The Hartford herald., 1880-07-14
Why DO We DO 10:

Do what: Legdii=e tie machinery
That makes ciin'indis and punish Mem.
We certainly do this when We give :,
legal sanction to that which produces
nine-tenths of the crimes punished by
our laws. We license bars, saloons and
tippling hOrises-those hot-be,ls of vice
and crime-and then punish men for
dong the things which are only com
mon results of what we say, by our Ii
cense, is right and proper. Now there
is something wrong in this presentation
of the ease, or in our practice. Which
is il? Ii is certainly not incorrect Ia
say that the whisky traffic is the cause
of vast majority of the crimes our
laws have To handle. This will he all
mitted hy every one who will take the
trouble To look into it. What then
Is il contended that, while we recog-
niZe the whisky traffic as the source OF
very many and grave crimes ~ a great
evil-that we have no right to put il
down: That we have no right la leg
islatc upon mems appetites: That, il
IA man wants to make a brute of him
self, we have no right To hinder him
from doing So. IL we are not rightfully
to legislate upon the moral or physical
appetites of men, there is very little
upon which we can rightfully legislate.
We have laws against profanity; and
surely Il man has as much right To use
the air lac breathes as he pleases, as he
has To thus Use the distilled essence ol
corn. But if it he said that profanity
is Il moral question, il may he said in
reply that the moral side of the whisky
question is tina. which makes legislation
upon il so necessary. If the man only
got drunk and squandered his time and
means, thus impoverishing himself and
family, though great evil, 1t would
not he sO bad. But he demOraliZes his
own chillren;makes them moral wrecks
and vagabonds, Injuries his neighbOr's
property and person, and society gener-
ally.
If we have the right, by legislation, to
restrain or centraliZe the inclinatiOns
or desires of men for the promotion OF
general welfare, and this principle is
the basis of all correct legislation, why
not do SO i'm regard to the whisky evil
There are, perhaps, several reasons why
we have not done so.
First, we have never arisen, in our
conceptions, to the magnitude of the
evil, physical and moral, and the enor-
nous pecuniary burden that the whisky y
traffic brings upon us. Consequently
we are making but little effort none in
the right directiOn) to restrain those
men who are enriching themselves at
the expense of the moral and physical
degradation of their patrons directly,
and the country indirectly.
In the second place, We have never
felt the necessity of electing sober men
to Office. And while we have thu
offices, from the highest to the lowest
filled by men, who, if they do not gel
drunk, in the common acceptation o
that term, love whisky and use it, W,
will have bar-rOOms and saloons licensed
and protected. Now, it does seem that
our course upon this subject is inconsis
tent. 1t seems that we are uphOldins
the g-hOuses-making its busi
ness legal-and holding it criminal t.
do what all know the tippler will do
If it would be wrong to repeal our laws
violated by drunk men, or to eNemp
drunk men from their penalties, We
should stop the machinery that makes
them. Whenever we take II proper
view of this subject We will do the latter
AMICUs.