The Jackson standard. [volume] (Jackson C.H., Ohio) 1847-1888, 1882-08-31
SPEECH OF HON. GEORGE K. NASH.

GENTLEMEN CONVENTION: A feW day
since the Chairman of your Central Committee aske
me to be present at this meeting talk for sho
time 1t Is always pleasure to me to meet with I'll
faithful Republicans of Franklin County, with whol
have contended against adverse majorities for
many years. 1t is the desire to have this pleasur
which has brought me before you more than any wis
! upon my part to make Il speech.
The history of the Republican party is secure.
is the story of great things accomplished for the goo
Of the whole country and it is familiar to all
you 1t IS not necessary to advert to the record c
the Republican party further than to say that it
such an to give assurance of the capacity an
willingness of the party deal with the great ques
tons of the present and the future with ability witt
{ fidelity and with patriotism.
One of the questions of the present is how to dea
with the evils arising from the traffic in Intoxicating
liquors. That there such evils no one will dis
pute. They were recognized by the makers of oul
, present State Constitution more than thirty year.
ago. and therefore authority given to the Genera
Assembly to provide by law against the evils result
Ing from this traffic. Acting upon this authority thu
Legislature long ago made 1t misdemeanor tt
sell intoxicating liquor drank upon about
the premises where sold, to minor, except upon
the written order of his parent guardian family
physician, or to person in the habit of getting in
toxicated. This old Democratic General Assembly
thus recognized these evils The constiutionality OF
this law was questioned, and settled in favor OF
the law inthe of Miller and Gibson the State
by the Supreme Court at its December term, 1854
That court composed of W illiam Kennon, Robert
B. Warden Thomas W. Bartley, Rufus p Ranney
and justly respected and highly honored fellow
townsman, Allen G. Thurman. In passing upon this
case the court recognized and commented upon the
evils resulting from this traffic, and Chief Justice
Thurman said:
lone of the greatest of these evils is the congrega-
tion of idle and dssolute persons at places where q
sold and drunk; hence the sale of liquor to
be drunk at the place where sold is prohibited An
other evil is the sale to minors and persons ntoXica
ted, in the habit of getting Intoxicated; hence the
f1,aN
der of their parents guardians family physicians
and the sale to the latter is prohibited altogether
And inasmuch the habitual violation of these
visions does in fact create nuisance it is declared
to be in law and authority is given not to abate
anymans house, but to abate the nuisance that exists
thereat.
1.-The idea apparently contended for that the Con-
stitution recognizes uncomfortable, fllimitabe
right to sell Intoxicating liquors. is mantle stly
neous There Is no such right in respect TO any COM
modify, however harmless; for if there were, how
could the various inspection laws the laws relating
to markets. the license laws, the Sunday law ETC., be
sustained? power of regulation, power 10 pro-
vide against evils incident to traffic. power to pro-
tect community against the frauds dangerous prac
tices of trade is in greater less degree vested in
every Government and certainly the people of Ohio
not wholly without this protection. If to guard
against these evils restraint upon the traffic it.
self is necessary, 1t may lawfully be imposed, the
fact being always borne in mind and always acted up
on that the power Is power to regulate and not to
destroy. To this power Intoxicating liquors
pressly subjected by the constitutional provision
have quoed but that provision stricken out of
the Constitution the power would yet subsist; and
for the that it may be declared unlawful
to sell poison to child dagger to madman it
might be made an ofense to sell intoxicating drink
to minor a drunkard; and for the reason |
that any other cannon Euisance might by law be
abated the business of common tippling house |
might be subjected to that fate"
This law, approved by Judge Thurman and the -su-
preme Court in the language I have quoted, long |
since became dead letter and for years its provs-
ions have been hourly violated in every saloon in the
State. 1t still stands in the statute books but the
evils pointed out by Judge Thurman have continued
to grow For thirty years this traffic has been
ried on practically uncomfortable and illimitabe.
Evils other than those mentioned by Judge Thur
man have grown up. One of these has been the in
creased burden of taxation. A great proportion of
the crime in the State of the msfortunes that fill
benevolent institutions and of paupersm Is trace
able directly to this traffic. To this crime,
and to for these unfortnnates is great burden
each year that must be borne by the State, county
and municipal governments.
The Republican party has shown a disposition TO
grapple with these evils and to control them. This
inclination shown in the legislation of last win
term the passage of what has been known as the
Pond law md of the Sunday law. Again it shown
at the State Cony enon in the adoption of resolution
which declared that this traffic ought bear its
share of the public burdens, and that the Consttu
tion III far il is obstacle III the way of the
|
the end that the evils resulting therefrom may he
effectually provided against, should be speedily
amended.
The Republican party is committed to the taxation
of the traffic not only as means of decreasing the
public burden but also means of ontrolling the
other evils 1t must be admitted traffic
not bear its just proportion of State and local taxa
ton 1t has been stated that the last assessed
against the two thousand saoon-keepers of Cincin-
natl for these purposes amounted to only S229 and
tbnh with hair ipD1n
profits, to only s7,O5i64, while dry goods firm
paid more than s1i.o0o 1t may be said that those
engaged In the traffic in liquor paid largely to the
support of the general government So does every
citizen by way of indirect taxation. venture the
that the dry goods firm in Cincinnati, by
tariffs upon their imported goods and other indirect
taxation, paid largely to the support of the Ma
tional Government as did the brewers.
The inequality exists in the country districts.
The county of Athens is fair example of this In
that county there are sixtytwo persons engaged in
the traffic in Intoxicating liquors. Last year the
paid by these sixtytwo persons upon this busi
amounted to only s245. At the same time an
equal number of business men, carrying on Il busi-
producing about the amount of profit, paid
taxes amounting to 81 GIBBS At the same time an
equal number of workingmen, who own the homes in
which they live, upon those modest homes paid
taxes amounting to 81. 1890.
An eminent jurist has said Certainly, whatever |
determinations made in taxation ought to be in
the direction of making the heaviest burdens fall
upon those things which obnoxious to the public
interests, wherever that is practicable. So says the
Republican party in regard to this traffic.
But this idea of taxation is not suggested merely |
for the purpose of lifting the burden which the re-
suits this traffic impose upon the public. There is
better and higher motive lying back of this. 1t is
believed that specific taxation will many,
many of the evils to disappear. man of good judg |
ment and great intelligence in Athens county informs
that only twenty-one of the siNty-two saloon |
keepers that county would have paid the tax pro-
vided by the Pond law had that enactment been de-
clared stitutional. Such would have been the
result throughout the State to greater or less extent
Who will assert that this of affairs would not
have lessened the number unfortunates, the paul
perism and the crime in the State! Who will say |
that this would made grievous the evils
of which Judge Thurman has so forciby spoken In |
years gone by.
l fully believe that under constitution it |
exists to-day this traffic may be, specifically taxed
not only for the purpose of making it bear Its just
share of the public burden, but also purpose
of providing against the evils resulting therefrom,
and that such may be made lien upon the prem
ises in which the traffic is carried on.
The Democratic party is opposed to this idea of tax
alton of this traffic, and upon this issue the parties
stand upon opposite sides. say that the Democratic
party has committed itself againt taxation the
reason that General Warner, eminent member of |
the party at the State Convention, urged upon
the Committee on Resolutions the adoption of a rcso
luton in which it declared that this traffic |
sshoud be to bear its just share of burden
of taxes.n This resolution thrust aside, and in
its stead Convention put forth the old declaration
''We opposed to all laws merely sumpuary.'' If
auy democrat not in accord with his party upon
this question, he have doubt as to how he
should act this fall.
Some of our good friends opposed to this idea of
taxation because they say that In doing this reg
oonze the traffic and in ysterious way uphold
it, Justice Cooley has replied to this class of objec-
| tors in such a way that quote from him.