Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1882-11-09

amount to the public treasury: but W,
object to inperiling great party in thu
manner indicated by the Republican.
Discussing these questions last week
we mentioned the difficulties that woulo
beset a proposed prohibition amend
ment, and asserted that it would bs
doomed to defeat from the start Does
any well Informed man doubt that
proposition? The Republican seems to
have little hope of the adoption of such
an amendment. Then why should the
electors of the state be annoyed with d
proposition which from the start it is
conceded will be lost? The cost of such
submission to the, taxpayers of the
state, for advertising, &C., would proba-
bly, amount to $4,000. We would not
object to having our share of that sum,
nor neither would the Republican, but
how will those who have to foot the
bills relish paying that large sum, just
for the fun of the thing, or for the equal
ly good reason of gratifying few i'm
practicables, who insist that it is their
province to determine what their neigh
bors shall take into their stomachs, and
unless they are permitted to do so, per-
sist in being stumbling blocks in the way
of needed reforms. s.,-st
It is not a matter of great moment
| what provision we have i'll the Consti-
tuition upon this subject, but it is a mat
| ter of much Importance what kind of a
Legislature we have. A provision of
the Constitution has no force whatever,
in and of itself. Suppose, for Instance
that the Constitution did declare that
no intoxicating liquors shall be manu-
featured or sold in Ohio, and that we
had no enactment enforcing that pro-
vision. What would it be worth? Not
even the paper upon which it was print
ed. Some of the individuals who are
continually crying out for a prohibition
amendment to the Constitution tell us
they are unwilling to trust the Legisla
ture-that it can not be depended upon.
Suppose it can not, then of what earthly
use is such an amendmentp Will some
it have to enforce itselfp Then, after
all, are. we not entirely dependent upon
the General Assembly, and, if it can not
be relied upon, how is constitutional
provision to aid US? But we insist that
the Legislature, as a rule, can be depend
ed upon, and il untrammeled by consti-
tutienal provisions can afford the public
more relief upon the questions growing
out Cf the liquor traffic than il can il
embarrassed by constitutional restric
tiOns; and in this way the people of
each community of the state can be fairly
represented and the opinions of the ma
jority enforced. Hamilton, Cuyahoga,
and other counties of the state would
elect representatives to the General AS
sembly of lax opinions ,npon the liquor
| traffic. Harrison, Belmont, and other
counties would choose men to represent
them, on the contrary, of pronounced
opinions. One side or the other would
have majority, and, judging from the
enactments that have been adopted in
the past, we have no doubt which side
it would be. All shades of opinion
having an opportunity to be heard in
the General Assembly, the minority
would have DO just ground of complaint; !;
and there would be much more likeli-
hood of legislative restrictions enacted
under such circumstances being respect
ed and enforced, than there would be of
enactments enforcing a prohibition sec
tion. ;a.;t5. t-..-. .. .--a
Is prohibition practical in Ohio, even
though the people should adopt it? We
think not. With such provision in the
Constitution, and rigid laws enforcing
it, the purchase of liquor in the rural
communities Of the state might be made
very difficult, but that it could be abso-
lutely prohibited is very doubtful but
how about the citiesP Does any one who
has watched the attempt tOenforce what
is known as the Smith Sunday law in
the various cities of the state believe for
one moment that the sale of liquor can
be prohibited therein 4. :, To-day, the law
prohibits the sale of whisky, 20 be drank
on the premises where sold, and provides
severe penalties for its violation; yet in
the city of Cincinnati there are thou
sands of places where it is so sold, and
not man of Cincinnati but knows it,
and so of all the cities of the state. Pro-
hibition being impossible, at one jump.
at all events, then what should men who
would restrict the traffic and place it
under all possible restraints, do? If
they are sincere in their desires to miti-
gate the evils of intemperance, they will
do, as men do i'm every transaction of
life, if they can not get all they want,
they will take the next best thing. That
is the course sensible and practical men
take upon political as well as other
lquestiens. Not preacher of the gospel
in the land but deplores the fact that
so many men neglect to attend services
| in the churches, but no one of them has
ever proposed that, therefore, all church
es shall be closed together.
Thorough rejection upon this ques
tion. in all its phases. and having. in
mind the results of attempts in this
state and elsewhere to correct the evils
resulting from the liquor traffic, con-
vinces us that the safe, sensible ard
practical thing to do now is to sxpunge
from the Constitution the no-license
clause, and after that is done we will be
In position for more aggressive legsla-
tion. Until that is done the hands of
the Legislature are, practically, tied.
p =, 49,: 80. ----...---.--------.-. .-trt
,OHI0ANs couldn't vote on Tuesday,
bat they, looked on with intense inter-