The Portland daily press., 1891-04-28
REINFORCED pRoHIBIT0RY LAW.
In a Few Days II VIII Co Into Effect;
Beware!
Driving Beer Carts In the Streets
VIII Be PerIIous.
The Steel Trap Kansas Injunction
Act Adopted.
May Sd Is close at hand. the date when

laws passed by the last Legislature are
take enect. On thot date the new, Iron-claI
amendments to the prohlbltory law are TO
go Into effect. In general way Ii Is known
tnat these amendments are very radical; Ibut
1t Is very doubtful II people understand how
severe the new penalties are and In what
way they are to act The main work In tenn
perance legislation was planned In what
passes as Chap 1872" Of the new laws. Al
though the most important piece OF prohibit
ory legislation was probably enacted separ-
ate from this chapter, the new law may be
studied best by examining first "Chap. 1872"
| 1. Under the present law selectmen Of towns
and mayors and aldermen Of cities are licens-
Ing boards for issue Of licenses to inn holders
and victuallers. When an Inn-holder OF vic
tualler takes out license he Is compelled TO
give bond In the sum OF $500 that he will
not. among other things, violate any law Of the
state in regard to selling intoxicating liquors.
The licensing board have heretofore been
the only persons who c0nld institute pI0-
ceedings against the bondsmen In case OF VI
olation Of the law Now the act passed last
winter CHAP. 132, sec. u provides that any
person may institute such proceedings. In
some Of the towns Of Maine this law In re-
gard to victuallers' and innholders' bonds
has been dead letter. 1t was so in Show
hogan. When last winter an effort was
made to compel the innholders to give the
eond. they shut up their hotels, as will be
| remembered. and the effort was abandoned.
z. A striking change has been made In
the old law relating to illegal transportation
OIL liquors. AT present simple fine Of $50
is imposed upon any person who knowingly
brings into the state or transports from
place to place In the state liquor, with the
intent to sell the same In violation Of law or
with intent to assist In illegal sale. The
new law makes a most radical change, by
making the penalty consist Of fine Of $500
and Imprisonment for one year; and In de-
fault Of payment of fine an additional year
| OF Imprisonment. This clause will be ant to
cause some reflections In Ithe minds Of those
men who are accustomed to .ha1l beer about
the streets nights. Lower, but sufficiently
drastic, penalties are provided for removing
intoxicating liquors from railroad car at
any place other than regular stations or
freight houses. Express, railroad and
steamboat companies may be fined $500 for
illegal transportation. knowledge on the
part OF an authorized agent is knowledge ON
| the part OF the corporation.
| 3. In the changes relating to drinking
houses and tippling shops the element Of
prior conviction seems to have dropped out,
so that punt shment for second offense would
be the same as for the first. This would
seem to be an inadvertent amelloration by
the legislators. But comparatively few
prosecutions have been made under this
| clause.
A. The most common procedure against
the grog shops has been by search and seiz-
ure process. Here are found some import
ant changes Under the present law for
conviction under search and seizure process
the punishment is 500 and costs or ninety
days In jail. or. In very bad cases, six months
In jail. On conviction for second OF other
subsequent offense, the punishment may be
800 and costs and six months In Jail, OF an
additional six months added to the term Of
Imprisonment without the fine. making
year In jail In all. Under the new law i'm
prisonment for the first ofense Is eompulso-
~, the penalty being 500 and costs and six
ty days In jail. In default Of payment OF
nne and costs sixty days may be
added to the term of imprisonment. But no
addition Of penalty Is made for second or
subsequent Ufrenses. SO, while In one re-
speet. the law win be fearfully stringent
against such men as druggists 1t win be less
severe on saloon keepers who take their pun
ishments as part Of their regular business.
Another marked provision In the section
OF the new law bearing on search and selz-
ure Is that relating to search Of the person.
Now, when warrant issues against an es-
tablishment and the party supposed to occu-
| py 1t the party's person can be searched
only after formal arrest. The new law al
lows the search of the person at the time Of
the search Of the place without the formalIty
OF an arrest. III liquors are found on the
person he or she may be arrested and "held
for keeping them intended for unlawful
sale" u
Another especially marked provision OF
the new law is the clause which declares
that ''any person who may be suspected Of
selling from. or keeping for illegal sale in,
his pockets. intoxicating liquors, may be
searched In the same manner aud by the
same process. as Is provided for the search
of.places, and II liquors are found upon his
person may be held to answer as though
such liquors were found upon the person in
the premises"
Still further In this new law relating to
search and seizure are found these remarka-
BILE provisions: "If fluids are poured out or
otherwise destroyed by the tenant, assistant
or other person. when premises are about TO
be searched, manifestly for the purpose of
preventing their seizure by officers author
lied to make such search and seizure. said
fluids may be held to have been intoxicating
and intended for unlawful sale. and the PEN
alties shall be the same as II said liquors had
been seized" Druggists manlfestly must be
very discreet about getting caught pouring
anything out.
The concluding sentence Of the search and
seizure section Of the new law enlarges con-
siderably the sphere within which the primd
taeie evidence Of the payment OF q revenue
tax may be used.
5. For the first offence Of drunkenness
there is-under the new lava fine Of $40
and costs or imprisonment for 80 days. For
! every subsequent offense there Is absolute
, Imprisonment for 30 days.
6. The valedictory clause of the new law
is a curious piece Of legislation. II amends
the old law directing executive officers like
sheriffs as TO their duties, by including
county attorneys whose functions are ordl-
narily recognized as widely different from
those Of sheriffs.
, This completes the review Of the regular
temperance legislation Of the session. that
Included In chapter 1872. OF the Acts OF the
: Slxty-nfth Legislature. But this does not
| by any means include all the temperance
| legislation. BY consulting chapter 98 Of the
| new laws, there may be found very lnno-
| cent looking act Ito amend chapter II Of the
; Revised Statutes relating to nuIsances" In
reality 1t Is brother Of the famous "Kansas
injunction act" and 1t is more calculated to
carry terror to the hearts OF rumsellers than
any other piece Of prohibitory legislation
passed for many years. To use the Western
phrase, 1t "gets the clnch" on the rumsel-
lers. After defining rumshops, houses Of
ill-fame. ETC., as nusisances, the new law
goes on; The supreme court shall have ju-
risdiction In equity. upon information filed
by the county attorney or on petition OF not
less than 20 legal voters Of such town or city,
7 | aatkinO forth ~ ha facts contained here