The clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1883-1888, 1884-02-13

e whereby tie motion of Mr.. Barksdaie to n
$ commit re bill pending at adjoarnneni
I vas evos4d down.
Il III. Orr spoke ensthe subiect. and men
: toned tAeamoant of revenue now derive
j from Haadr licenses and its benent to th
y State. and with this revenue withdrawn tn
increase in State taxes would be four and
II half mil On the dollar, and other article
| must be taxed to meet this increase. On
= Iiauor licenses there was paid into the Au
T dftors office Sl4.200 from Washington
tcountF. and on account of fines SI7I2. Il
II Lawrence county. where no whisky licens,
was collected the amount of fines wa
$I05s. Enough prohibition laws had al
3 ready been passed to increase the State tai
s. one-haIf mill. Where was the equity Of
counties that paid no licenses into. tbs
treasury drawing their pro rata at this fund
for the benefit of their schoolsg Other
i counties were quoted to refute the state.
ment that the amount of fines collected fol
misdemeanors was gauged By the amount
of liquor, sold.
He cited instances where similar laws
were dead letters, and mentioned Oxford
/ as one of the places where the sale of whis-
| ky was prohibited. and where any one
who wanted ii could get it. The town. of
| Houston was in the same category. On any
/ public dag more drunken men could be
| seen in that town than any other portion of
the county Should the bill pass, persons
now selling liquor under license would be
closed up and the money they had paid for
their licenses for the unexpired time of
their licenses would be as 50 much taken
from their pockets with no recompense.
In 1882. the Legislature passed twenty
three PROM lbitory bills. ALI of the towns
save one had petitioned the Legislature for
the repeal of the laws. He wanted the law
viewed from all standpoints, not from a
moral point of view only. We're it in his
power 10 remove from the limits of this
State the giant evil, he would willingly do
so. He liked to see prohibition in the tam
lily circle, at the side-bo RI, and when it
came home to families; thus coua be done
BY education.
AIR. Orr's speech was forcible and sus-
tanned by facts and figures, and at times
eloquent.
AR. Watson followed. He said the pas
sage of the bill would give the people an
opportunity to decide the question for
t Themselves In the election at Corinth and |
IN Aicorn county the election for mem
ber OF the board of supervisors and mem
q Les tIon hlnged upon prohibition or no |
prohibition, and the latter won by an over
wheiIning majority. The friends of the |
measure had done their best to keep poll |
IIcs out OF this quesuon, and he did the |
this justice that the best man
who ever sat TO decide upon the statutes of !
this State was the offspring of Republican
votes. lie did not like to hear so much /
reference 20 the liquor laws not being en-
forced III the State, but he said it was the /
fault of those who did not regard the oaths
they had taken to sustain the laws of the
land.
Regarding the injustice of prohibition /
counties receiving pro rata of the whisky
fund he referred to the Constitution which
for the disbursement of all fines
growing out of the liquor traffic. No
whisky or malt liquors were manufactured
in the State and fifteen millions of dollars
were drained from the resources of the State
annually to bring in an unmitigated evil to
the State The United States did not grant
TO any one license TO sell liquors in any
State in opposition to thelaws of the State.
That was the legal proposition. He said
the statement that prohibition did no good
was mistake. He spoke of Maine as a
State where less liquor was used than in
my other State and prohibition had dpne
that State an immense amount of good.
The Maine law had increased the prosperi-
one hund. ed fold.
In Georgia local option prevailed in
.hree-fourths of the counties, and nothing
would have the people to repeal it. N MeF=
;hants who were opposed to it at first, for
lear it would hurt their business, were now
strongly in favor of it. There was less
rhine in these localities, and the money
hat had formerly been expended for whis-
~ was now invested in new buildings and
Mr.. Mullins moved the previous question,
.all sustained and the motion to reconsider
vas lost by vote of 36 ayes to 81 nays.
Mr.. Orr moved to postpone the question
lntiI tie 4th of March next.
Mr.. Mullins moved to table. Carried
Mr.. Bell, at 500. moved to adjourn. Car
led.