The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1897-11-26
The Grand Jury and a strong License
Law

| The late report of the grand jury contains
| remarkable suggestion. They say: 1--WE have
been in session nine days. A considerable
| portion Of our time has been spent invcstiga-
ting alleged violations of the local option law.
Either the law should be made effective
to prevent such violations, or we should have
Il strong license law
Whether approved or motif it does not i'm
pose violation of conscience-law should be
obeyed, and should be enforced. Having
knowledge that our local option law was viola
ted through drug stores, and by prescrip-
tions,' | once attempted to obtain legislative
action to correct this evil. My efforts did not
meet the approval of good citizens, who regret
ted the facts as l did but who had more of
wisdom and experience.
Our grand jury say they wasted their time in
vain effort TO maintain the existing law. On
every side among us is heard the assertion that
in many places, and especially i'll our county
seat, facilities for drunkenness abounds. | am
not much in the way of knowing what others
tell me they know; but not unfrequently me ct
drunken men who become drunk, and away
from home. Last winter, just as night drew
on, driving home from Bel AR, l saw u man
lying in fence corner, drunk. He was partly
covered with snow, which was then falling. |
With the aid of another man. and despite his |
requests that would go to Il place which, per- |
haps, his need of warmth suggested. the poor
wretch was gotten into my carriage and took |
him to his house. Had he been left to sleep on
he would probably have slept his long sleep.
What is complained of in Hartford is ire
qucnt, if not the general, experience where the
attempt is made to make men sober against
their consent. | do not say that there are not
contradictory assertions, but from many quar-
tiers the report is heard that Prohibition does net
pIOhi6F. OF course the answer is This is the
testimony of men interested in the uccursed
trade" l know that this answer is not wholly
true. Maine surely may be taken as IL test |
State. If prohibition be not Il success thele, it |
is not to be hoped that it can be anywhere. If
is asserted that ut this time there is more iqu or
sold i'll Maine than ever before. donot know.
but anxious to know the truth once wrote to |
Il friend i'll Maine. whose duties carry him over |
the whole Statecountry and towns, and asked |
him, what is the result of prohibition in your
State? His answer was: I'm some parts of
the country it seems TO be success; but there |
general sentiment, not statutes. governs; the |
people would be abstemious without pronibi- |
ton. But in all the cities and large towns
liquor is taken perhaps more freely than ever;
and with this increased evil, it is drunk in
secret, and often, through braYado in greater
excess. Moreover, there is what | look upon |
rs Il greater evil Through the common con
demnation and violation of this law there is |
bred contempt for all law, and thus the
foundation of our liberties is undermined"
Another objection might be added. Liquor
sold in secret against law is likely to be bad,
warranted to kill ut forty PAGES. Sixty years
ago Il Connecticut judge said, There is IL
marked difference between the crimes COM
mitteG under the effect of liquor now, and when
first sat on the bench; and this because of the
stigma now fixed upon distillers." If rum had
then become so much worse because no longer
made by the deacons, what must common
whiskey be now,
Aguln, being in u quiet village in Berkshire
Massachusetts, | asked of hotel-keeper us
this prohibition State" He answered, mo,
but this is local option town" County, we
would sayl. What is the effect of the law? l
further asked Free license. From where
We stand can point out to you half dozen
places where beer and whiskey may be bought
by any one, And here can let you, not every
body, have anything you may call for" Are
you not sometimes reported: "Oh. yes only
last week | was fined. But what does that
amount toy l hear whisper, He ought to
| have been confined Well yes. as a breaker
| license should take the place of free license.
One result Of such a change is evident. A
smaller number of drinking houses could be
| more narrowly watched; and the owners of
such, in their own interest, would be aids in
| the suppression of the greater evil-the speak
eases.
Our grand jury say that if our present local
| option law cannot be made, what it is not now,
| effective, then 1--WE should have strong license
| law" They dared say this because they were
under oath TO maintain law. They must find
| support from the courage of their convictions
| for assuredly they will come under fire of re-
| proach
Why are so many Prohibitionists so harsh IN
| their condemnation of those who do not agree
with them: 'Tis because of the imperfection
of good men. When men feel strongly and at
| tdch Importance to their opinion they are likely
| to misiudge all who controvert their Judgment
| The Oii0nt tteOiDgicHm and the OdiHm HedicOr~m
are proverbial. Theologians and physician
| deal with what touches life, spiritual or bodily
| life. If what they consider essential to the
! safety or weli-being of this life be opposed
| naturally they become excited, and probably
| unduiy so. The Prohibitionist looks upon
drunkenness as the source of ruin to soul and
| body. This eXcites his imagination that he
| can see no OF .er danger to men. For instance,
| he may be just as eager as the most headstrong
| sinner in the pursuit of riches, forgetting that
God has said that THE love of neoney, not of
| drink is the root of all evil" But the
evil the Prohbionist does see is enough to
| rouse every effort to suppress it. His zeal is
most praiseworthy. Unhappily he can not be-
leve in the sincerity of one who declares, 'all
you see is plain before my eyes, anu it grieves
| tot he wit VI 81 Z
best mode of correcting it." Not to believe
that Prohibition is the only mode, is, in his
judgment-a Judgment often plainly enough
exprcssed-to be defender of the right OF Il
| nau to make beast of himself. and bring sor
row aud ruin to others, through love of drink
| Now am speaking my own thoughts-drunk-
| cnness is sin against society, and as such
should be not only watched against, but punish
ed. l do not undertake to say how punished :
or to say what should be the test OF the state OF
drunkenness. Some say u man is not to be
called drunk unless he attempts To light his
pipe at the pump, or feels upward for the
ground. But, whatever the test, man who is
recognized rs drunk should be punished as well
as the man who has helped him to make Il
beast of himself.
What is to me more serious matter than
wrong done to society, drunkenness is a sin
against God. In Galatians, together with "ha-
tred wrath, strife, heresics," drunkenness is
placed among the works of the flesh of which
it is said They that do these things shall not
inherit the Kingdom of Heaven" And in list
Corinthians we are told the same thing of 1.-The
| cdyetouS, drunkarGs and revileTs.n The Pro-
hibtfonist finds in scripture many text up
holding his position, which is this: AS drunk
enncss IS a sin, SO to sell or drink that which
u is
: IA text of them all that do not accept us from
God. And yet hold that in no sense does God
sanction the deductions drawn by the Prohibi-
, tionists. Condemning, prohibiting sin, God
does not put it out of the power of man to COM
nit sin, The sin of drunkenness any more than
theft OF unceanncss, or Islander, or upright
, eous Judgment. Not until some centuries ago
were distilled strong waters known. But
u alcohol, the result of fermentation was from
beginning; il is found in the grape hanging on