The Daily bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Hawaii]) 1882-1895, 1885-12-04
PROHIBITION AGAIN REASONED.
BY ID. NJ. CROWLEY.
(Continucd.)

Is the liquor traffic, as licensed by |
law, business which should be en-
couraged or suppressed? The an
swer must depend upon an impartial
enquiry into the nature of the bust
ness and its results upon the general
well-being of the people.
The first act to regulate or license
the sale of ale in England dates from
1862, and, as we learn from the pre-
amble, was of q restrictive charac-
ter. 1t reads: " An act for keepers
of ale-houses to be bound in recogni-
zances and giving the Justices the
power to close ale-houses in such
town or towns as they shall think
meet and convenient. Evidently
the unrestricted sale of ale was not
found to be an unmiXed benefit
three centuries ago, and in the in
terval down to our own time the
British Parliament has enacted and
repealed hundreds of laws for the
better regulation of the conduct of
the ale, and its numerous added
Cocktail relations in the spirit
business; and yet it is confessed
that satisfactory solution-that OF
bringing the business into harmony
with the general interests of the
people-has not yet been realized.
Experience undoubtedly proves that
no legislation which permits the ex-
istence of this business can prevent
it from becoming an injury.
The indictment against the liquor
traffic was never so strong as it is
to-day. In the United States, espe-
cially, an enlightened public opinion
is giving force to movement which
threatens its overthrow at no distant
date. There are solid causes to ac-
count for this movement. The peo-
pie now realize the fact that for
years the liquor interest has been a
growing power and a potent factor
in politics, gigantic ",rammany"
organized and equipped, and so
Boosting of its strength as to be a
practical menace to the peace and
moral order of society. In the
United States the two great political
parties have been so controlled by
the rum power that the temperance
question could not get q hearing,
and, as might have been foreseen by
the bosses, this has led to the forma-
ton of a ''third party'' which has
nailed its colors to the mast and
on its shield is cut deep these words,
"Down with the rum power.
In this kingdom few would sup
pose the whiskey business sufficiently
powerful to control the Privy Council
and the Ministry to the extent of
treating with silent contempt the
petitions of the people most inter-
ested-against the threatened ex-
tension of the business. This is an
act unequaled in our time under any
Government disclaimiDg despotic
power, and brings the rum power
out into bold relief as the enemy of
civil liberty. Were these political
meddlings with the proper functions
of good government the only charges
against the liquor traffic, they would
be enough to raise every free mans
hand against it, but unfortunately
corruption is it's product everywhere
moral and physical injury, sorrow
and suffering, are the unfailing pro.
ducts of the drink traffic in every
walk of life. The working MANN
America, especially-is beginning tc
understand political economy wei
enough to know, that the drinl,
traffic is the reverse of every Other
industry in that it is not rcproduc
tive. He knows that this enormous
outlay of labor and capital drawn
from legitimate enterprise, is thu
chief cause of commercial and manu-
featuring depression. He knows
also, if he belongs to trade o.
labor union, that the drink destroys
the workingman's independence, an6
that by his poverty he can not resis
the reduction of wages.
The employer knows the drink tC
be antagonistic to his interests, anG
hence we find manufacturers in the
CnlCeu hlngdOm entrenchlng them
selves in cities of their own-as
Saltare in England and Bessborougl
on Ireland-for the one purpose OF
keeping the drink away. In America
this course is followed by the Corlis'
Engine Works and Fairbanks & Co.
the celebrated Scale makers of st
Johnsbury, Vermont. Hear, frien,
Nota Bene, what Fairbanks & Co
say in reply to enquiries in this lin
and it must be admitted that the,
have "correct understanding" o
manufacturer wants
sit has been the rule of thi
house, ever since its establishment
to employ no man who is in the hab
of using Intoxicating liquors. Tha
rule is firmly adhered to at the pre-
10 ot