The Portland daily press., 1886-01-26
THE MARSHAL AND THE RUMsEL-
IERS.

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In letter to the county commissioners
published in the Argus Marshal Andrews
confesses that he has been in the habit OF
usurping the functions of the court and de-
hold ~ himself whether liquors. should be
so;.os - = to a claimant. Dec. "A he
twelve qaals 0oStles IF bFapdX a ID
his boo.-er Timothy J. Twigg, but did not
nDel them. May % he seized 40 gallons of
whiskey directed to E. L. Stanwood & Co.,
but did not libel them. August 20 he seized
another barrel of whiskey directed to the
to the same parties and did not libel it.
About week later he seized keg of the
same article directed to the same party, and
again failed to libel it, December Is he
seized another keg belonging to the same
parties and again failed to libel it, One week
later he made another seizure of barrel
from the same parties and returned it,
Liquors directed to H. p. s. Goold, c. II.
Guppy e. Co, d. +. Murdoch, G. B. Green
leaf, and the United States Hotel were
treated in the same way. And the defence
he sets up for these remarkable performances
is that he ascertained that the above liquors
were not intended for unlawful sale. Where
does Marshal Andrews get his authority for
undertaking to determine whether liquors
are intended for Illegal sale or not? The
statute of the State says that the officer
Selling liquor shall file libel against the
liquor seized before a magistrate, and that
the latter shall fix a time for hearing on such
libel, and If any person appears and claims
such liquors, he shall file with the magistrate
such claim in writing, declaring that they
were not intended for illegal sale, and shall
make oath to the same Where did Marshal
Andrews get authority for delivering up
to Timothy Twigg twelve quarts of brandy
and twelve quarts of port wine, even if
he believed Mr.. TwiggS flimsy story that
they were a Christmas present? Where
did he get authority for delivering up sew
eral barrels of whiskey to E. L. Stanwood,
or key of gin to III. p. S. Goold, or bar
rel of wine to c. H. Guppy, or keg of whis-
key to C. b. Greenleaf, or jug of rum to
the United States Hotel, or eleven bottles of
lager to Annie Delaney, or half barrel of
beer to d. f. Murdoch? The law does not
give it to him. That enjoins him to libel
them and puts upon the claimant the burden
of proving that they were not intended for
illegal sale. Every drop of liquor the Mar
shall returned without an order from the
court he returned Illegally.
But the Marshal processes to think that he
has some discretion in this matter. Let us
assume that he has, and then see II he eX-
ercised it in manner consistent with BIS
pretended anxiety to suppress the sale OF IN
toxicating liquor. Timothy j. Twigg is one
of the most notorious rumsellers in the city.
He has been fined and imprisoned over and
over again. There could be but one presump
ton when liquors were found at the Boston
q Maine depot marked to him and that was
that they were intended for illegal sale. The
Marshal seized twelve quarts If brandy and
the same quantity of wine so directed and
and instead of libelling them and putting
upon Mr.. Twigg the burden of proving in
court that they were not intended for illega1
sale he handed them over to Twigg on fine
latter's assertion that they were Christmas
present. 1t does not appear in the MarshaPs
letter that to get his liquor Twigg found it
necessary to declare even that they were not
intended for illegal sale.
Again, still assuming discretion on the part
of the Marshal, what was the presumption in
regard to liquors directed to the United
States hotel? Did the Marshal think that
the three gallons CT rum directed to that hotel
were to be used for bathing purposes and
therefore neglect to libel it? How was it
with the 121 pint bottles of lager beer packed
in barrel directed to r. d., Bath? Did the
Marshal see nothing suspicious about that,
or was he acquainted with this r. D., and
knew that he would make no Illegal use