The comet. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1877-1882, 1880-11-13
THE NEW Liquor LAW AND THE
TEMPERANCE MEN.
a Lueid Explanation fron captain
Lawyer.


EnIToRs CoHIAHAN. The commu
nication of yom worthy temneranc
chamnIon. Dr. Rowan. In vo,ir iss,l
of the 9th struck the kew note of
inst temnerance moyemsnt In hi
nesution abont the mint law and /
deserves an answer and an oninion
irresnectiye of his sly VIII at The q nru
Jenc,.u of the legal profession. As /,
thnt however. Il will generally b,
fnuud that LAWYERS MS n class fled nm,
induced TO il by their studies( are pc
culiarly conservative, and while it i
not intended as Il boast, il will also b,
generally found that their "prudence'
Is simply SYNONYMOUS with their wis
dom.
1t can be stated as a proposilior
which hardly needs demonstration
that the pint liquor law, as at present
interpreted by State officials and re-
ceived by the people, is altogether the
most deleterous law to morals. re i.
pion and to the conservation of the
peace of society, that ever burdened
the statute books of the state. Why!
Because while the people, for whose
benefit and safety all laws should be
made, can, when they will, control,
restrain or destroy the vocation of the
retail saloon keeper, have, under the
accented INTERPRETATION as to the pint
law, no word in the matter. Every
village. every crossroads. every bridge
CROSSING i'm Mississippi. can become a
retail pint liquor shop upon the pay
ment by the dealers of one hundred dol
lars each into the States revenue. No
questions to be asked as TO the character
of the applicant, he may be Il tramp
from anywhere no bond he may be
utterly unknown to the neighborhood
where he proposes to establish his
" lawfulu calling: he NAV have no
house or shop-in fact, his stock in
trade may be a back shed at the cross
roads, barrel of whiskey, gross of
PITT bottles, an official license stuck to
a tree, and there we have the Pint
LIQUOR Seller in all the responsibility
and dignity that codifying, legislative
and alcoholic authority can confer,
plying his "lawfuW calling in full
blast! Great is Revenue! and Alco-
hol is his Prophet!
1t is equally demonstrate that the
Legislature never intended to and did
not pa,s any such pint law The
original act as INCORPORATED into the
New Code by the distinguished codi-
fer, it is understood, left the matter in
doubt and a probable subject of con-
tention; but the law makers, fortu-
natefy, are urr rrrurrit It's t1- t the scope
and Interpretation to be given this
law. Without this positive indica-
ton, however, to hold that the peop'e
of the towns and supervisors districts
have it in their power only to control
the saloon Iiouor sellers as retailers,
around whom all necessary restric-
tions land very stringent ones at that
are thrown, and that the pint retailers
for they are only that are at full
liberty to debauch the people at will
as wholesale dealers. is. as the law
now appears i'm the New Code. such a
neryersion of terms. such n want of
the knowledge of the meaning of
English words. such an outrage on
good morals and popular rights, as
can not for moment stand, even
with judicial commentator.
An Opinion ON the mint law by n
lowvar from, tho unnar nort of fba
St";Io 10 nnrt,;,I,, IdIoIl,, fnnd r,o,,,
'o'",o - eol ..'i'tJ "nu
hl'ttically coilScu, as Ile IA" 10 no"
puOllshed; ana IL Is the lntenClon Oh
this article only to sustain that opin-
ion by an examination of the Jegisla-
tive record. Let MS then look Mt the
n,ottar i'm tha I;ubt of T,nnialot;vo in
tt " ~ W i'it'
.ci.io", "hloh eiiouiu ooh'ioi VIC
JUDICIARY III any event.
On Monday, February IL, HSSO, the
the Code committee of the House pre-
scented chapter "A as reported by Code
commissioner
Mf. featl1erstoll offered the lol-
owing aimeiiuiilellt: amend ny strik-
ing out al I'lat parC Oh the Dlli WHEN
authorizes Il license 10 oe granted 10
mint To five oaIIons.u
This omandnant wos odnnt.d do
,+na,.i,,o H. ,,;,,t I.',,, i,,, ,,oos 20 n,,,s
80 ms w. Pm ~" -! S 20 ~ "''
of, upseilC anu iloC Young -.
The next action on the bill Is III the
Senate on February 18th, as follows
mn ..,,,;1.,,a., :, .,o,,,,,,,..,, %
. ne oen1u . p 14nI,ofi IL ~ eon i VI
thc NIoic' VT. pr ciie'I IN tnG cii'li, cn"P,
spirituous liquors. After some time spent
therein, the committee rose reported the
plli PACK Wllhout recolilhlenuatloh.
Ill, housG nmeiinin i 70 tnio par VI Itc
sell in mImtities from one mini r. five aaI,
Ions. was not coMcurreI III.
"Mr. Reynold offered the following reso-
, ,h n'cn VIZ "uoi,leu mesotnu" ~, y!
Id,, o,'ti r dL,,ios' 81 ~ ,n"o
49,, Pta;Ii,,t ~ ,in, 10" 4" ,,i,;t
,nI, i,,n,g Io 10 III
,,t iolS Inn 10 o,IInns md rnt Iois In
one pint, that the Code chapter Oh this sub
ect be adopted, with this amendment"
Inc next actlOn was by the House
Oh February 23d and 24th. After
from its amendment, killing
the mint law. if reconsidered ON the
)Itb nc folIowS
"The motion of Mr.. Andrews to recon-
,ider the vote whereby the House receded
lrovidm% for license 70 sri1 in auontities
not less than one mint. or more than i've
gallons, was considered the House re-
considered by Il vote of 40 to 4G, and on
notion OF Mr., MCGEE, of Clark, the House
Insisted upon us a9enulhent' ana asked lor
'o'''"i''''' VI 'o"ieiei'o''
On the 9th of February, the Senate
agreed to the request of the House for
A committee of conference on chapter
II. And on the ID day of March the
action was had i'm the House.