Lexington weekly intelligencer. (Lexington, Mo.) 1871-1887, 1885-01-24
THE STATE OF MORALS IN MAINE.
some Facts Bearing on the Re-
cent Remark able Tidal
wave of Crime.

PORTLAND, Jan. 10.-The Press of
this city questions my assertion that
most of the murders committed in
Maine for the past ten years may be
attributed to the use of Intoxicating
liquors. 1t is possible that the Inn
guage used was rather strong, although
| do not believe that is the case. The
prison inspectors declare that lust is a
more frequent cause of high crimes
than liquor, but if they would look fur.
ther back | think that they would find
that the drinking of Maine "roigut"
had been the cause of the lust in most
cases. 1t is a fact that will not be de-
MED that of last year s murderers five
were drunk at the time they committed
their crimes.
As To the success or failure of the
ptohibitory law in Maine it is not nee :
e-sary to show that most murders are
ciargeable TO liquor drinking in order
10 prove that the law is failure. Nu
merous facts within the knowledge of
every observing man who has travel
ell much in Maine prove that il is
failure. For instance:
Nearly one man i'll every 900 in the
state pays Unc'e Sam tax to secure
immunity from punishment for selling
liquor, so far as the federal govern
ment is concerned.
Amy unprejudiced officer iii almost
any city or large town In Maine will
| tell yOu that within his jurisdiction
| there are twice as many liquor shops
| that pay no tax to the federal govern
ment as there are OF those that pay the
tax.
The failure OF an apothrcary is an
almost unheard of thing in Maine.
| Butchers, bakers, clothiers, and lum-
herman 60 under, but apothecaries
rarely. This is because principal
part of the business of Maine apoth-
ecary is liquor selling. Many apothe-
carries enjoying the favor of local au-
thOrities do uot even pretend to require
a PHYSICIANS certificate before supply
ing a customer, but, in order th.. hue.
iness may be facilitated, keep the stuff
bottled in pints and half pints, that
may be slipped into the coat pocket
without trouble.
/ There are numerous club ron,ns in
this and other cities, maintained by the
J ''best young men," solely that lhe,
may have rendezvous cor drinking anil
card playing. The young man who
} would drink an occasional glass of
, lager beer ii there were an open AID
reputable place where he cou II get ii,
now goes To the club, drinks liquor
, and plays poker all the evening, and
goes home i'll the morning stupetied
} and dead broke.
. The records of the police courts in
the fourteen cities Of the state show
that large business is transacted, .:ud
that the bulk of it consists ot the t$ial
: of liquor sellers and liquor drinkers.
These are a few of the facts that make
it clear thai our thirty-y ar-Ui,l proirih-
tory law dues not prohibit .pr X in
1 Il general way. IL does proiibil IN
, some small and isolated communities,
: but local option law would work
{ equally well in those communities be-
a cause in them public sentiment is over.
= whelmingly opposed to the use or sale
r of liquor. In other communities the
4 law is an utter failure. 1t bre ds de-
@ ceit, hypocrisy, and fraud 1t restrains
. the traffic but little, if at all. TIE stuff
n sold is not much different from rat poi.
son, the chief difference being that II
i requires larger dose to kill. Vast
. quantities of it are sold, but the state
+ derives no revenue from its sale, while
) the federal government imposes iax
d which yield large revenue annually
n The state authorities virtually stanC
4 back, and say: "Oh, there is but very
q little liquor sold here, and all these
. fellows who are paying the governs
: ment tax are doing it just for fun
Ia What nonsensel