Smyrna times., 1886-02-17
For the Smyrna Times
Does Prohibition Prohibit7
BY REV. T. 0. AYREs.


l am being quoted and misquoted by
the papers as having used language to
the effect that prohibition does not
prohibit
To the question, Does prohibition
prOhibit?" | answer yes and no, just as
/ mean.
If am asked if prohibition prOhib-
it's honest, decent, law-abiding citizens,
l answer yes. But if I am asked if
prohibition prohibits dishonest, indie
cent, law-breaking people, | answer
no Not in the sense of putting a full
and complete stop to law breaking.
There is a law in the State Of Mary
land against rape, but that law does
not prohibit the commission of rape.
A rum seller or rum drinker will run
down raper and help to hang him
without Judge or jury" and justify
the act under the plea that the villain
forced the will and assaulted the per-
son of his victim, and if l were to adj
VOcate the abolition of the law against
rape then that same rum advocate
would want to hang me to the nearest
tree. The plea that prohibition does
not prohibit would not weigh a feathers
weight with him. This same rum seller
or rum drinker will flash upon me the
tiger leer of his rum-inllamcd eye and
hiss at me his rum-born curses; be-
cause | want a law to stop him from
debauching himself and his neighbor,
robbing wives and children of IA decent
support, and rendering it unsafe for
women to 90 abroad alone or stay at
home alone because rum takes away
mems honor and reason and converts
them into rapers. 1t is Il very rare
thing for a man who don't drink rum,
to commit a rape. There is a law in
| this State against prOfane swearing
The intent Of the law is to prohibit the
vile thing, and yet these rum men
| stencil the air and blacken the heavens
with their prOfane swearing. Why
| don't they cry out against the law? 1t
/ don't prohibit.
There is u law against assault and
yet assault goes on. why don't the
rum men cry out against the law? 1t
may be that their mouths are stopped
with the fear that were the law re-
moved indignant wives and mothers
| would resort to the cane and the cow
hide
There is a law against steamboats,
landing freight on Sunday, or leaving
port on Sunday, or, to be more accur-
ate, on the Sabbath and yet, the
steamboats, running on the ChOptank
river do both.
Why not cry out against all the Sab
bath laws? Just here we have no case
against rum men, for they do cry out
against the Sabbath laws and do all in
their power to crush them out of exis-
tence.
Does prohibition prohibit? Yes.
When rum was sold by the sanction
of the law our Caroline county aims
house had about forty inmates. Now
that rum is not sold by law our county
house has about fourteen inmates
When rum was sold by law our Jail
was generally full. Now it is gener-
ally empty. a prisoner is a local show
The law prohibits the sale of rum
at the wharf in Denton, and yet the
thing is done. Suit was brought
against a man for selling Intoxicating
liquor on one of the steamboats,. The
man was convicted, an appeal was
taken and lost. So the case stands
that the law was broken, and by whomi
Our answer is that we are not alone in
our opinion that the steamboat com
pany is at the back of the whole mat
ter.
These people will cry out against the
law; and why? Is it not because they
are guilty of law breaking? Can the
Maryland Steamboat Company lanC
freight in Baltimore on the Sabbath
and leave port and put to sea? No
without violating the law of the land
Will some one tell us what the ofIi
GERS of the law do with their oath o
Office?
These same steamboats, bring Jugs o
intoxicating liquor to the wharves al
along the river and what do they cal
said jugs 2 Why they call them "Th,
Minister'S" thus trying to slur thu
churches and ministers of religion
They speak wiser than they intend
however, for the rum-jugs are minis
ters after all-yes, ministers of poverty
crime and death.
Prohibition does prohibit. The run
drinkers keep up a constant cry thai
prohibition does not prohibit. Well
why do they want the law repealed
They tell us that more rum is sold now
than before the law was passed ant
they tell what's not true. Any MAJ
7 who will spend a Saturday night in {
p Delaware town will soon see the differ
ence. This word Delaware takes Ou
minds across Mason and DixOn's line
where the law puts the control of tn,
sale of rum into the custody of tn,
court. The people petition and tn,
court grants or withholds the license
; The power which controls the cour
: must lie in one of two directions. II
their innate love for rum and their de
sire to have it and give it to the people
or a willingness to yield 10 the de
sire of the petitioners who ask to sell
Now if the court in granting license t.
sell rum, does that it has a stomach for
and is so under the influence of tina
stomach that it is controlled by it thel
there is little help, for when men grow t.
be fifty years old with the love of run
fixed in them, their case is about hope
less. May God pity the poor wive
and children of Delaware rum drink
ers for it is very plain that it is useles
for them to cry to the judges of tn
courts.
When the election of an Easter
, Shore judge was pending a gentleman
handed us the following question
" What is the qualification for
judge?"
We handed him the follOwin
, answer:
{ Judgment is the qualification for
, iudGe.n
r And added the following reasons:
, IA judge is supposed to know tn
law-to be a lawyer.
: "A man may know the law an
} be lawyer and not be possessed {
4 that large measure of Judgment whic
is the qualification of Judge.
g. By judgment we mean that il
nate quality of the mind which enable
its pOssessOr to compare facts and idea
weigh arguments and discover the
mutual relation and determine the
value and by the power of judgmer
discover, rescue and exhibit the righ
Judgment is the qualification for
Judge. There are many other esseI
tials, but judgement is the essentii
qualification for a judge. Now let I
}, apply this rule to Delaware and sc
how it comes out. At and about Har
ley, in Kent county, Del, the peop
sent two petitions to the court, the on
asking that a license be granted to Sc
y Intoxicating liquors, the other prayin
a