Weekly Chillicothe crisis., 1885-04-23
PROHIBITION IN MAINE
Aitcr Years of Legal Prescription, the Sale of
Stimulants Has Not Died 0ut--A Bitter
FlglIt In PrOgress.

Fight III Progress.
Does prohibition prohibit This is Il
question that has been mOOtcd ever
since the prohibtory liquor law was
first put on the statute book years ago.
Gen. Neal Dow and his co-labOrers in
the field of temperance reform take
tine ground that prohibition has proved
great success. The old white-haired
father of the Maine law, who is now
81 years of age, and who, despite his
years, is rs active and Jealous in his
war on the grog-shOps rs ever, will
tell you that prohibition has crushed
out every diStillery and brewery in
Maine, and such is the truth. He will
tell You that under the operations Of
the law liquOr-sclling has been nearly
suppressed in the rural towns, which
embrace nearly thrcc.quartcrs Of tho
state, and he will point with pride to
the evidences of thrift and prosperity
rs compared with the condition of
things in the old rum times, when that
beverage flowed as freely as water,
and, as the result, poverty and dcgra.
datIOn were to be seen on every hand.
There are many grains Of truth in this,
and yet at the same time, liquor sell.
ing has not been abolished IN the cCun-
try towns. The traffic has only been
crCumScribcd and driven into narrow
cr limits. Any respectable looking
person, even though he he u stranger,
can find no difficulty in buying all the
liquor he wants Of the village apothc-
cary, should he fail TO get it at the
country inn. The druggists, in fact,
carry on the liquor business in Maine.
Registered druggists keep liquor on
hand for the compromising and manu-.
featuring Of medicine, but are not al
lowed by law to sell liquors of any
kind unless compounded and manu-
featured in good faith.
The great weapon of the law is the
search and seizure clause, which re-
quircs proof of two elements first, of
the keeping, and second, of an intent
to sell liquor in violation of the law.
With the ordinary rumsellcr the mere
fact of finding liquor in his shop is
usually enough to convict, because it
is not kept there for any legitimate
purpose. With druggists, however,
there must be proof OF sale. As a re.
suit they have Il constitutional right to
sell liquor, and, as it is now heading,
they are fast obtaining 4 monopoly of
the rum trade in Maine, on account of
the Inherent defect in the constitution
which no law can get around But it
Is in the cities and large towns where
liquor is principally sold, and where
the evils Of the traffic are more plainly
seen There is no doubt but what pro-
hibtion has accomplished Il great deal
Of good IN the way of supprcssing
the rum traffic, and it is equally true
that the men, women, and children of
to-day are more abStcmiouS than were
their fathers and grandfathcrs. Still
the rum traffic llOuriShcs officers are
uniaithful in enforcing the laws, and
when they are executed the chances
are that from some defect or loophoc
IN the law the rum-sellcr escapes. The
situation to-day does not show that
Maine is the prohibitory state that she
is represented to be. 1t was only a
few days ago that Gen. Dow was
forced to admit that "it is not over
stating the matter to say that in
Maine to-day the liquor traffic is in
llcling upon the people far more mis-
chief, wrctchcdncss, and ruin than |
they suffer from all the robbericS and |
burglarrS, frauds of whatever kind, |
from inccndiarsms, cOnlagrations,
and murder,
For the past six months the city of |
Bangor has practically enjoyed free
rum. There are over one hundred |
places there where liquor is sold and |
no attempt has been made to enforce
the law. The law is nullity. In
Lcwistown, Bath, Augusta, and other
cities no difficulty is experienced if |
one wants to wet his whistle. In the
city of Portland, under Gen. Dow's
own eyes, the liquor traffic llourisheS,
and yet at the same time in no other
city has the law, for the past ten years,
been more faithfully enforced. To
illustrate how hard it is to break up
the business in Portland, the prohibit
tioni,ts for five years pursued rum
seller in that city, They made him
pay fines more than forty times, and
then got him in Jail. But this did not
break up his business, for his brother
took charge of it, Then the prohibit
tionisls went for him, and when, after
. protractcd siege, he was forced to
retire, his brother-in-law took his
place, and carries ON the business to-
day.
Since the first week IN January the
prOhibitionists have renewed the war
on Portland grOgshops, and the cam
paign is to extend throughout tho
state, under the auspices of the Law
and Order league. Rev. Mr.. Munson,
the agent of the league, is now enforc-
ing the law with more vigor than was
ever known before. Already he has
sworn out more than six hundred war
rants, at an expense of over S2,500 to
the taxpayers of Cumberland county,
and in return, the amount Of fines paid
into the city treasury will not exceed
5000. Last year there were nearly ono
thousand prosecutions of liquor deal
crs in the state, and, while there were
numerous convictions, the number of
grogshops was not diminished. Dur
ing tho last fourteen years some
twenty-three thousand persons have
been arrested in this city for drunken.
ness, and yet one would be puzzled to
find one rumscller the less Gen. Dow
himself says there are as many rum
shops as ever. Mr. Munson will find
it exceedingly difficult to exterminate
the last vestige of the liquor traffic,
as he has announced he will do.
This onward movement thus far
has not panned out well. Tho
liquor dealers understand their
business so well that they are not cas-
lily scooped. They may be put to
trouble or expense, but somehow they
always manage to hold the fort. Men
whose breath is redolent OF cardamon
seed or snake root, rarely II ever given
in their evidence against the parties of
whom they obtained their snifters.
Municipal officers arc loath to have the
law enforced, and oven the governor
is not disposed to appoint special con-
stables for the enforcement of the liq-
uor law. The friends of tho Law and
Order league came before the legisla-
ture this winter, and it was only by
the casting vote of the president of the
senate that they succeeded in get
ting the prohibitory legislation asked
for, Gen. Dow was not pleased with