The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1883-12-25

the real and original source of nine
tenths of our Ignorance, bad health, bad
morals-of the general wretchedness of the
human race were as far beyond the reach of
law or physical force as the thoughts in our
minds or the impulses IN our hearts.
| but" you say, "these evils are not as
great as the rum curse" 1t is true that
some of the vices l have named are not as
great as the vice of drink; but among crimes,
| is it defense in the case of man who steals
dollar that the crime is too small, that only
| a man who steals million should be pun
ished2 Is it an adequate defense, when a
bully is arrested for slapping his neighbours
face, that his crime is too small, that
only murder should be punished?
| Whether a man knocks off his neigh
boris hat or his head, he must be punished.
All crimes, large and small, are justly pun
| ished by force of law. All vices, large and
small, must be treated by reason and per-
suason. The absolute necessity for this dis
tinction appears in this paper.
In the very nature of things, if we punish
one vice by law we must punish all vices by
| law; and if that were done, the last man
would have to reach out through
his cell door and lock himself in-for we are
all guilty of vices All crimes originate in
vice. No man commits a crime until his
| nature has been poisoned and demoralized
by vice Vice is the only soil from which
crime can spring. Vices are very numerous
and very injurious A man may be filled
| with vices; with guile. hypocrisy, envy ba-
! tired, greed, avarice, gluttony Incidence, per-
| sonal uncleanliness and still other vices.
/ The Almighty Furnishes him every hour of
his life for the practice of these vices. Man
steps in to punish his fellow-man when
/ these vices develop into crimes. Man may
hate his fellow-man with fendish malice.
/ God will punish this vice. When this tiand-
! ish vice is developed into personal assault,
/ then man steps in to punish; but the hate,
! which 10 fba tar Of fba crime
not punish. 1t is not until the vice is em-
| bodied in an action, with criminal purpose,
| that man can interpose.
But may we not suppress nuisance? We
have as clear right to suppress nuisance
| as to defend ourselves against personal as
! sault bone-boling establishment, when
| too near human habitations, is a nuisance,
! and may be suppressed. rum-shOp, when
! a legal nuisance, may be suppressed; but not
! when it is only moral or religious nuisance,
| Law should take no cOgnizance of such nui-
| sanceS. A legal nuisance consists OF dis
agreeable smell or poisonous gas, noise an
| obscene sight, or some other annoyance adj
! dressed to our physical senses, or something
| which is injurious to our health. For ex-
! ample, a loud noise which disturbs the neigh
| borhood is a nuisance. If a grog-shop makes
I a loud noise, especially at unreasonable
hours it is nuisance Ii the persons with
in show themselves at the windows, nude, it
is a nuisance If anything else occurs there
which, as the dictionary phrases it, is 'iau
annoyance to the community in
general. a it is nuisance and
that rum-shop may be suppressed
! under the nuisance act But the
, fact that people, who are legally sane COM
promise their health, usefulness and charac-
! ter in a grog shop, does not make the place a
legal nuisance, The Salvation Army may
! preach the strangest absurdities-it is not
| legal nuisance-but if they shout in the
lcfra "a t1,ar NIL 1o
| preaching the most sacred truths, it is a
! nuisance. Colonel Ingersoll may preach the
| most blatant infidelity, and lead million
| young men away from the churches into
loose and infdel ways; it is not a legal nuis-
| ance. If you were to bring an action
| against him, under the nuisance act, you
would be laughed out of court. But if Col.
Ingersoll were to be converted and become
an eminent clergyman, thousands of people
think he will like six distinguished infidel
| speakers in England if, after his conversion,
| he We're to gather great crowd in the public
streets to hear him confess his past errors
and plead the claims of Christ such crowd,
if it interrupted public traffic. would be
| nuisance, and could be suppressed under the
common law. If my own beloved clergyman
| should preach so loud as to disturb the neigh
borhood it would be a legal nuisance and
might be suppressed; but if the large grog-
shop round the corner sells ten thousand
| drinks day. in aquiet and unobtrusive
| manner, to adult persons, legally sane, it is
not legal nuisance. The fact that my min
lister breaches the most precious truths and
! that the grog-shop is doing infinite HARM
! has no bearing whatevery upon the question
of legal nuisance. Bad people, until they
com NIT crime have precisely the same right
! to protection good people. Whenever
either of them commits crime, or becomes
| a legal nuisance he may be punished or sup
| pressed. Good people seem to think that
| had q Jaw Of 1tY hf u, Yln
| world as themselves and except as subjects
| for missionary work, they are impatient OF
| their presence. A bad man, full of avarice,
bitterness, gluttony and drink, has absolute
ly the same legal rights, and the same claim
| to protection as the best man in tile world
| When, in the field of human conduct, the
| law has punished crime and legal nuisances,
| it is DONE Public sentiment infinitely more
| potent and more vital than law, of which the
greatest general of modern times declared,
| 81 care little for the armies of Europe, but
| tremble in the presence of its public senti.
ment"-this public sen timent, the synthetic
| outcome of social, moral, and religious
| forces, all-pervading and irresistible will
control all other departments of human life.
| 1t is maddening to see people trying to
| push into the arena of social, moral, and re-
| ligious struggles, civil law, with its 'all
| thumbs" and neglect agencies a thousand
times stronger How temperance men, with
their vivid recollections of the all-conuuer-
ing triumphs of Washingtonianism, can turn
aside from the divine agencies which &C
complished so much, and call in the con-
stable, amazes me.
PROHIBITION IN MASSACHUSETTS AND MAINE.
OF the success of prohibition in the State
of Massachusetts,, was a constant and atten-
tive observer for twenty years. At first
public sentiment in it's favor was very strong.
Earnest temperance men wrote the law The
Legislature passed it without changing a
word Soon it was discovered that it did
not cover every case and it was amended.
Several times it was amended, until the
cunning of the Evil One could find