The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1909-02-19

all points regarding the Maine law.
Recently a hit-or-miss canvass Of citi-
zens was made in the larger cities of
the state II was only another case of
many men and many minds. After
reading the opinions 1t would be diff
cults to give an intelligent summary.
Between the extremes Of monumental
farce and the best thing Maine ever
Gid for Itself there are hundreds of
varying opinions. according to the slant
of mans mind. The Rev. DR.. Blanch-
ard of Portland says. I voted for the
constitutional amendment and took
part in the great thanksgiving meeting
In Portland city hall when the amend
ment was carried. The Rev. DR.. Miner.
one of the most ardent prohibtionists
IN the country. had told me he thought
1t a great mistake to put prohibition
in the constitution. My eyes were
opened to the great evils of prohibition
in very few years The more | have
seen of the operation Of the law I am
the more convinced that wiser law
might have been placed upon our
statute books and enforced The Hon.
Charles r. Libby. leader of the Cum
berland bar. says. The good the law
has done 5 more than offset by che
evils it has brought with it. 1t has
bred hypocrisy, encouraged perjury in
our courts. led to corruption of our Of
llGldlS. Elhttl prominence ~ pun III
to a poor set Of politicians has de-
stroyed the frankness in statesmen
than ennobles men in other states. and
has not been effective. Stiff ARA gn-
ment from sources not to be lightly
impugned.
so Bangor put its name to the only
systematic and universally recognized
notification of the Maine law The
sheriff and county attorney allowed a
certain number of saloons and hotels to
sell liquor Prior TO the term of court
at which fines were to be assessed the
county attorney, or his agent. went to
the Office of the collector of internal
revenue at Portsmouth. y. H. and
drew off list of the names of those in
the county who were paying special
liquor retailers tax to the United States
government. Then the county attorney
presented this list to the grand jury
and It was accepted as evidence that
each party was a dealer I'm liquor and
the parties were accordingly indicted
on that evidence alone, and accepted the
Indictment without protest and came
up to the 'cap'ns' office and settled
without demur. Each paid the regular
fine and costs, amounting to S1f0. Usual
ly the county assessed twice d year.
That made a comfortably low license.
"PenobscOt county paid off its county
debt and built handsome new court
house while that plan was in operation.
-"Other counties adopted the system,
until the majority of them were en-
gagged in a profitable business with
rumsellers, the taxpayers as silent part
ners. A few stanch old temperance
counties would not tolerate the plan.
In those counties men kept out of the
rum business. The sheriff of a FamTOd
called on him to enforce the law. Sher-
| ifs in other counties knew just as we'll
that their constituents wanted the tTaf-
| fic regulated So that the matter of
handling the Maine constitutional law
became after all merely local issue to
be determined according as the people
| felt or as the sheriff thought they felt
or ought to feel.
| Il recOllect that at about that time
the WOmans Christian Temperance
union of Maine, an organization that is
effectively felt in state politics, made a
pilgrimage in force to HouIton. the
home of Governor Powers. and present.
ed to him an appeal that he order the
sheriffs of the state Of Maine to do their
duty and suppress the liquor traffic.
| Governor Powers received them polite
| ly and said he would write a letter to
the sheriffs. But he told me at the
| time, before writing the letter that
really he had no authority or power to
make the officers pick out one law and
pay especial attention to it. As the law
then stood on the books. the governor
of the state had no part or parcel in
enforcing the prohibitory statute. 1t
was before the days of the 'Sturgis law
| The sheriffs replied pleasantly to the
governor that they were doing all they
/ rOnTd prfnrpa q To-.
statute books, and some of them ex-
hibited his excellency's letter and made
merry over 1t, being able to read be-
tween the lines-for Governor Powers
| is Names most sagacious politician.
But after the Bangor plan got start
ed doing its snug little business all over
| Maine. the sheriffs I'm a number of coun-
/ ties overTeached and made it a bit too
snug. The charges were freely made
that the Tumsellers were invited into a
close corporation, only approved men
/ being allowed to open places. These
men have declared that they paid to
officers certain sums each month. so
much on a barrel of beer OF ale. so
much on hard liquors. No one ven
tured to explain by what right sheriffs
or their agents collected such sums. But
the fact that they were being collected
was matter of common knowledge and
| it took the voters from two to four
years to get mad enough to remedy the
situation. In some counties. with his
profits from the board Of prisoners, his
fees, and his side business the sheriff
cleaned up from $4,000 to S25. 900 a year.
The governors salary was s., 0OOr'
After long period of this system a
governor was elected who afterward
declared that he purposed enforcing the
law to the limit. AS to how his popu-
/ larity Jared from his attempts, Mr. Day
tells as follows:
The temper of the people Of Maine
was shown last election when Cobb.
who was elected by more than $4,000
! plurality before he had espoused the
| enforcement idea, found hts plurality
cut down to $500. At the close Of that
campaign one of its managers re-
marked that il was evident that the
folks of Maine wanted prohibition, but
did not want il enforced An attempt
was made at the last session of the
| legislature to repeal the Sturgis law;
its foes won in the first passage of the
| act, but the governor vetoed the bill
and his veto was sustained. 1t is gen.
orally predicted that the next legis-
lature will repeal the law, and thus
will depart Names only real and ear
nest attempt to enforce the Maine law
as statewide statute, instead of
| leaving it to the local option of muni-
| Qualities.