Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1892-02-18
Correspondence Of the Beaeon)
February 18th, 1892

FEBRUARY 10Th, 1917.
Messrs. Editors in dealing with the
question Of High License / confess that l
am unable 10 see its workings in all its
bearings. II strikes one however, that it
will work similar to that of the Postal
system. When the postal rates were high,
the system paid less revenue than now.
So long as the distillation and sale OF
liquors are. Le9dEized industry, it looks TO
me to be an unjust arrangement TO place
the burden of revefiue on that article, when
other industries bear no revenue at ALL
What an out cry would be made if the
whiskey men should get the asscendency
and compel every farmer who hires a
laborer 10 pay a certain amount of revenue
before the farmer could employ and use
said laborer Farming and dis,illation, both
being legalized industries, why discrimi-
nate against the one TO the apparent bene-
fit of the other: or they exclaim, "the
morality of the thing, makes all the differ
eDce." Now in the name of common
sense, what has morality to do with it, so
long as it is IegaLised industry. If whiskey
is TO be Handicapped on moral grounds, why
not strike at the root of the evil, instead of
being content to lop off a few Of its
branchesg There is no doubt tina. If intox-
icating fluids were done away with al
togather. the benefits resulting therefrom,
would be apparent in many ways, but TO
endeavor TO contine it to narrower limits
by hedging it about, as il were, it is hard
to see where the benefits will come in, so
far as in a moral sense is concerned. So
long as the traffic is a legalized one, just so
long is it unjust TO compel il TO bear
revenue, while other industries are required
to bear none. Like a problem in mathe-
matics when reduced 10 its simplest form.
all revenue comes out of the laborer, and
the one who drinks pays more than the
one who does not, thus presenting the
paradoXical case of one being robbed for
ones good. Look at it as we will, the
question reduces itselfto that, all sophistries
to the contrary notwithstanding. In a
moral sensei Some of the immortality may
be scored against the other side Local
option has been tried and found wanting;
being impotent TO curtail drunkenness,
but creating horde of clandestine dealers
High license will do the same, with the
addition of converting the license holders
into spies. There are many men, who take
their grog 10 excess at times, that would
rejoice to see the day when whiskey shall
be no more. And the means to root out
the evil from our land should be the SUBJ
ject of careful consideration.
Just here another subject, apparently
foreign to the one at issue, one that have
entertained for years, but in the past
lacked the courage to promulgate, may
furnish the key 10 the whole situation, and
that is woman suffrage" Give TO the
woman the Tightoffranchise and in my opin-
ion ten years would not roll around before
intoxicating liquors in this country would
be thing of the past.
Some of my friends seem to think that
a change in the mode of making guberna-
torial appointments would be desirable for
this county. Instead of petitions being
pre- scented 70 our Representatives, let them
first pass through the hands the Central
ComhlIttee / am told such is the practice
in Charles county, where it works we'll
There Is q rumor here to the effect that
the dwelling of DIR. Barker near New port
Charles county, together with most of its
contents were destroyed by fire on the
night of the 18th instant. DIR. Barker was
formerly from Mechanicsvilie this county.
He has many sympathising friends.
Yours Truly,