, 1889-07-11
TURN OF THE TIDE.
Some Facts and Deductions Relating
In Drnli HILL

No one who has watched the course of
prohibitory legislation IN the United
states will deny, at this late day, that it
is the work of impractical and utopisn
reiormcrs. In every state where IL has
been attempted, IL has had but ono OF.
fect--that OF decreasing the revenues OF
state and county alike, without Hbating
the evil OF common drunkenness. In
New York, in 1854, that honest but Wis
ionary man, Myrou X. Clark, was
elected governor over two men vastly his
superior in the theory and practice of
civil government. These were Greene
&. Bronson, whig candidate, and Hor.
alto Seymour, democrat.
The legislature which convened at Al
bany during the winter after Clark :
election, passed prohibitorv law very
much like that of Maine, OF which Gen.
Neal Dow was the author. 1t was q
public calamity to New York, Albany,
Buffalo and all tho larger cities, because
the few luw-abiCling saloon keepers at
once closed their places of business,
while the law.defying grog ellers sold
Just as much liquor, as ever and paid no
license whatever, Meanwhile the treas.
ures of all the cities were perceptihly
abated from the loss of revenue hitherto
derived from the sales of liquor licenses,
There were no prosecutions for the eva.
sion OF payments of licenses, and there
was no revenue for the maintenance .
jails and worllholacs, which had hith-
erto been largely kept up by payments
into the license fund. The very next
legislature repealed the act, and enacted
nigh license law, which is still in force
and effect.
The action OF tho little state of Rhode
Island during tho past month Is u straw
, showing the course of the wind. Three
! years ago she amended her constitution
BY the insertion OF q prohibition clause
by a popular mujority OF GOOO votes
Now she calls another election 10 repea
II, and carries IL by a majority OF 1880
ballots. The sensible people of Rhode
Island have evidently had quite enough
OF prohibition. Coming as 1t did upol
| the heals OF the Pennsylvania election
held only two days before it, there ca,
be no nlistaking the significance of sucl
an expression at the ballot box. During
the past two years, nine states hav
voted upon the prohibitory amendment
TO their constitutions, with the following
results
reSSs,.'"",..",."."s2, ,Ssi MassachSetts,43' 'S5
! Tennessee. .,.."a1 sos Penn"., ."... ls6, ,o0
4WEsgoyyiijS'a Ws.i yiysjr; 'ss9 ~, Rhode IoIandls5o
All these maiortles were cast in tn
negative of the proposition, the 1856 00
of Pennsylvania being an angry rebuk
TO such Impractical legislation. Penn
! Sylvania is a strong republican state
while Texas, with her 81, ,66l vote
| against it, Is as vehemently democratic
Oregon majority against Il Is a larg
one when her small population Is takcl
into consideration; and the fact that sht
cast $500 majority for Dinger Hormanl
| for congress In June 1885 ulld gave Har
rlson and Morton 700 in November o
the same year shows that the repubi
cans of that state are opposed To rain
bow'chasing legislation.
| The only states in which prohibition
is in force are Maine Iowa and Kansas
| The former l. the cradle of the move
ment, and hence may be expected to re
tain II longer than any other state. low,
and Kansas are purely rural states, hay
ing no maritime commerce and no met
ropolitan cities. In their larger town
the law is virtually a dead letter to-day
and its repeal is only a qucs ton of time
in large cities like New York and Phila
delphia, prohibition merely signifies iic
whisky. In sparscly settled communi
ties prohibition has been partially sue
ceSstul, but In crowded cities II i, tia
failure. The good sense OF the Ameri
can people has found far more practi
cal method of dealing with the run
traffic in the shape Of high license.
amounts to prohibition In many cases
and this is one of the cases where it pay
TO "let well enough alone. ."--Helena In
| dependent,