The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1881-04-09
Prohibition In Maine.

Neal Dow. OF Maine. was received
by Mr.. Edward i. Taft, of this place
one day this week. 1t places in a
very clear light the advantages ac-
cruing from the prshiDitory law In
that State. 1t is the latest statement
on the subject from the pen of Mr..
Dow. and will, no doubt. be read
with interest by the friends of prehi.
bition in West Virginia:
PORTLAND. March 9th. 1881.
DEAR SIR:-Your note of the 4th
inst. is just received. with slip encles.
ed cut from the Wheeling Daily Reg
lister, asking for statement of the &C.
tual facts as to the result of the Maine
law, that they may be laid before the
people of West Virginia.
The Daily Register quotes frsm me
the following paragraph, and seems to
regard it as proof of the failure Of the
Maine law to accomplish any good In
the way of suppressing the liquor
traffic. while supposed it to be the
highest proof Of the efficiency Of the
law:
"Mr. Dow now says of the resultA
'Whiskey in Maine Is carried in
small bottles in the pockets of the
liquor sellers and dealt out upon the
sly; it is put int tea-pets, placed
upon the kitchen shelf; it is built in
to the walls of houses, in tin cans,
with small rubber pipe by which to
draw it off; it is concealed in bottles
in the bed it is concealed in bottles
under the floor, put there through a
trap that can only be reached by re-
moving the bed it is concealed in
small fat bottles in the ash pits un-
der the ovens of cooking stoves it is
hidden in wells attached to strings
fastened some inches belo~ the sur
face of the water; it ia buried in
manure heaps it is concealed under
the floor of the pig-sty; it is hidden
away upon the fiat roof of the house.
access, to it being had only by lad
der through a scuttle; 1t is hidden
in attics, under the for, and in Gel
lars buried in the earth.'"
Now. that is 8 fair statement OF the
present condition of the LIQUOR traffic
in Maine; what was it before the
law? 1t is only by looking at this
and that that we can learn whether
the law has been useful OF otherwise.
Before the law, the licensed liquor
traffic was everywhere, wholesale and
retail, all over the State. Immense
quantities nfmolasses were imported,
which was converted into rum at our
numerous distilleries, and great guam
titles of West India rum were i'm
ported, also. by the cargO-many
cargoes. This molasses and rum were
received in exchange for the i'm
mense quantities Of lumber shipped
from the State TO West India ports.
This lumber business and the molas-
ses and rum business constituted the
principal industry of the State, and
it was on very large scale.
Now there is no distillery or brew.
cry or wine factory i'm the State. They
have all been suppressed by the law.
We had seven great distilleries, two
great breweries, and a wine factory
in this city. the distilleries and brew
cries running night and day. Now
we have not one in the State, mol. is
there puncheon of rum imported.
The liquor consumed in the State is
struggled in small quantities and In
small packages, concealed in four
barrels or small boxes, packed in saw
dust, chatf, chopped straw, salt, corn
or sugar. I have seen it concealed
in all of these ways and in many
others.
The liquor traffic has been dimin-
ished fully nineteen twentieths of its
former volume, and the fraction of it
left is in the hands of the werst part
of cur foreign population only, and is
carried on upon the sly. in the man.
ner indicated in the slip from the
Register, which you sent to me- There
were in this city, before the law,
many establishments, any one OF
which sold far more liquor than is
now sold by all these secret rum-dens.
Names share of the national drink
billiard we used to consume eur
full share, and more-would be now
about thirteen million dollars. am
confident that half a millien will
cover the cost Of all the liquor snug
gled into the State and sold in viola
ton OF law. These liquors are SNUG
gled in, concealed in the ways have
mentioned, because offcersappointed
for the purpose, seize them on sight,
wherever found, at railway stations,
steamboat landings or elsewhere, il
they are supposed to be intended for
unlawful sale.
The liquor traffic here, small as II is
in amount, is confined entirely to the
cities and large tewns. 1t has been
suppressed entirely in the small
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