Daily Republican., 1886-07-27
Tho Liquor Question Considered.
[ooMMUNIoATED.l

COMMUNICATED.
The following was read before the
Lodge OF Good Templars Of Christiapa,
Delaware, on June 26:
First, high license or an excessive fee
paid to the State for the privilege of
selling rum. There is no earthly use
in calling 1t tax, for 1t Is license fee
and nothing else. / believe there is no
mention Of money In the actual license
granted by the court; of course the ap-
plicant must pay the fee before he gets
the privilege, he has TO pay q county
and other taxes on the relative amount
OF business that he does. 30 that does
away with the talk about q tax which
| is only whitewashing cry to soothe
the conscience Of those who know that
the privilege is license for an unholy
and ungodly business. The fact OF pro.
posing such high license, say $500, is
proof enough Of its iniquity.
The excuse and plea Of friends of high
license is that 1t will reduce the number
Of dealers and do away with the small
saloons. Now this argument is the
opposite OF all Democratic and Repub
lican doctrine, and Ia opposed to the
spirit Of our institutions, and would
create rum aristocracy; and believe
II put into general practice would show
that really more harm came to the
poorer classes than now with the low
license; for il laboring man, who is
in the habit Of taking his daily drinks
and the liquor Is to be had, he will lave
1t II 1t )sts ten times more than 1t does
now; then will not his family have less
to live on? Will the man have as much
money left as now for his clothing,
house rent, etc? Why have often heard
men complain Of the present prices of
liquor-say for rum 10 and Is cents per
drink-when years ago the price was q
ftp (6N), two drinks for levy (12X),
and five for quarter dollar.
| And the liquor a great deal better
than 1t Is now. You could then buy
plenty OF vhiskey or rum for 12l1 cents
q quart right here in Christians at the
stores, and much better article than
you now can get at any of the taverns
at 25 cents per half pint. You see that
this is an increase of 800 per cent. in
price, and you know that the same men
who bought at 8 cents per hax pint will
and do pay 25 cents now for the same
quantity. Therefore the increase in the
price only makes it harder on the
drunkard or laboring man who drinks.
1t has been said that high license will
drive the poorer men to beer. Suppose
tt does; it will be only for q season.
Any man who has had any experience
in drinking we'll knows that o man &C
customed to drin king whiskey will not
give much attention to beer il there be
the least chance of getting whiskey
They want something that bites-that
they can feel.
have heard old drinkers say, when
invited to drink beer, No, "they were
not going to make swill barrels Of their
stomachs." The beer will do for young
folks until they begin to crave some
thing little stronger, then good bye
beer. / know what am writing, I've
been there. Beer in a quantity will
make o fearful drunk and chastity.
Now this system of high license will
not reduce she poor mans trouble but
will increase it, and the injury to men
Of means will be still greater than now,
and the talk about men of means and
character only being able to secure IL
censes is all bosh; every gambler in the
cities will sometimes hece enough
money from his victims in one night to
get license. The owners and keepers OF
disreputable houses would get license to
sell rum, for they could easily pay.
There would be just as much liquor
sold then as now In the cities and the
profit would be 80 much greater that the
rumseller could more easily pay $500
then than S100 now.
| There is no use in holding up Chicago
as beautiful experiment of high IL
cense. There may be more revenue paid
to the city, there may be reduction In
the, number Of saloons, that Is all, but an
to the Improvement in morals or the
decrease in the amount of rum sold, tits
the same old thing-morals and rum as
NJ 2al-the latter higher in price. 1t is
eaid that they could not enforce prohibi-
ton in Chicago and other cities. No,
they cannot enforce prohibition with a
rum Mayor and rum Police, who will
wink at the traffic and take their drinks
whenever they can get them.
A license is license, high or low;
the iniquity and disgrace attending
them are the same. And no true tenn
perance man can consistently vote for
any man who favors the granting of any
kind of license to sell liquor as a
beverage. Do our authorities grant Ii.
cense to keepers OF opium joints? Oh,
no. Why not? The poor opium smoker
l
becomes happy, and then unconscious
of all troubles. Any OF you who have
had morphine or other extracts of
opium administered to you in sickness
will not soon forget its soothing effect,
but our conscientious legislator says
that the habit ruins u man, units him
for business and the duties OF life. Oh!
And the police are ordered to arrest the
keepers and break up all the opium
joints. Oh, well that is all
right. Why this week woman
has been followed to Baltimore and
ARRESTED and taken back to New York
to be tried for keeping Joint" in the
latter city; but they could not enforce
prohibition in city, they say. Now,
this is the very essence OF Inconsistency.
We all know that to-day rum is doing
ten thousand times more injury to the
people of the United States than opium
does, for the reason chat the sale of lum
is legalized, and 1t Is to be had almost
Everywhere.
Next we will consider local option q
little, which is o truly democratic-re.
publican plan of treating the business
1t gives the people of o district the right
to vote on the subject, and the majority
rules. If against license, no liquor can
be sold in the district; but to be effective
1t must be general. The whole counts
Ior State must be against license.
For instance, many years ago when
there was liquor law in force In this
county men dubbed together here and
sent to Turkeytown, In Cecil County,
and bought their rum by the jug full.
Now whilst there is q local option law
in force in Cecil County, the drinkers oi
Cecil patronize Newark. Now IL we
had local option or prohibition in the
county whilst it Is In force in Cecil we,
both counties, would be pretty well re-