Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1882-07-28
~ d lNuH CorTespondcnt.

Having about cOnc1uueQ my series or
articles on the "Maine law' and its
i workings i viii turn my attention to
another prohibitory Stafe-New Hamp-
shire-and give q few facts, gathered
during hasty tour Of its leading towns,
concerning the experiences of the people
! in that State.
/ Manchester Is much the largest of
any of the cities of the State, and the
retail traffic in liquors Is proportionately
extensive. The laws of that State are
Of the strietess prohibitory kind. The
usual fine for the illegal sale of intoxi-
eating liquor Is $50 aud costs for q first
offense, and for arg subsequent offense
1 500 and costs or Imprisonment not ex-
eeediDg ninety days, or both.
But offenders are rarely prosecuted
for q second offense. They are all .first
offenders i have known cases where
several indictments have been found
against party alta single term Of Court,
but the cases are usually compromised
by the payment Of one fine. Poor deal
ers are sometimes driven out Of the bus
iness as part Of the compromise. The
| penalty for being a common seller Is
| 500 and imprisonment not exceeding
six months. For selling or keeping for
/
fine is SO and costs, and the possession,
in all eases, Of bottles, signs or other par
aphernalia Of the trade Is taken to be
| primid-fdeia evidence.
| Agents from abroad soliciting or
taking orders for spirituous liquors in
| the State may de fined $50 to 500 and
costs. Bar tenders are not exempt from
testifying against their principals. Own
ers of real estate where liquors are sold
| illegally are liable to the relatives,
| guardians or employers Of any person
| who does or suffers any injury. LID
uors may be seized and forfeited. Such,
in brief, are some Of the iron clad fea-
lures of the prohibitsry laws Of New
Hampshire.
There is no intelligent person in the
| State who does not admit that the law
| is amply sufficient If vigorously and
| impqrtially enforced to stamp every
rum shop or public saloon in the State
| out of existence in months time.
| Judges of the Courts, prosecuting OH
/ eers, land all intelligent temperance peo-
| pie assert this to be the fact, but the
| trouble Is to enforce the law vigorously
| and impartially. The most Jealous
| temperance people are unwilling to be-
| come prosecutors. They find it either
a dangerous occupation or very dis
| agreeable one. Public sentiment will
| not back them. People in good stand
| ing dislike to become spies, and with
| out a resort to something Of this kind,
| it is very difficult TO obtain evidence.
| Without the evidence convictions can
not be had. Larcenies, burglaries, etc.,
are prosecuted without mercy, but 1t is
otherwise in the liquor business, except
in special vicious cases. Grand juries
refuse to entertain complaints brought
before them on spotter evidence. In
many Of the small country towns and
villages the law is not violated to any
appreciate extent, but in populous
places like Manchester there is no sys-
tematic attempt to enforce the law, ex-
eept on complaint for some fragrant vio-
lation. There are from 200 to 800 Sa-
looms or places in Manchester where
any man, woman or child can procure
beer or strong liquors by paying for
them. About all the public authorities
attempt, in a vast majority of cases, to
regulate in some measure the hours OF
business and the general character of
the places to compel saloon keepers to
close their places at 10 A. NJ, and re-
strain them as far as possible from
carrying on their traffic on the Sabbath
day.
ia 1881 there was a pretty vigorous
attempt on the part of the City Marshal |
4. ID. Stark, to control or restrain the |
business, not to prohibit sales in all |
cases, but to keep the business in the |
hands of those who knew enough not |
to abuse privilege, but he failed of q |
reelection to the office at the beginning |
of the present year, at the hands of a |
profesSedly temperance band of alder |
men. During his administration there |
were 23S liquor dealers prosecuted for |
violations of the law, and 624 parties |
were arrested for drunkenness. In 1880 |
under q more free and easy system, there |
were prosecuted Il, and arrested for |
drunkenness 2S6. These figures do not |
prove that there was any moreintoXicati |
Onunder thetemperancea administration, |
but rather that more arrests were made |
and fewer violations of the law were |
assisted to their homes, and shielded |
from paying penalties.
There Is undoubtedly more or less |
corruption praetieed under the law. |
For instance, some favored ones, active |
and influential members of the domi- |
nant party, either fail to be prosecuted |
or indicted, or, if indicted, almost |
invariably escape the penalties of their
violations of the law. Still these cases
are not so fragrant and conspicuous as |
to attract more than a passing notice. |
Hotels here keep open all night, and |
under a semblance of obeying the law |
sell to their patrons. If the customer is |
admirably respectable, all he has to do |
is to find out the little thin secret that |
gains him admission 10 the bar room. |
SO far as am aware the summer re- !
sorts sell what their patrons call for in |
a quiet way.
When the law was being enforced on |
ordinary dealers in 1881 there was q |
tendency among young men to cultivate
the club room business. Several were |
started and some Of them are still in ek |
istenee. In this way they can get their |
the back door system, and have very |
little doubt of the fact that the results |
were and are more injurious than open |
bar rooms, where many of them would |
be ashamed to be seen to enter. There |
are wholesale places in that city where |
goods may be ordered the same as
groceries.
There has been several spasmodic at |
tempts to enforce the law, but they US |
ually beat the officer who ATTEMPTS it,
for the reason, among Others, that there |
are so many would-be temperance men |
who take an occasional drink. The |
trouble is in defective public senti-
ment, or else it does show some vital
defect in the spirit of the law. BE this
as itmay, the prosecuting officers freely |
admit their inability, under existing
al 70 vrh in no
Sunday traffic, to say nothing Of the
week day business.
Manchester has very large opera
tive class who will have their Sunday |
beer. The city has very large anu re-
spectacle temperance element. The
Reform Club and other temperance So
cieties are well supported. The former
is addressed every Sunday evening by
some Of the best men in the State.
A healthy public sentiment is being |
Slnuclx- anlftyokasl hnt fhA YNraya lanna of Il