Milford chronicle., 1907-09-13
LICENSE COMMITTEE.
THE PROHIBITION LAW
Is Not Effective Queen Anne County, Maryland, Secret Drinking
and the SpeakEasyMen Women and Children Drink.
POPULATION DECREASES,
COURT EXPENSES INCREASES

from Kent by the lazy ana fragrant
Sassafras river, differs little from
its neighbor in the opinion that
prohibition is hypocrisy and harm
to the county. Like Kent, Queen
Anne only needs a leader of courage
to sweep away at a coming election
the whole fabric and force of so
called prohibition. There is no
prohibition of the sale and con-
sumption of Intoxicating liquors.
No man in Queen Anne's county,
talking to you face to face, in the
quiet Of his Office or parlor, will for
a single moment insist that prohi-
bition prohibits; and he may prove
his faith sooner or later by produc-
ing a bottle.
If you talk to an Eastern Shore
politician, no matter which side he
is on, he will hedge. No man run
ming for Office in Kent, Queen
Anne's or Caroline will tell you the
facts.
At Centreville two shrewd fell
lows, playing upon the weakness OF
the sentimentalists, do a thriving
business taking orders" from the
men and women, who want slim
ulant. It arrives by boat and train
about 8 O'Clock p. m. They will
bring whatever you order, within
twenty-four hours. Prohibition IS
a Joke at Centreville, as it is at
Chestertown, at Elkton, at Cam
bridge, at Easton, at Crisheld, and
in fact at every town on the Eas-
tern Shore that is touched by rail-
road or boat.
Understand that every one who
wants to drink, does drink, be 1t
man, woman or child, drink secret
"; the worst form of intemperanCe.
The man who lifts his hand the
highest in indignation at intemper-
ance is sure to keep a bottle i'll his
house. That is what his neighbors
say. This is changing public SEN
timent in Queen Anne's county.
Human nature is nearly Square.
All men will play a square game
with you, except the scOundrels
and degenerates. Therefore nearly
all the men despise the attitude OF
the prohibitionist, for they know
him to be a Pharisee and hypo-
critic.
Prohibition has not decreased
taxes, nor crime, but it has in
creased the cost of criminal trials,
because of the increase of the often
ders against the prohibition laws.
Statutes that are impossible of exc
cution are productive Of lawless-
ness. Hence prohibition laws are
VIGOROUSLY violated and conclusive
to crime and to court expenses.
Centreville, like ChestertOwn,
Elkton and Cambridge, testihes to
the inability of the courts to exc
cute the prohibition laws, that 1t
increases the expenses of the courts,
that they do not prohibit drinking;
that they invite secret drunkenness
by BOYS and men that they cult
vate deceit and much open lying,
and that, many of the men in the
county, who shout for prohibition
have the best whiskey upon their
sideboards.
Nor does it pay. Queen Anne's
county is one Of the richest on the
Eastern Shore, and yet has the
poorest public buildings. These
buildings do not compare with any
in Delaware. The pro hibitiO Il
policy is blight and scares both
parties, from putting any improve
ment upon the county.
The population of Queen Anne's
county in 1880 was 10, PSI, in 1890
it was 1S.46I, and. in 1900 it was
1904. Here is unanswerable evil
dence that the county is not grow
ing and that the claims of the pro-
hibitionists are mistaken if not
fraudulent. Queen Anne's regis
tration in 1905 was 47I9 Of which
1868 was colored and $3.50 white,
representing a population of 20, 900;
but there was no such population
nor any such vote. The registra-
ton and the vote of an Eastern
Shore county are two things. In
Caroline county for example, one
fourth of the registered voters do
not vote. The reason given IS that
the men. not voting have been
bought to stay at home, which IS
proof that prohibition does not con
duce to political morality, nor to
anv other kind of morality. In
1906 the registration Of Queen
Anne's county was 100 less than in
1905. The whites fell off rs, and
the colored votes IS. tits obvious