The Portland daily press., 1884-04-29
win please excuse my declining to give an
INTERVIEWS

A representative of the Post called mo,
quite a number of the leading men of Bango,
to ascertain their Views as to the success o.
prohibition and as to the wisdom of adopting
the proposed amendment.
Ex-Governor Davis
thinks prohibition, on the whole, has been 6
success, more especially in the country. He
expresses no opinion as to the wisdom and
propristy of adopting the proposed eonsttu.
uonal amendment, but thi0ka Is wiz be
adopted.
IS busy on his farm, getting ready to plow
and will not stop to say word about prohib.
itory amendments or anything else. Hi,
voice, not being raised, is neither for fref
rum or prohibition, and must therefore M
classed as neutral power.
Hon. Lowis Barker
does not care to say much on the liquor ques.
ZION, but ne thinks that prohibition is right In
principle and ought to be carried out to the let
Der. He does not think we have any too much
LAW; on the contrary, too little, and he would
IKE 10 have hanging introduced as punish
ment for stubborn liquor sellers.
Charles r. Woodland
snot prepared to say whether prohibition has
been success or not-possibly it has in some
places, certainly not in Bangor He is not in
favor of prohibition, and, while not sure that
the proposed amendment, if adopted, would
90 away with and annul all existing laws ON
the 1hquor subject, sees no particular need of
such an amendment.
Frank A. Wilson
the most prominent Republican LAWYER in
Bangor, is opposed to prohibition and thinks
it has never been success in the cities and
never can be, for the reason that there is n
regular demand for it in the cities that must
be supplied, and also, at least in this vicinity
Tor the reason that the disgraceful methods
employed at one period in the attempt to en-
force It created revulsion of public senti-
rent and destroyed what announcement and
support the law and officers NAV have had.
Mr. Wilson opposes all tinkering with the
constitution as vicious and dangerous. and
does not believe that the proposed amendment
the least.
Gen. Charles Hamlin,
Son Of the distinguished ex-vice president.
and who may yet be vice president himself.
on the Lincoln and Hamlin ticket believes in
temperance and would like to see the prohib-
itory law. or, as he calls it, the 'prohibitional
provision" carried out, when and where pos
slple; Public sentiment, however, differs in
zone IN dll1erent places and Localities, and as
the enforcement of the law depends upon the
support ana encouragement of the people at
large, so the laws success varies in our towns
ana cities. In the country it is not so much
political question as in the cities the farm
ers don want any liquor sold, and will vote
against Its introduction where no saloons now
exist. A city's requirements, however. are
different and there Is a regular demand for IL
quors, not little of this demand being from
travellers. The liquor laws history is sto-
~ OF ups and downs. Sometimes sheriff is
particularly energetic in prosecuting liquor
sellers from mercenary motives; If he has a lot
OF prisoners to board he makes all the more
money, and there is so much to be made on
every case prosecuted. Public sentiment in
Bangor has changed in the last few years. and
lnere Is no popular voice calling for the rigid
carrying out OF the liquor law. The legisia-
ture IN the winter of 1928 voted BY a large
majority to submit the proposed amendment
IoI adoption by the people. There were but
a dozen members who voted against submit
ting the question to vote, and Mr. Hamlin
was one OF these. So it is easily seen that he
does not favor it. 'i0
Hon. Abram Sanborn,
Aveteran lawyer, one of the foremost at the
Penobscot bar and temperance man, saws:
i think exactly as Judge Appleton does on
this subject; what he has said is true in every
particular. Prohibition is and always will be
dead failure. / was in the legislature in '53
when this pernicious law was passed. and
voted against It, l said to them, 7Gentlemen.
now can you stop the use of LIQUOR while the
taste and desire for 1t remains?' They an
sWereu tney were going to stop its sale taste
OF OF no taste, and the law went into execution.
One OF Its first results was mob in Portland.
In Which man was killed and others hurt.
In 1904 committee waited upon me and de-
sired that Ishould accept a denomination for,
the legislature, and inquired whether, if re-
turned 70 tnat body, would vote to amend,
or modify the prohibitory law or not. | re-
piled that they could not expect me to sup
port law thatI had voted against adopting.
Iney said many people, especially the WhigS.S
were desirous Of letting the law stay for
awhile, so as to give it a fair trial. The con-,
ventloh was held and l was not nominated, and
there ended my connection with the Maine
law. You see how it has worked since. It's
Leading principle is force, its supporters would
force man to stop selling-not ask him to-
and point out the wrong; they would force a
man 70 stop drinking, not beg him to for his
own good. This is the fatal defect in thel
Maine law, and it awakens opposition on
every SIDE and makes the situation worse real
~, Tor II drives out moral SuaSiOn, It killed
on the Washingtonian Society, famous before
1888 Tor Its good work, and when the spirit of
KINDNESS which animated that excellent or
ganlzatlon was superseded by the blunt force
or attempted force of prohibition, that stopper
All good temperance work. The Washington.
ian Society reformed many men, even fhoses
who sold rum, and it drove the grog rationst
out OF the hay field, and it really reduced the(
nQuor trafilc In Maine. What has been done
since for the cause of tempetance? Nothing
On the contrary the sale of liquor is increas-,
Ing, and so Is drunkenness in the cities where
snere Is an attempt to enforce this obnoxious
law. The proposed amendment to the con-
stitutlon Is uncalled for, unwarranted and en-
tirely superhuous, and it VIII not alter the
situation jot for the better. 1t will be DOW
erless to stop the sale of liquor for the same
reason that the prohibitory law is-it cannot
destroy the taste for drink. 1t will be as
powerless to stop the liquor traffic as would
law to. stop the PenobScot from flowing BY
Bangor"
Hon. A. G. Wakefield
ex-mayor Of Bangor, prominent republican.
teetotaler,, and a good lawyer is another of
the gentlemen whose views were sought by
the PosT. He has always been a temperance
man and is in favor of the prohibition of
liquor selling, first, last and all the time. He
thinks that while the prohibitory law is all
right enough In itself that it is too much re-
ned on, and put In advance of public senti-
ment as correctOr of the drinking evil,
whereas public sentiment should lead, and
support and pave the way, and the law come
2IterWard. We depend too much on law
what Is needed is united and systematic
effort OF those who are old enough and wise
enough to save by force of moral suasion the
rising generation from going in that crooked
way. AS to the proposed constitutional
amendment, Mr.. Wakefield says that some
Time ago he was waited upon by a committee
and requested to sign petition asking that
the legislature vote to submit the prohibitory
liquor amendment referred to. He declined
saying that he did not wish to see such an
amendment submitted, but would rather see
the liquor question contested at the polls
every year under the existing laws. The leg
lsiatnre voted, however, to submit it to the
people. and he Is In doubt as to whether he
shall vote Eyes" or mo" on it. Mr.. Wake
held says that temperance work of the right
and successful kind should be prompted by
charity toward the. drinker, not malice toward
the seller of liquor. Each succeeding legisla-
tnre Is likely to differ in tone and complexion
more or less, from its predecessors, and we
cannot be sure that this amendment will have
the sympathy and active support of our law
makers. In that case we should be all at sea
worse off than we are now. Mr.. Wakefield
cess In some parts of Maine, especially in
SagadahOc, Androscoggin and Cumberland
counties, where it has, he thinks, decreased
the volume of the liquor traffic. But, as be-
fore remarked, the successful enforcement of
any law depends greatly upon the drift of
public sentiment in the different localities
where 1t Is to be applied. Now in Bangor
pubic sentiment leans more toward license
than prohibition, consequently prohibition
has never been success there, and to-day a
drink is as easy to purchase as q cigar. If