Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1900-04-27
The Great and Many Evils Of the
Local Option Law.

Mr.. Editor In the Sentinel of the 1871
instant W. H. Lamar calls upon the citi
zens OF this county to seriously consider
whether or not the local option law should
be changed because Of the great and many
evils incident to its operation His call is
specially directed to "the people who pay
the taxes of the county and who are most
interested in its welfare"
While am not very heavy tax payer
hope 1t will not be considered presumption
in me to review some things that he has
said concerning the great evils Of this law. l
think his call was misdirected because every
law should seek the welfare OF every one
In the county-men, women and children,
voters and non voters, taxpayers and non.
taxpayers,
If all these are interested, as l think they
are, and their interests and wishes be con.
sidered, as think they should be, have
no doubt as to the verdict on this law in
this county after 1t has been tried and very
imperfecty executed for nearly twenty
years. l have no fears at all in leaving 1t
To the taxpayers alone, letting IL be settled
| by the votes of the dollars paid In taxes.
don't think there can be the least doubt
| about the result OF such contest.
Sumptuary laws are almost universally
condemned, as they ought to be, because
they seek to forbid man from living stump
tuously in his private life. The local option
law does not forbid you to drink all you wish
| any more than the law on th It subject for
bids you TO eat oeo or tainted Chicago beef ,
but IL does forbid you to sell man drink Tor
the purpose OF debauching him, just rs the
| law forbids you to sell oleo as butter or dis
eased and condemned beef for steak. All
OF these laws would be sumptuary If they
| forbade the private use OF the articles named
none of them is sumptuary since each one
| OF them deals with the traffic in them.
The U. s. Revenue laws would be sump-
tuary if they would tax you for making and
drinking gallon OF whiskey, which they
do not; il you offer that whiskey Tor sale
the law taxes the transaction, but is not
sumptuary law on that account Accord.
ing to decision OF the Supreme Court OF
Indiana and of some other States, and l
think also of the Supreme Court Of the
United States, no man has natural or in
herent right to sell or barter TO others in
toxIcating drinks. II h, has any rights at
| all they must be legal rights given by
| license law. Ii the local option law should
be repealed and no license law enacted men
could not legally sell any more than they
can now. This must be q sumptuary de-
cision OF the courts II the local option law is
a sumptuary law. Any law, indeed, which
| seeks TO limit or regulate the liquor traffic
is as much sumptuary law as this one, they
are the same IN kind, different only IN de
gree.
The other evils of the law must be CLEANED,
| suppose, from "some facts" which Mr.
Lamar brings to light on this subject:
The first "lact" can be only partially &C
cepted as such Inasmuch as the U. 5. Rev
an la yua ran Fa "A ma make oath That
he intends TO engage in the sale OF liquors
| before the officers are allowed TO tax him
for the business, and since men do not usu
| ally seek to pay tax upon anything they do
not do or possess, and since revenue records
show that the number stated have actually
made such an oath and paid such tax and
they display their receipt therefor not
| license, as the gentleman puts it) do not see
why | and everybody else (the court In.
| cluded) should not accept all this evidence
as establishing a fact, and hope the proper
| authorities may act upon the matter 1
would not like TO be so rash as TO accept as a
fact that part OF his statement which points
| out so certainly the places where liquors are
sold and the persons who do the selling, II
| accept as true his statement that II has
been costing the county from fifteen To TWEEN
| ty thousand dollars per year in trying TO
juries, witnesses, officers, and the court, and
after all, they couldn't see that way. The
one who can substa initiate such statements
as facts ought to be considered valuable
person to the States Attorney and Court.
| sympathize with him aud all other bur.
dened taxpayers who have to pay the
| bills OF the abortive efforts OF our courts to
which he refers, "'tis long lane that has
no turning" and he must surely have got
ten some comfort out OF the work OF our new
| States Attorney at the last term OF court.
| | understand that the fines obtained then
will give the library fund $1,000, the County
Commissioners $1,000. and an inlormer $500.
II is barely possible that this TACT was
written before the last court adjourned. All
license lees go TO the State treasury. The
county don't get them. Court expenses are
much less now than they would be II We
had license and were under system OF
drunkenness and rowdyIsm In Pu6iiG
places, etc, such as he states existed before
the present law was passed.
His second "fact That cannot be success
fully contradlcted Is a mere statement that
cannot be accepted as fact without proof.
The natural conclusion 10 be drawn from
this statement is that as much intoxicating
LIQUOR is drunk n this county as there would
be to day had we the licensed saloon. IL
that "facL" cant be successfully contradicted
il is for the same reason that you cant sue
cessiully draw blood out Of a turnip. Wits
KEY dealers, brewers and dist!llers would
not worry about the present law 30 much
ii even they accepted such statement as
fact.
A third fact is the iraternal feeling that
exists between the buyer and seller winch
causes the buyer and seller TO perjure them
selves, etc, therefore perjury is the pro iuct
OF this law. You see horse 10 field with
yoke on. You form bad opinion OF the
horse because OF the yoke. The yoke is not
TO blame because IL does not make the horse
II rogue II merely points out his roSuish
qualities Ia the same way, this law and
every law reveals the persons who are In
wardly false aud will commit perjury when
they are brought to the test. The law has
not made peLjurers, out II has turned the
light on many OF them and introduced many
10 the public. Light and knowledge are
not usually classsd with evils. Other evils
such as backmail and political corruption
are spoken Of as connected with this law
specially Let him show license law where
these evils are not found 10 IA much greater
extent, then charge them 10 this law.
The "great and many evils" which be has
thus pointed out must sink into lnslgDi1-
canoe when we compare them with the
evils of any license law and especially with
the evil which he says existed before this
law went into effect.
There are rare exceptions, but, as class,
the people who are clamoring for the repeal
or modification OF the present law are not
those who are sssIduously laboring 10 abate
the great and many evils OF the county
neither are they Of that class known as
"beavy taxp tyers" seeking relief from the
burdens OF this law.
r. ID. RICHARDS
Germantown, Md, April IS, 1900