The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1885-05-02


necessity to each other. Between them
there is an alliance offensive and defen
sive, which neither will violate.
c. These aristocrats of the trade live
in glass houses-they do not dare to
throw stones. They are mostly viola
tors of the law themselves. An alder
man in the Fifth ward of Bloomington,
Illinois, then and now under high IL
cense, asking for the exoneration of
! friends in the business, stated in meet
ing of the city council, that there were
forty places in that ward where liquor
was sold without license. When it was
asked why licensed dealers did not
secure indictments against those who
were infringing upon their rights and
stealing their patronage, it was reluc-
family admitted that every one of the
licensed dealers was law-breaker every
day. The unlicensed men knew this,
SO everybody kept his own secrets. 1t
seems, therefore, that instead of high
license acting as check upon unll-
censed sale, it only leads to increased
violation of the restrictive clauses of
the law. 1t is, in fact, a strong incent-
i've to Sunday sale, sale to drunkards
and to minors. One dealer was heard
to remark, 81 must push business this
year to make up what l have given for
this license"
8. 1t does not improve the character
of the dealers, as is claimed. Exper-
fence has shown that men who try to
obey the law can not do business.
Those who have been in the trade con-
tinue right on; and as the man who
will sell to anybody and at all times
makes the most money, the business
goes into the hands of the vilest and
most INSCRIPTIONS, almost without ex-
ception. To make the saloon outward
ly more attractive, to charge the pro-
prietor higher price for running it, is
not thereby to add moral culture or
decency to the man who owns it
High license is wrong in principle.
"Of course, those who believe that no
revenue from this source should go into
the public treasury, are not likely to
accept any expedient short of prohibit
ton" Shame on them, if they did.
When man has principles, and can't
stand up to them, he is worse off than
the man who has no principles to stand
up to. Prohibitionists believe it to be
criminal to legalize anything which is
ruinous to soul and body. They be-
lieve that if whisky selling is vicious
and deplorable at $1,000, it cannot be
virtuous and commendable at $4,000;
and, believing this, our tongues will
wither before we will endorse such a
law, or vote for any man who will sup;
port it. When Judge Slade, of Yer
mont, was hearing claimants to a black
man escaped from bondage, he said,
''the evidence IS insufficient. They
produced other witnesses to prove the
man their property. He still said,
''the evidence is sufficient" In per-
plexity they asked, "Nhat evidence
will satisfy your honor?" And the reply
rang out, II want bill of sale from
Almighty God" So the man of true
Christian principle must see the sane
ton of Almighty Qd written upon this
traffic before he can c6sent to author
ize it by either high license or low.
That sanction he can never see. we
have no objection to any law which will
really restrain the traffic to any degree.
But if in securing partial restraint we
must recognize the legitimacy or leg
atty of "the crime of Crimes" we can
lend no favor or assistance.
| In refusing to accept high license we
are, therefore, neither foolish nor in
consistent. We are doing only what
honesty and conscience demand. We
want our governments, State and Ma
tional, to come up beside those of
China and Madagascar, which refuse
to derive revenue from that which
degrades and destroys their people.
We want State and National prohibi-
ton. 1t does prohibit. While liquor
dealers move earth and hell to post
pone and defeat it. we need no stronger
reasons for pushing it. If men would
demand from license a showing pro-
portionate to what they demand from
prohibition, the difference in results
would everywhere be acknowledged.
Prohibitory laws have never yet had a
fair chance. Like license laws, they
are not of the self-enforcing class.
They want men behind them as much
interested in their enforcement as in
that Of laws against other crimes. If
one party will not furnish such officials,
another shall. Of course no evil is
ever entirely removed, and if prohibi-
tory laws do not entirely prevent the
sale of liquor they ought not to be
called a failure. We can not agree,
either, that prohibition is for the pres
ent out of the question in this State"
If it is, why is the whisky lobby and its
friends at Harrisburg so persistent in
refusing the people the right to vote
upon its adoption? If what they say is
true, they need have no fear of a vote.
If the State is not ready for prohibition
we mean to make it ready. But the