National Republican., 1883-01-30
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.
PRoHIBIToRY LAWS.
In me Eyjjjor

! Niip AViONAhB lbSu VII lub AOlu lnobbubs
a large number of petitions from the different
states against the manufacture and sale of liquors
| In the District of Columbia were presented to the
| senate to- day.
For this reason beg leave to offer you the
following views on the subject for publication
in your valuable paper. Prohibitory laws in
the United States enforcing temperance or
rather teetotalism-total abstinence from
! spirituous beveraRes-are wrong
In those states of the union, where such
laws exist, they destroy or prevent agriculture
and mechanical and manufacturing industry
to n certain extent, and then they deprive the
| federal and local governments of certain
| amount of revenue.
Prohibitory laws violate the inalienable
| right of man to pursue his happiness gnaran-
toed by our American declaration of indie
pondence, and both the personal and industrial
liberty guaranteed by our American consti-
| tuition to every inhabitant of this free coun-
| try.
! Ono of the fundamental rights ofman is the
right TO cat and drink, according to his own
| taste, what he pleases, provided his means al
| low him to do so. AS we'll as the teetotalor,
or rather prohibitionist, is allowed to drink
cold fresh water, in order to pursue his
/ happiness, the non-teetotalor, for the same
purpose must be allowed to drink wine, beer,
/ whisky, or other sprituous beverages, If he
pays for them. This is n necessary conse-
] uutntt Oh our American VI tVuul
| rights 90 all in all matters of public concern.
/ This principle, as an eternal truth, is con-
tained In the following words of the declara-
| tiOn of independence; 1--WE hold these truths
/ 10 be sef-ovident that all men are created
4 equal, that they are endowed by their Creator
with certain unalienable rights, that among
/ these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of hap
piness. That, TO secure these rights govern
mCnts are instituted among men, deriving
/ their lust powers from the consent of the
governed"
The consumption Of spurious beverages, as
far as regulated by law is q matter of public
concern To forbid the manufacture and sale
of such beverages means, of course, indirectly
10 forbid their consumption.
spirituous beverage, because 1t always
contains more or less water, Is not in itself in
toxicatng. 1t becomes so only If used to eX-
cess. Properly used IL is not poisonous either,
that Is, noxous to life or health. The con-
trary of this has never been proved and can
not be proved.
Our American constitution grants full lib
erty TO the American people, according to its
preamble which reads 1--WE, the people ofthe
/ United States, in order TO form u more perfect
Union, establish justice, insure domestic tran
quillity, provide for the common defense, pro-
mote the general welfare, and secure the
blessings Of liberty to ourselves and our pos
terity, do ordain and establish this constitu-
tion for the United States Of America"
From public liberty necessarily follows per-
sonal liberty and industrial liberty, and tho
blessings of these latter liberties are rs valu-
able 10 man as those of the former.
But personal or individual liberty is tram
pied upon by prohibitory or temperance laws
/ forbidding the use of spirituous beverages as
social drinks TO man. For this reason such
laws are null and void under the constitution.
Industrial liberty is likewise trampled upon
by prOhibitory or temperance laws forbidding
the manufacture and sale of spirituous bever-
ages as social drinks, and for this reason, too,
such laws are null and void under the consti-
tuition. II is one Of the blessings of
liberty that in this free country
honest work and honest industry of
every description are legitimate and cannot
manufacture and sale of pistols and revolvers
to be forbidden by law in this country, and
yet every one knows that these weapons are
In the main used for no other purpose than to
wound or kill men. No one demands the
preparation and sale of prussic acid and other
strong poisons to be forbidden by law in this
country. And yet II is n well known fact
that only too many human lives arc destroyed
by such poisons. Why and with what Justice
shall the manufacture and sale Of spirtuous
beverages as social drinks be forbidden by law
In the United States or any part Of the union
The manufacture and sale of such beverages
are taxed by the government of the United
States and IL has not been said yet, nor can
Il be claimed, that this taxation by congress Is
unconstitutional as such. But the fundamental
law contains the following provision, viz (:
"This constitution, and the laws of the United
States which shall be made in pursuance
thereof, and all treaties made or which shall
be made under the authority Of the United
States, shall be the supreme law of the land,
and the judges In every state shall be bound
thereby, anything In the constitution or laws
Of any state 70 the contrary notwithstand-
ing"
, From this clause Il is to be seen that the
majority of the people of state Of the Union
cannot Justly deprive the minority of the pco-
ple of such state of personal and industrial
liberty aud that a prohibitOry amendment to
a state constitution, iOrbidding tho mnnuiac-
ture and sale, and thus the use and consump-
tion of spirituous beverages as social drinks,
although adopted by majority Of the voters
at general state election, is null and void
under the federal constitution.
, The temperance laws now existing and the
efforts making 10 enact such laws in this
country must bo considered as products of
moral ianaticsm that will give way TO COM
mon sense some day. Common sense or truth
always and everywhere is the mighticst Of all
laws. Compulsory teetotalism-that Is, COM
J pulsOry abstinence from spirituOus beverages
shall make the American people moral But
they, the great majority of them, are moral,
else they could and would not be free. Lib
cIlg ulNhNh ~ anu 'hh w
only by morality. on the other hand, by pro-
noting education, IL produces morality with
out legal force, compulson, or prohibition.
Compulsory temperance or enforced tee
tOtalisln shall in this country prevent both
drunkenness and dissipation, and at the same
, time crimes caused by them. But the noblcst
virtue of free man and free woman Is self
control based upon sell-rcspoct. Self-rospect,
therefore, not prohibitory laws ns 20 the Use of
spirituOus beverages as social drinks, ought
TO compel every man and woman In the United
States not TO become intoxicated by such bey-
erages but always 10 remain sober. NOlun-
tary total abstinence for this reason, Is q good
, and pTaisewOrthy thing N person foels un-
able Ia control himself rs 90 the proper use OF
spirituOus beverages. These beverages as So
cial drinks and not as medicines, are lux
uries and not necessaries Of life, because man
can do without them, Yet II those men who
can afford TO pay for them use them wisely
: and scnsibly In this free country, maintaining
their self-respect while doing 50, no one else
has even a shadow Of u right TO blame
such men for drinking spirituous beverages,
No man, according 10 our American tunda-
mental laws-the declaration of independence
> and the constitution Of tho United states
has q right 20 sit in Judgment upon his neigh
bors morality and social habits. Thc at
tempt of one portion Of the American people
TO compel by legal force the rest Of them "a
take 10 cold fresh water as the cheapest and
I healthiest of all beverages Is an insult
/ against the intelligence Of the latter class OF
+ Americans. Public morality Of q nation will
Z last only as n product Of vOlitiOn and cduca'