Mississippi leader. (Jackson, Miss.) 1892-1895, 1892-05-19


remaining, and has not been for many
years. At the same time we had i'm
. lmense quantities of West India rum
imported, brought here by the cargo.
For many years not even one pun
cheon has been imported. The Nation
continues:
"The reason is the people do not
sanction the law. On the one hand
! iuries will not convict, though the
T evidence of guilt is plain, because
they do not think the Offense worthy
of imprisonment
We have never had the least diff
Guilty with juries: they are always
ready to convict and do cOHvict when
the evidence is plain. Once in Port
liant the judge set "a verdict Of''guilty"
aside because, as he said, the proof
was not conclusive. | took especial
pains to examine the case and found
beyond doubt that the jury was right.
In 1915 the Legislature on petition
passed law that on the first and
every conviction. the rumseller should
90 to Jail. This was submitted to
popular vote. and was sustained by
the people by five to one. The next
legislature repealed this with no no
tice to anybody and no petition. In
Maine Tum-selling is regarded as
great crime against the State. United
States Senator Morrill, denounced it as
the Gigantic crime of crimes" and
no penalty, not absolutely cruel. can
be considered as too severe for its
suppression. The Nation continues
"On the other hand the judges
themselves are so 10th to Inflict the
penalty when conviction is secured.
they will not send the criminals to
jail. even though it seems question
able whether they enjoy any discretion
in the matter"
The drink habit wall debauch
Judges. as it will and does men of any
other class. so as to deaden the moral
sense and lead them to be false to
duty of whatever kind it may be. OF
this we see examples aud proofs every
day in multtudes of cases. In the
propositions | made to the last legiS-
lature. and To many preceding ones.
was included this: That all discretion
as to fines and penalties i'll liquor
cases be taken from the courts with
out reserve. The original Maine law
had that important feature, but it was
omitted when the law was re-enacted.
The New Workers by no means have
a monopoly of that infamy--laws null
lifted practically by the Courts. The
Nation continues:
"The Chief Justice of the Supreme
Court presided at the recent term Of
court held in Bangor, city where the
liquor traffic is conducted openly, and
he let Off all of the sellers who were
convicted upon payment of fines not
a single Jail sentence being imposed"
The Judge seemed to be aware of the
great wrong he was doing when he
answered to the protest of the county
attorney that he would take the re-
sponsibility.
The chief justice lives in Bangor
no more than that need be said of any
ones attitude on the liQuer question,
especially if he is not an abstalner
from intoxicants. | told the last leg
islature plainly that it would be of
small moment to pass any anti-liquOr
law, however good and wise it might
be, without depriving the courts of
all discreet III as to fines and penalties
and as to continuances for trial and
continuances for sentence. The dis
cretion of the courts where it is per-
mitted, is often, if not generally, EN-
ployed to make it as easy as possible
for convicted rumsellers. My expert
ence IN tins was the reason for putting
that provision into the original Maine
law. The law says the convicted
rumsellers shall pay so much fine and
suffer so much Jail. The judge often
says they shall not go to Jail. Some
of them say they shall neither pay nor
be imprisoned If our supreme court
of 1851 had been composed of men
like some of our present judges, |
think the original Maine law would
have been declared unconstitutional
When the Iowa case was before the
| U. S. supreme court, the point being
compensation TO brewers, a reporter
of New York paper asked me what
replied that knew very well what it
should be, but had no opinion as to
what it would be, because | knew
nothing of the personal habits of the
justices, nor of the character of their
social surroundings. In this decision
of the chief justice of Maine, no doubt
he reflected the opinion of a consider
able part of the people of the town
where he lives as we'll as his own SYM
pathies.
The Republican party of Maine at
every State party convention has put
Prohibition boldly into its platform.
l have them all, but the following is
the latest that can find at the mo-
ment. All of them are of similar
character
! 1882. ave refer with confidence
and pride to the general record of the
Republican party in support of the
policy of prohibiting the traffic in JIM
toxicating liquors, the wisdom and
efficiency of which legislation in pro-
noting the moral aud material inter
ests of Maine have been demonstrated
through the practical humiliation of
that traffic in a large portion of the
State and we favor such legislation
and such enforcement of law as will
secure to every portion of our territory
freedom from that traffic. We further
recommend the submission to the
people of constitutional prohibitory
amendment
i think i have shown that the Maine
law is fully supported by public sem
timent and that with honest, high