Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1900-04-04

DeHNtfeu w ucUate NJ Sabatius ntkh ecnOpt DN
Gleason l.. Archer, of Great Pond
Resotred, That the Maine prohibitory law II
failure and that high license law should bs
substituted.
Maturcr minds than ours are required &c
grasp he true import, or survey in all it,
details, the question before us. 1t Is one
of the great issues of the near future, and
on it hinge the prosperity and happiness
OF our commonwealth.
This question, like all others, has two
sides, two different standpoin,s, from
which it may be viewed. After a careful
and patient study of my subject, ] take a
firm and decided stand with the negative.
The existing prohibitory law is simply the
naturalization OF hopes that have agitated
the breasts OF all true hearted men from
the earliest ages to the present day.
Throughout all Christendom it is known
as the Maine law, and the State which
gave it birth is revered and honored as far
as the prohibition movement extends.
To-day We are called upon to decide in
our own minds whether such a law shall
longer endure, or whether the State which
first unfuried the sacred banner Of tenn
perance shall now cast it aside and be
forever classed among the backsliders
from the cause OF truth.
My opponent makes the statement that
prohibition does not affect the liquor
traffic, but this Is not the case. Apart
from the great centres, in the rural dis
tricts, where the population is more purely
American, the success of the prohibitory
law is unquestioned. Peace and tranquil
ity reign, and drunkenness Is almost
unknown In the very sections where once
low grade rum shop reared itself on
every hill. No longer the noisy brawl of
the woodsman breaks the calm stiffness OF
a Sabbath day, and the scenes OF drunken
the community. are things ot.,he past.
Loud may we pIat<. it, effects In the
g cities the same is true,
; ft.ougn in lesser degree. All our large
cities swarm with great hordes of foreign
ers. or citizens of foreign extraction, ~bo
have been reared in an atmosphere OF in
temperance and have. moreover, inherited
from a long line OF ancestors the devour-
ing appetite for rum. Small cause for
wonder is it, therefore, that they procure
1t a, any cost, and no existing laws can
prevent 1t.
Other states fiaunt the banner Of intern
pcrance in our very faces, thus making the
best results infinitely harder TO obtain
Good influence spreads slowly. while evil
is almost instantly diffused throughout
the land.
However the foreign element may pre-
dominate, or The customs of other lands
pc lutte our own yet the old Puritan spirit
still fingers among us-ihe remnants OF
that noble race that settled New England
are still extant. Among these We lind our
strongest supporters of the cause of tenn
perance. Pride OF ancestry, ii no loftier
feeling were kindled in their breasts, would
keep them from hequenting the low and
degraded places in which liquor is sold
to-day.
One of the greatest offices of prohibition
Is that it has reduced rum selling to its
most debasiug forms and placed a stigma
upon the rum seller and his wares. Many
a self-respecting man, who disdains to
frequent the low-grade groggeries OF to-
day, would patronize a So called re-
spectacle bar, kept in an open handed
manner and supported by the law. There
fore claim that prohibition has reduced
the liquor traffic, and is a success even in
the cities.
Nv bat fnan he r1rn
hibitory law has not, to great extent,
prevented the sale OF intoxieants, it is a
failure and should be discontinued. The
laws against murder and prostitution date
from the earliest ages Of the human race.
but have even these entirely accomplished
the object for which they were intended?
Do not crimes, shocking to the sensibilities
and most revolving in character, occur to-
day, and will they not always continue as
long as the baser nature Of man predomi
mates? viii my opponent suggest that
these. also be abandoned, that they be
stricken from our statutes? Surely on as
good grounds.
Absence Of temptation is one OF the most
prolific sources OF prohibition. A weary
laborer after a season of toll, with no gin
shops to frequent, no noisy crowds with
which to mingle, will spend the quiet
evenings within the precincts OF his own
home, and thus escape the melancholy
sadness resultant from the knowledge of
sin committed and day misspent.
1t is not the pleasure OF Fin that causes
the downfall of man, but the presence OF
temptation. Remove temptation and you
will remove its effects. A living example
of this statement may be found even here
in Sabattus. One of our most skiiful
workmen, when in his native land, was
hopelessly addicted to the habit OF drink.
So great were the allurements of the ale
house that he was led to abandon his
family,lto neglect and squander his earn
ings through evenings of debauchery.
Finding that temptation was stronger