The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1886-08-28
TESTIMONY TO THE POINT.

In the conflict of opinion as to the
success of Local Option in this and
other Eastern Shore counties, the judy
ment of an impartial and disinterested
non resident ought to be worth some
thing, provided he be an intelligent and
capable observer. Now if you can
judge a mans intelligence by his ability
to write his experience, and to tell in
suitable and ineligible language what
he has seen, then the letter which we
publish in another column written to
the Baltimore .IMe1IcQN, as to the eff
fects of Local Option laws in Eastern
Maryland, ought to be accepted as the
valuable testimony of an intelligent and
credible witness.
This writer says, chat after various
"pilgrimages through the Peninsula dur
eng which he has found opportunity to
"eXamine with no little interest the ef-
eject produced by Local Option, that
"upon the whole its effect has been
"salutary, and that the friends of Pro
''hibition have much reason for self con-
Equalization, in that, peninsula towns
"lead far more decent and sober ex-
''stence than was thought possible ten
"years ago"
Now it will not do to say that the
writer of this has never been in Ekton,
Port Deposit or Chesapeake City, and
that therefore his testimony does not
apply to them. He has evidently been
around. His description of "Pear
Cider i; too fresh to have been re-
tailed second hand. 1T transforms, it
infuriates, it crazes' he says land woe
"be to the unfortunate mortal who so
"tar forgets himself and his country as
''to imbibe it, This man has plainly
been an eyewitness of its effects, and
the "hourishing Eastern Shore county,
in the towns of which this innocent
drink is to be had, Enthusiastically means
Cecil county. But whether Cecil county
be the locality meant or not, the con-
clusion to be drawn from this testimony
is the same. 1t is simply this, that the
Prohibitory laws prevailing in the sew
eral counties of the Eastern Shore are
not equally yesh7dac.
Indeed he designates the counties in
which there Is a strict enforcement of
the law in force there. He says, and
we have no doubt truthfully, that in
some of these counties, Talbot and
Queen Anne's especially, violations of
the laws are not SO numerous because
"hc terms Of the Mar a1rS0 strict and
conclUSisr." On the other hand, in
those counties in which the terms of the
law are not SO strict and conclusive,
violations are more frequent Now
Cecil county comes within the latter
category. He doesn't SO designate it,
but it is palpable fact, that the "cider
clause" in the present law for Cecil
county, is the fatal loop-hole through
which its vlolators defy it.
We see throughout this county, the
undeniable evidence of the Deficiencies
of the present law. Moreover, the OPP
ponents of Local Option, have seized
upon this condition, to falsely, illustrate
and emphasize the inefflciency of any
Prohibitory law. They even designedly
and untruthfully magnify the extent of
Its violation. Every drunken man seen
upon the streets Of any town or village
in Cecil county is exultingly pointed at
as a damning example, not OF the de-
grading effects of Rum, but of the fail
ure of Local Option. Thoughtful men
see in the unfavorable conditions exist
ing under the present law not an ar
gument to 60 backwards, but an incen-
tive to 60 forwards in the necessary
work of protecting society against a
common enemy, which even a large
proportion of the advocates of the High !
License system concede Rum to be.
They say with force, give US better
law, and the sentiment in Cecil is strong
enough to secure, as Talbot, and Queen
Anne's and other counties have secured, |