Washington sentinel., 1899-01-21

Il
drinking bouts. Nor is there a lack o
laws against intemperance with them
The first restrictive liquor law is prob
ably that of the Suevi, directed against
the importation OF wine. After vine
culture had been introduced by the
Roman legions into the Rhinelands
(7sI). intemperance grew apaCe; but nc
laws seem 10 have been enacted against
it uutil the reign OF Charlemagne' Inc
capltularies OF this great warrior ano
equally great law maker abound III
liquor laws some of them showing very
pointedly to what extent drunkenness
prevailed at that time. Thus, one
provision reads: mo Earl shall hold
court unless he be sober" from whlcn
it must be inferred that 1t was the
custom of these judges to hold cour'
while under the influence of tintoxlcants'
Tne penal measures seem at first to nave
been extremely leuient 'WhosoeVer,
one provision reads, sis found drunk In
camp shall be compelled to drink water
only until he shall have acknowledged
that he has done wrong" Alterward
accommodation was added to the list
Of penalties, and when even this penal
measure tailed, castigatlon was resorteu
to, with no beter success. Il is oi
interest to know that Charlemagne, IN
his Capitulare de Wins, prescribed that
no people should be employed who did
not know how to brew beer. He seems
to have thought. then, that his laws
against intemPerance would have been
more efficacious, If his subjects would
drink beer exclusively. The Council Of
AK la Chapelle (SI7) attempted to carry
out a sort of Gothenburg system, in
trying to regulate the consumption OF
wine and beer in each community.
FruItless endeavors one aud all! Not
one of the laws and regulations, whether
lenient or harsh in their penal provisions,
ACCOMPLISHED the desired result.
With the introduction of distilled
liuuoIs, which were at first regarded
and used death preventing medicine
thence the French name, saN ae 0te),
inebrietS assumed greater proportions
and new character. The use Ofthese
intoxicants first became general at the
close of the fifteenth century in Hungary;
subsequently in Bohemia, Poland
Pommerania and Russia, In the year
1881 the Euglish soldiers, engaged in
war in the Netherlands, were furnished
brandy, and soon used II to excess, Itwas
about this time that the first temperance
society, excepting one, was organized
by Maurice OF Nassau. under the title of
"Order Of Temperance, to which
noblemen only were admitted, They
were, however, allowed to drink beer
as much as they liked. Ardent spirits
were prohibited, the penalty for drink
ing one glass Of brandy being deduction
of two glasses from the regular allowance
OF wine for each offence. In 1894, the
Margraye of Hesse prohibited the use Of
distilled liquors, and laws OF like
purport were enacted in SaxOny, Wur
temburg and Brandenburg.
Drunkenness existed in Britain when
the Romans invaded that island. Under
Saxon rule the evil experienced no
diminution. With their political and
personal freedom-the foundation OF
England's present state Of civil liberty
the Saxons also transplanted TO the new
soil their social and martial drinking
habits. Ale or beer was their common
drink. The kings Of the West Sax'ns
must have been enormously" fond Of
these drinks. since they eXacted an an
nual tax of twelve ambers OF ale from
every owner OF ten hides of land. Men
ton has already been made of the law
(esS) tor the suppression Of all ale houses
excepting one in every village. Previ'
Gus to the enactment OF this law, Edgar
had decreed that all drinking vessels
should be provided with pegs. and that
no guest at an alehouse should be al
lowed, under legal penalty, to drink
beyond the next peg as the beaker went
the round Of the table.
In 1881 an act was passed prescribing
the binding of keepers ofal houses and
uppling houses by recognizance, and in
1854 the number of such houses. as we'll
as OF taverns, allowed to be licensed,
was prescribed by law, and the drinking
Of wine on such licensed premises was
peremptorly forbidden. This law had
an effect Numerically opposite to ITS
object, as lawlessness Increased enor'
mouslv.
Prohibition in some form or other
was often resorted to in England in
order to curb the tendency to excesses,
but all such measures tailed
Enough has been said to prove that
there is not an age, however far removed
from our time, when intemperance was
not complained Of as an evil of more or
less grave consequences, and to prove,
furthermore, that restrictive laws, as
old nearly as mankind, have failed to
attain their end.
There is not a sumptusry law pro-
posed in modern times for which pro-
totype cannot be found IN the world's
history; not one measure. advocated
either by prOhIbitionists or temperance
apostles, that has not been put into ex'
ecution before, And still intemperance
prevails today, as it dId when Noah got
drunk. Among all such laws nonehave
failed more signally than those ofa pro-
hibitory character, whether they related
to the use OF fruit, Of drink or oi
tobacco. They either proved totally
abortive, or led to vices incomParably
more pernlcious than those which they
were intended to eradicate. The sever
est punishments, even the death penalty
as we have seen, failed to deter mar
from following that mysterious instinct
which rendered the creator prohibition