The Republican journal., 1888-07-26
Prohibition in Portland.

where liquor was sold openly by the glass" !
correspondent
1t is one of the oft-recurring duties we hav
| to meet to answer the inquiries sent to us from
| abroad as TO the workings of our liquor law il
this state and particularly in this city. SOmebOd
has been visiting us, and undertaken to repor
| what he has done and seen here, or sOmebOd
| from Maine states for the information of tn
public what the condition of things is. Inbotl
| eases the testimony is unfavorable to our pro
hibitory law, and the lesson is apt to be that TIN
| people OF Maine are ignorant of the true facts
and are either hypocrites or fanatics in main
tanning it. The friends of the cause in othe
states. many of them Maine people interested
in the good name of their native state, distres
| Sed by these reports, write to us as one likely
to know the facts to tell them the truth in thu
| case. We have had two such letters the pas
| week. one from Ohio the other from Oregon
| which at some cost of time and strength WI
| have felt obliged to answer. We are constrain
| ed therefore, to put into brief compass what WI
regard as the actual facts in this matter, for al
answer, once for all, to inquiries of this sort. We
| DO this from our own knowledge. REINFORCED
by the testimony and approval of our officials
the sheriff and his deputies, the city marsha
| and police. and the Judge of the municpa
court.
There are no open places for the sale OF
iqnor IN Portland. BY this we mean there
are none similar to the open and public saloons
III cities of other states. Except at the City
Agency. it is nowhere sold as other articles OF
common Use are, such as sugar, flour, proyis-
ions. etc. There is no place where liquors are
kept for sale in sight, exposed to the view of
the police or the ordinary passers in the streets
There is none having IA sign on the outside or
bottles of liquors in the windows to notify the
public of the sale or presence of liquors within.
ii. 1H safes Of H4uOr IN Portland are
mdde ander concealntent. If they occur in
hotels, they are in private room remote from
public observation. If in SALOONS so called
these are constructed that the business is
secret. The liquors are kept out Of sight, in
cellars and attc>, in recesses under floors, in
stables. in holes dug into the ground. in all
sorts of hidden and secret places. They are
Kept III vessels unlikely to attract notice, in
pals and tubs, and tin >prinkler> and pitchers
and teapot>, and others of humber uses. Most
frequently Of all, they are now sold from bot
ties Kept in the pocket. In not few cases. Il
'>aloon.' so reported. is simply ii black pint
bottle hidden under an Irish woman's apron.
III. Al ptaces arhere iqmors are sold are
cornf"Hy. g"dMed from incosioMs by the
Police. Men and boys are employed about the
doors to watch for the approach of the officers
and other suspicious people. and give warming
in time. Against these the doors are shut and
barred. till the liquors kept lis aforesaid are
destroyed or otherwise put out OF the way.
When the officers get access. there are none to
be seen and nobody i'll charge of the premises.
The supplies of these places are brought at
night or Very early in the morning. of some
other time when the notice of the officers may
he escaped Every preraution is taken to cover
up the business as one that is known to be illeg-
al. 'ii>graceful, and dangerous.
~. Jhr means for enfOrrinY The t0lr und
snppressiny tie sale are numerous ant effect
ice. First. IA special force of officers appoint
ed directly hy the sheriff is employed for the
express and sole purpose of destroying the
business. There are three in this county call
ed the "quor deputies who have an office, Il
team, and AL apparatus requisite for opening
doors and packages. These men are constant
y busy in searching for and sciZing liquors. ar
resting their keepers, and after sentence by the
court, in pouring the liquors seized into the
common sewers of the city. Next, there is the
entire force of the city police, who attend to
this a> well AS to the other duties of their office.
They are independent of the shcrifs. but act
in harmony with them. The libels against the
liquors seized by both classes of officers are
posted in the corridors of the City Hall, often
amounting to hundreds in number, where they
mat be seen and read by all. The Municipal
court is in session nearly every day, in which
from one to half Il dozen or more are tried.
fined. and sent to Jail for their acts.
v. Tile 'IicenSeS.'' so called, issued by the
United States Internal Revenue, are merely
receipts for the payment of taxes assessed on
liquor dealers They give no warrant to sell.
but they exempt those who have them from
heavy penalties inflicted by the Government
upon utatlS W Io nave iDl ptlu tllcln. UcN
are taken out mostly by druggists and other
persons who trade in liquors for medicinal and
manufacturing purposes.
VI. Under the continuous application of
this legal machinery, Tie business OF selling
Nqnor unInnfuVy in PurUond is reduced 10
Minihun. 1t is only what can and dares
be done and escape the clutches of the law. 1t
is confined to the comparatively small amounts
that ooZc through the meSheS of the net so
carefully devised to arrest them. We think
that Notwithstanding all the representations of
partiSan> and superficial observers who Judge
without knowledge of the facts, common
sense will satisfy any reasonable man that Il
business hedged in by restrictions and haZ-
ards must be greatly curtailed. While not
absolutely cXtinguiShed. (Which is done by no
law in relation to the evils against which it is
enacted). the law is largely etlectual for its
purpose. Liquor selling and drinking are
branded As Il curse. under the rcprobation of
the community, and what little remains of it
is driven into holes and disreputable corners
where 1t still drags along miserable and NOR
ihund existence.
VII. yAe Prohibito1y Lar is upheM by
the PnJiic sentiment Of tie state. 1t was put
into the Constitution Il few years ago by pop
ular majority of over forty->even thousand.
There are, indeed, not few who prefer IL
cen>e laws instead OF it, and Others who are
ready to join in di>paraging it as inefficient,
but they constitute Il small minority of the
whole.
Even in the recent State Democratic COnyen-
ton a resolution favorins license received COM
! paratively few votes. The people of Maine,
after an experience of its workings for a third
of a century. have made it a part of their fun
lamental law, and We know of no signs that
they will ever be induced to abolish it.
The above statements have particular refer
ence to the city OF Portland, but with some vt-
riation> and exceptions they are believed to APP
ply also to the other cities of the state. In the
country generally, the sale scarcely exists.
TThe Christian Union.