The clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1883-1888, 1884-10-29

We call attention to the above clipping
only to dispute the correctness of the
conclusion reached, and to say that Mr.
RUNNER WIS not sufficiently well pOsteC
as to his facts. As to Maine, Mr.. Frye
in his letter to the Chicago Advance o.
March 30, 1881, says: Twenty five year;
ago the most of our grocery stores, all
druggists, all hotels, both in city and
county, sold liquors, and in my opinion
the majority of grown men used them
as beverage. Poverty, crime, ignorance
and suffering prevailed. Our jails were
full, our farm yards empty, the land
lord rich, his neighbors for miles around
poor; his house well painted, glazed and
blinded, and full of comfort; theirs un-
painted, the windows stuffed with rags,
the rooms full of nothing but sorrow"
Ex-Governor Perham, in his testimony
before the Canadian Commission on this
point says: "Forty years ago intoxicat-
ing liquors were sold as freely in this
State as the necessaries of life. 1t was
notorious at that time, and later, nearly
every country store and tavern was
dramshop." Hon. Woodbury. Davis, ex-
Judge of the Supreme Court, says:
"There was really no legal restraint upon
the sale. IL was permitted in almost
every town; nearly every tavern, in
country and city, had its bar; at almost
every village and corner was a grog- shop;
and in most places of that kind, more
than one, where old men and young men
spent their earnings in dissipation; men
helplessly drunk in the streets and by
the wayside were a common sight;
and at elections, at military trainings
and musters, and at other public gather
ings, there were scenes of debauchery
and riot enough to make one ashamed
of his race"
What of Maine now? Judge Wood
bury answers: "What has become of
this mass of corruption and disgusting
vice? 1t seems so much like some hor-
riddream of the past, that we can hard
ly realize that it was real and visible un-
til twenty years age.
But no observing man who has lived in
the State for twenty years, and has had
the opportunity to know the facts, can
doubt that the Maine law has produced
hundred times more visible improve
ment in the character, condition and
prosperity of our people, than any other
law that was ever enacted"
Gov. Chamberlain (1S72) says: "That
if liquors are sold at all it is in very small
quantities compared with the old times,
and in secret way as other unlawful
things are DONE" Governor Perham,
same year, says: Gin some places liquors
are sold secretly in violation. of law, but
in large districts of the State the liquor |
traffic is nearly or quite unknown" Gov
ernor Dayley 1870 says: Statistics |
show that under the influence of the |
prohibitory system and the indispensa- |
BILE moral efforts which have been put
forth to increase its efficiency, the sale |
and use of liquor in the State have very |
largely decreased, and that total absti-
nence had come to be common virtue
instead of, as formerly, a rareexception.
Here are glimpses at the effects. In
1860 the number of persons convicted of
crime was 1915; in 1870 it had fallen to
43l. In 1860 the whole number of pau
pers was 8,946; in 1870 only 1919. We |
could multiply proofs if needed.
Does education cure alcoholism2 For
tunately we have an unanswerable' fact
here. Gothenburg, the second city in
is one Of the best educated |
towns in the world. She has system /
of compulsory education of children
between seven and fourteen years Of
age, with supplemental schools for the
children of the poor under seven, sup
ported by private philanthropy, with
excellent private schools for the pros
porous classes, "all taught with the
of European drill, and with
technical schools for the practical teach,
ing Of lads in the various branches of
skilled industry, so that the total attend
ance upon the various schools is more
than sixth of her whole population.
Besides this they have an excellent sys-
tenn of religious teaching. Mr.. Balfour,
in his letter to Gladstone, while stating
these things, says: Neither the spread
Of education, nor the influence Of relig-
ious observances, which are so much
relied upon in England for the cure of
were found to have that
effect in Sweden" The town council
Of Gothenburg took hold of the subject
and reduced the number of dramshops
very materially with this result. In 1855
the per centage of drunkards to popula-
ton was lila; in 1878, 3.83. And yet
in this year the total consumption of
spirits, exclusive of malt liquors, would
average over six gallons to every man,
woman and child, if calculated upon the
basis of the resident population The
per centage of drunkards only refer to
those who were arrested for that offense
We would examine this subject further,
but fear to worry our readers. The
statement made in the above clipping is
altogether wrong; it is q pure fabriea-
tion. x