The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1882-02-28
uL-CONCEIvED LEGISLATION.


one Of the most difficult questions to be
handled so as to produce desired results
enuring to the great body of the people
without violating any fundamental rights
which are assumed to be the basis OF all
free, democratic government, as against
general principles or particular enterprises,
is the liquor traffic question: IN
acting the part of protector the
nation or state must be careful to not act
the part of an aggressor. A nation or state
is never worse than its people, and govern
ment by special enactments cannot create
virtues any more than il can create facilities
for the exercise of faculties. All it can do
is by some artificial arrangements to regu-
late, to redistrbute them. Supply and de
mand is the law of life, and the altering OF a
sentiment is the condition precedent to its
capitalization into legal ordinance. one
dead people are every day attempting to
put patch upon nature by verbal resolu-
tions, about as effective as they would be if
directed against the winds. Whenever the
people are educated up to an idea they will
ombody it into their social and political
structures. When, however, the Spcculator
assumes that u government order will be
obeyed where the sentiment of the COM
munity is hostile to it, he simply records
himself to that extent an ignoramus.
There will be resistance, ingenious
devices for evasion of all such smugglcd-in-
laws The following case which is recorded
OF court in Kansas recently, where the
prohibitory liquor law obtains, illustrates
the rule. A seller of beer was being prose
cutcd and the prosecution failed because
there was no proof The witnesses said
they drank sea foam, not beer. Did it foam
like beer? 1t did. Did it taste like beer? 1t
did. Could you discover any difference be-
tween it and beer? No What, then, in
your judgment, was it? It was sea foam.
What is sea foam? / don't know. If the
women of the country are to be allowed to
vote, we conclude that vigorous cam
paign will be inaugurated against the
manufacture and sale of liquors. SENATOR
LOGAN however, we believe il is.
looking at the matter more rs
practical statesman, makes another
proposition, viz: that the proceeds of the
tax on such mapuiacture and sale shall be
devoted to bearing the expense of the
great system of free schools throughout the
country. This expense is about $50, 600, 600
annually, which is just about the amount
estimated to be received from the tax on
liquor during the fiscal year; and he, there
lore, opposes the reduction Of the tax from
no cents to 90 cents per gallon on distilled
spirits. This appears more reasonable than
the crusade that demands absolute pro-
hbition at once. If the people insist on
drinking, let them pay for the luxury, and
let such proceeds so in the direction of tho
great common good of educating up PEG,
pie, who when duly educated may refrain
from partaking of liquor if they so will
Undoubtedly liquor is the cause of at least
nine-tcnths of the trouble in this world
and we wish we could believe that the da;
is approaching when persons will deem
1t about AS sensible to invite
one another to be treated to loaf of brcat
or postage stamps rather than drink o
whiskey for the custom is an absurd one
but its dawn will be heralded by natura
lesscning demand for the article, which viii
necessitate the diminished supply, rather
than by any artificial increase of prohib
tory cnactments. The unnatural stimulus o
the liquor itselfis about AS valuable anc
permanent as the evanescent theories anC
schemes on the shrivelled state parchments
that put civilization to the blush becaus,
of their failure through ill.conceived an,
ill-timed adjustments.