The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1881-03-03
The Seventeen Surge.

Back wOOi>y, aud IN advanced vi
~, Maine. Vermont, Yves;
/ rgin.4. A,ku.sls, tie, lead III it.
Ouiy asa matter OF news, we collatc
,i.e acton Of tine States : far a known
to IL Arb mas. on Washington
birthday, a resolution in favor Of a con
s;itutionai Amendment Prohibiting the
- c 0! liquor passed the House by -
to l.. Il has GDt yet come before the
Senate. Ia Aiabama. on the 10th, a
i riiar resolution passed tie House and
vi pa, the Senate. - III Vermont. the
prohibityry laws enacted many years ago,
with the amendments added II >abse
aIeut sessions it i claimed nave been
made iroucidd By the enactment oy the
recent Legislature Of two laws, nova
a, the Nuisance at aud the 'RGm-
sellers Pension bill The first Of
these. combined with the previous leg
isiatlon. makes it Illegal for any person
TO Sc, or give to a friend aay ln,eXlc
ting liquors, aai by -pecla! enactment
la4c. beer AID q Ter thirty days old II <
naae lutoXIca eating liquors. Any per
sol permitting 4 tenant To Sell or give
away Intoxicating liquor, o. premises
owned Is him is also held liable 10 a
fine aud Imprisonment. The RTm>ei-
lers Pension till further provide, tor a
pension Of II a day, payable 10 the wife
Or minor children of tAc prisoner. dur
IuE the entire term 0t his confinement
IN the county jail, State ~werkhon>e, or
State prison, ior crimes committed un
der the influence of liquor, the seller to
pay this pension or suffer confinement
Id the House OF Correction, where, at
an allowance OF 35a cents per day. al
hard labor, he can earu ttlc means 10
pay the pension. The penaitie, Tor
violating these laws are liaes in various
amounts. aud for second and third Oh
fences fines and imprisonment. the lat
ter IN the State workhou>a, where the
conyicts are employe polishing marble.
the State crediting them on their fines
at 3d. cents a day.
The recovery OF damages from Liquor
Sellers Is another feature Of the moucrn
movement Mrs. Lucy 4 ElkIus. wife
ot Il once famous Chicago artist, Henry
y. flkine, has commenced suit against
a Chicago saloon keeper named VIII
liam Cudney ard the owner, Of the
building he occupied for So, GO for
debauchinE her husband and making
him a confirmed dru skard. Elkins. she
says, was earning $4,000 Il year at his
profession, when tudDey enticCl hm
into his place. and there he -4nandcrod
not less than so, 800 OF his hard earned
income, and ha, since been incapacl-
tated fol work at his profession and un
able to support his family.
At Troy, New York, Jdc)b New, an
infant has brought salt against j. & \.
Nckechiuie, Canapddig"d brewers, an
der the civil damage act. Tie child Is
the son Of Jacob and Btrbara New.
Jacob, ST.. decided the place owned by
him to his wife. On July ,, 1879,
while violently intoxicated, he demand
refused. At n eht, when alone, having
SEM his boy to the circus, with an aN
he Glove open the head Of his wife, and
thea with i razor almost severed his
own head from his body. The son, on
returning, found the two bodies lying
side BY side on the front piazza. The
liquor on which he became intoxicated
is claimed to have been i.ecr beer
bought of the Mckech!nie.. and thIs
suit is brought TO recover damages.
The case arCuscS great interest.
In Maine. sensation has been created
by a report from Judge Goddard show
ing that while the population Of that
State has increased only II per e
since the adoption Of the Prohibitory
Liquor Law, the percentage OF crime,
insanity and divorce has been fearful.
For example, murder has increased 40
per cent; manslaug liter 400 per cent:
murderous assaults l33 per cent rape.
500 per cent; attempted rape, 800 per
cent arson, l25 per cent, etc, etc.
Judge Goddard says:
In 1851 divorce was exceedingly
rare in Maine. Now, as ex-Gov. Ding
ley has proved to a committee Of this
Legislature, Maine leads al! New Eug-
land. He shows tha5 HIS divorces were
granted in 1873. being one man and wo
mau out Of every go, and he thinks
that 1880 Was probably still! worse. In
sanity has also steadily and rapidly in
creased at a ratio far exceeding the gain
N populations. The same may be said
Of suicide. The large percentage of
youthful conyicts is painfully sugges
tive. Nearly Is per cent. were con
victed during their minority and more
than 81 per cent. under the aye of 80.
The average age of commitment is only
%. Nor Is this moral deterioration due
to foreign elements in the population.
Less than One-tifth of the ~convicts now
serving terms are foreigners. Almost
two-thirds of these convicts are not only
~ratives Of the United States but also
natives of Maine
The New York Sun, commenting
thereon, says
"What does this import? Maine is
the State where the policy of prohibit
ing by law the sale Of Intoxicating Ii
quor. has had the fairest and fullest
trial hat it has ever had III the world
from time to time, for more than
twenty-five Years, the prohibitory
statutes have been remodelled aud re
newed, but never repealed-severe al
their mildest aud almost intolerable ia
their strictest forms.
The one great argument IL favor of
p~rohibitory legislation has been that
drink is the fountain head ofcrime. and
that if it be made difficult or impossible
TO procure alcohol crime will be dimin-
ished and society benefited.
Only from TINS point OF View can pro
hibi,ory enactments be lstitied at all in
a country where s%umptuary laws are
held 10 be odious, and where any re
~st,aint upon the personal freedom of
the citizen is resisted to the utmost"
Neal Dow, who were he not in his
S0,h year, and a mau OF some good
traits, would deserve to be character
lied as the vile old scouudrel who stole
negroes. private libraries, silver plate,
etc. and burned widows houses, while
leading the Truly L9il'' in Louisiana