Massachusetts,. have just received the
annual report of the License Commissioners of Prov
dence made TO the General Assembly of the State of
Rhode Island, January, 1880. This commission has
existed since 1875. aud during this time has collected
in fees for selling in Providence no less than 500 SOL
23 Whatever may be the cause, il is none the less
fact that since the enactment of the present law for
the regulation of the sale of intoxicating liquors. the
arrests for drunkenness aud reveling in that city
have been steadily decreasing During the year
closing with July |, 1872 the arrests for the above
offenses were nearly half less than they were in
the year Immediately preceding the passage of the
license law. During the year closing with june,
1879 the for the above oense were 800 less
than they were the year before.
From July I, 1874 to July ], 1873 the arrests for
Sepce were 5,,el
The arrests for the same ofenses in the city from
July 1, ISIS, to July I, 1879 were 1881
Decrease aoO
From July l. Is77, to July I, 1873 arrests made
for drunkenness and reveling i2se
From July l, ISIS, to July l. 1873 arrests for the
ofenses 1881