The Portland daily press., 1893-05-29
What win the End Be?

A few days ago there was in the PRESS
an editorial headed "Tinkering the
Liquor Law an apt phrase very well
applied to the many SO called amend
mcnts made to the anti-liquor law. The
friends of temperance and prohibition
are not responsible for this ''tinkering."
We have applied to every legislature for
the last thirty years, asking for specific
and effective legislation; have sometime
been put off with nothing; sometimes
with more tinkering Of no value; occa-
sionally with some provision of real
value. But whatever of value we obtain
is granted grudgingly and after long de-
lay, This is a fair sample.
The ''dnmps" that every grog shop
had were great hindrance to the Off
GERS when searching for contraband
liquors. There was generally large
tub in sink, filed with dirty foul smell
ing water, open-mouthed pitchers with
beer, rum, whiskey, were placed on a
trap over this tub, the whole Of which,
pitchers and all, could be dropped into
the tub by pulling a cord. which couId
Ia rnacbaS Fl arv ,o,.+ - H. - -, M NJ
,ty;oa,'s ao.,iJ ay 20, " .no sup. Ine
oMcefs couid OF course make no seizure.
We stated the case to the legislature and
asked for the following amendment to
the law.
When finds are noured ont or otha,u;sa
destroyed manifestly to prevent their seizure BY
oilcers properly authorized TO search for liquors
sEas aen' Gf Ire ss te oeefs snail make
fluids So poured ont Of otherwise destr,n n,.d
SHALL be held to have been intoxicating liquors
intended for sale In violation OF law.
The legislature sttinkered,, the armand
ment proposed by us 80 as to he ahso-
Iutely impotenf. and the ssdumnss waro
in constant 11se as before A. last afta,.
a delav Of some vaars the Gss;r 81
amendment Is the law was made Il, tba
terms proposed by MS. and that mt an
instant end to the dumps. So 80 -
imprisonment to the rumse1iers was
imposed only upon a second or snbse-
ouent Conviction. This was avn;ded nv
the neglect Of The instice or conntv az ~
torney to allege a former conviction Con
seouently every case was first cnnvic-
ton without any iail. We asked Tho
legislature to give us this additional
legislation:
49,,
naoy noice c1anIy a51orney OF munlci
ailege former Conviction in any case WRRer W
there has been such conviction, Shall, on COM
R a1f paya nne OF one hundred dollars, one
'''ll '''o1'o- ~ u'e complainant.
This was changed by the legislature SO
that the fine could be recovered only by
an action of debt brought by the attorney
general. So that was absolutely dead
letter. In that way there has been for
many years ''tinkering of the law"
One year there was Temperance
committee of the legislature composed
entirely of temperance men; we felt sure
of obtaining from it some effective
amendments to this law, and we sub.
mitted such to the, committee. Their
reply was that such amendments could
not pass. Very well, we said, let them
fail then; we beg'of you not to propose
any useless measures, for they generally
embarrass us in carrying on warfare
against the saloons. -
The penalties of the original Maine law
were smaH. There was no certainty
that it woti1d be accepted by the people
if the penalties should be all that could
be desired. The important thing was to
have the principle of prohibition ac-
cepted and established; after that the