The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1902-06-29
HISTORY OF
PROHIBITION IN AMERICA.
An Article Prepared by a Citizen
Who Has Evidently Given the
Question Close Study.

1
Question Close Study.
During the colonial days pretty much all
! acted at different times laws prohibiting,
In various ways, the manufacture and sale
Of liquors. and. In some instances, of toboc-
| co also. These laws we're uniformly dis
regarded and were productive of numer-
Gus evil consequences. SO impossible was
H. indeed. to enforce. them and so great
were the abuses growing out OF them that
/ they rarely remained upon the statute
/ books more than rev years, Such ex-
! periments were repeated from time TO time
| In the ~ro.onfes. and always with like
! result. until toward the days OF the revolu-
ton; when they were given up as imprnc
| ticable. Injurious and fallacious.
| The colonial experience with prohlbitory
laws SO Impressed the people that during
the FIRST seventy years Of Independence hi
| tie or no effort worthy of mention was
made IN the direction Of prohibitions.
Between 1850 and ls6n, however. there
was a revival Of prohihttory efforts and
bidding the manufacture and sale of in.
to1ic1ting liquors. The history OF the couu.
continued future OF an EFFORTS at pFohl6l
ton the failures beng most conspicuous
in those states which have most persist
emily tried the experiment.
Maine adopted prohibition In 1851 and
| etil has It on her hooks, hut II has never
been enforced, and In tine towns and cities
| VI liAut -ldtt Tug uptU SdlNth 10 as thlnlilhl
and pubic as IN any, state OF the Union
Vermont followed Maine in 1852 by the
adoption of prghibitory laws, ana has kept
them continually on her statute books up
| to the present Tina they have proved
| ineffective, however and an active agita
tion is now being carried on by the best
citizens Of the State looking to the over
throw Of the law and tho establishment in
It's place Of conservative and Intelligent
license system. The great papers of the
State and the best thinkers earnestly favor
repeal and there eau be little doubt that
the law VIII soon he eApunsed from the
records of the commonwealth.
New Hampshire adopted prohibition In
1880. For thirty icur years an earnest and
energetic effort was made TO enforce IT,
| with results so lar from satisfactory and
so injurious both to the material ana moi al
welfare of the State that at popular
amendment 10 tho state constitution held
April II. 1889. the amendment was re
puutated by an enormous majority. Two
counties only In the entire state gave it
maiorities
Massachusetts tried prohibition for NJ
teen years from 1850 TO 1870 during which
she found the law vain. injurious, and upon
the Testimony Of her governors aud hcst
citizens fatally hurttul to the cause of tenn
perancc After fifteen years of earnest
trial. she, also. repudiated the law. and
when in April, 1850. strenuous effort was
maize to again engratt prohibition upon the
constitution Of the state, 1t failed. The
farming element threw It's weight with
that of tho cities asainst the amendment.
One town only In the commonwealth gave
/ II a minority.
The campaign was one of exceptional In.
forest The terms ana sine OF the fight
we're dictated by the prohihtionists They
We're ably led md their cause was advo.
Gated by hundreds of sneakers They del
ueed the state with literature and brought
INTO action i an army O. workers workers renal IA.
the politician was left untried in the Of
forts to carry prohibition.
As elsewhere the prohibtlonists tried TO
make i appear that all morality was on
their side, all immortality opposed to them.
This assumption, of self-righteousness failed
The influential journals of the State,
olso to the unit AGAINST the amendment
exposed the fallacy and threw their mighty
influence in behalf nj personal liberty com
mon sense and practical temperance. Prof
iting by past experience, the great papers
fought. vigor-born Of conviction. The. re
licious papers iolned hands with the pow
crful dailies and, making conscience If the
fight the Christian Union the ConueGA-
tionalsts and the Christian Register hurled
their thunder against the adoption Of the
amendment,
Nor was the press unsupported ny the
church. Many scores Of the most eminent
clcrGymen Of tho commonwealth, comprls-
.nC the brains. the dignity and the worth
OF the ministry Of the State, united In re
monstrances against the adoption of brohi-
bition. Among the ministers 80 remonstrat-
Ing were such men as Rev. DR.. Phillip
Brooks Rey Dr. savage, Boy Dr. Brooks
! Peabody and Rev. Father Conaty, the
president OF the Catholic National Total
abstinence or America, ana many otnctS
of celebnty-mcn reycred for character aud
purity of motive, Many OF these great di.
vines preached from rneir pulpits against
tho great fanatcism. United with them
in tho crusade against prohibition were i've
OF the seven colleges of the State Presi-
dent Elliott OF Harvard, In an open letter.
by law.
The opposition to the amendment was
none the less remarkable among the law
yers' either in vigor or In character Of those
opposed A protest signed hv nearly so
Of the ahlcst members of the bar, Including
such names of National reputation as f,
Theodore Russell, Ex-Governor Gardner. ex-
Governor Rice, Patrick Collins and others
equally known, was sent broadcast through
. out the commonwealth.
! Following. the protest Of the lawyers
came one OF the physicians headed by DIV
< nearly all the eminent doctors of the State.
7 The merchants and business men, nppre
4 chatting the disaster which would follow in
the wake Of nrohibition also united in a
r iemonStrance TO which was appended near
y ly 1000 names,
prohibition. rhe great labor leaders de,
, Claring in their belief that the adoption Of
a the amendment wouu seriously AFFECT the
: interest Of laboring men, urged its defeat.
These remonstranCes: supported by the
. great names signed to them colncided with
SSd q En sns ps Mn9 mad Mb5t eg
a was. Statistics were not wanting 70 show
ITS evil effects when 1t was formerly a law
VI NhV state IntSF siutlNtNS Mtit HpONt
suspicion MS they were prepared under the
J order of the governor and legislature by
r Hon. Carol u. Wright, one of the most
eminent and reliable statistlcians of Amer
lea, They show the alarming extent OF
temperance under prohibition and the rapid
decrease Of drunkenness when the prohlb-
itory statute was replaced by license law.
: The tax question cut a considerable figure
In the campaign. The enormous loss NJ
revenue from licenses and the consequent
Increase In taxes were so obvious that the
prohihitionists did not attempt to argue
! on this question.
Z United with the prohlhitionists were tn,
, low salolon and dive keepers OF the state
! and these strove for prohibition with
zeal worthy of a higher motive and bet
ter cause. They worked for prohibition IN
order that there might be no license, ano
that under prohibition they might have ar
opportunity OF conducting an illegal anS
, sufreptitious trafflc. They could not con
Duct such Illegal business while otnel
men held license. because no man wouid
sneak through the alleys and by-ways Il
patronize them. This fact convinced earnest
. and conservative people that pronib'tiot
meant unrestricted traKic. and the amend
ment was defeated by 5000 majority.
In 1888 Rhode Island adopted prohibition
ss the policy Of this state and for ter
years gave n the fairest trial possible, ir