Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1886-04-24
No Longer for Prohibition.
To the Editor ofMe Dispatch:

As subscriber to your ably-edited
and fair-minded paper we take the lib
erty of sending the following article for
publication upon the all-absorbing ques-
ton of local option. When the bill
was passed by the Legislature, being a
friend Of temperance we were disposed
to take favorable view as to its bene-
fetal results, but upon an earnest aud
mature reflection we are reluctantly
forced into opposite conclusions. Now
the paramount question is, Will it ae-
complish all the good, or even the half
of it, it proposes to do? We are forced
to believe it will not. 1t has been
lamentable failure where it has
been longest and most stringently
tested. Statistics from the criminal
dockets and poor-houses in those
localities attest the facts. let the
friends Of the bill say what they may.
And again: We are afraid while shutting
the door upon one class Of evils we are
opening another door to other evils just
as bad, if not worse. To say that any
temperance bill can be enforced by
which the sale Of Intoxicating liquors
will be suppressed or even lessened to
any great extent is contrary to all ex-
peiiments upon the subject. And what
are the results? 1t is sold and drank
on the sly, the vendors using every ar
tifce and trick to supply the demand,
while they who use it adopt every sub
terfuge and device to obtain it. and the
laws of God and man are broken all
over the land in the conflict. And.
moreover, would we not be train
ing the rising generation by ex-
ample to habits Of lying, decep-
ton, and trickery, which would
be sapping all that ennobles human
nature? But the friends of the bill say,
Well stop the traffic by the enforce
ment of the law. Very good ; but who
is going to enforce the law? If every
case of its violation were taken to the
courts they would have to sit from
Christmas to Christmas and the people
heavily taxed to pay the costs Of the
innumerable presentments, while the
lawyers would be doing most thriving
business. If the present laws prohibit
ing the sale of Intoxicating liquors on
the holy Sabbath day are violated the
year round, and often under the very
eyes and noses Of the friends Of local
option, and the law rarely enforced,
what may we expect as to its
on work-days? As
to four fifths Of the crime Of
the land being traceable to the use Of
liquors, as claimed by the
friends of the bill, it requires as much
notification as the assertion of the Rev.
Mr.. Jasper's that the sun do move. We
are not one Of those who are willing to
1.-THE mint, anise, and cumin, and leave
out the weighter matters Of the law
such as lying, stealing, adultery, back
biting, and defrauding at every oppor-
tunity. 1t is law Of our nature
brought down from the Garden Of Eden
to crave that which is prohibited.
Therefore we are very much afraid this |
local-option business will fail in its de-
sired results wherever it becomes a
law. The pure religion of Christ if |
preached and practiced in its purity |
would supersede the use of any sump-
tuary or local-option laws. This is the
moral aspect of the case. Now let US
look little further as to its pecuniary |
effects: Our State is now in the throes
of financial troubles. Take away the
hundreds Of thousands Of dollars which |
this local.option law will take from her
Treasury, not dollar Of which she can
spare, and where will the deficit come
from? There is no other resource left |
but taxation. Are our people so pros
porous as to have their taxes increased
a third more to crafty the experiments
of a doubtful scheme, the spirit Of |
which had its origin and start at Ply
mouth Rock, and which gave to Con-
necticut her blue laws, caused witches
to be hanged and Quakers to be perse-
cuted and driven from their homes?
f. p. NJ.
Near 4Hee'S. HdnOyer. A nrill IL lSS6 |