Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1909-04-03


part OF Section l of Chapter 1876 was
put through this Legislature without
a public hearing. without a public no.
tice, and without anybody knowing
what was being done. pushed through
there simply to make the action OF
former Legislatures absolutely worth
less. No matter what your opinion
may be about mandatory Jail sentences
in liquor cases, there are two sides to
that question. If you are going to give
the judges discretion for violations of
the prohibtory law, give it to them
over here in Chapter 20 where every
man that runs may read, where every
trial justice may see it, and where it
will be done frankly; but don't keep
that fraud on the statute books any
longer, that Section 1 of Chapter 1856
because il is fraud and nothing less. 1t
| says that or means and and that
it means 'in addition thereto" 1t VIC
lates the principles and the rules of
| English, and it violates the Constitu-
! ton OF this State which provides that
words in the statute shall be consider
| ed according to their ordinary English
meaning, and in the ordinary English
| the words lin addition thereto" do not
mean "or." 1 believe that the senat tor
from oxford who introduced this bill
introduced il in good faith. and that he
wishes its passage; l believe that the
| gentleman who unanimously passed it
through this House the other day with
out any motion to Indefinitely post
pore or anything else, who sat in their
seats and We're willing that it should
| wit \ IL
thinking it would be killed in the SEN
ate. If YOU indefinitely postpone this
| bill you advertise to the State of Maine
that the members of this House will
not perpetuate on the statute books as
| crooked statute as ever was written
into the laws Of any State. If you
| feel like giving the judges of our courts
discretion. put in your bill now to
| change "and' to ''or" in the statutes
| where it occurs. Do this frankly and
| fairly. There may be some members
| on our side of the House who will vote
with you; l don't know about that;
won't. But there is difference of
| opinion. I claim there is no room for
an honest difference of opinion on the
proposition that you should frame a
statute that a man shall be fined and
| jailed. and then frame another saying
that land" means tor so as TO let
| him out of it. 1 hope the motion of the
gentleman from Portland will prevail.
Mr.. HEYER of Portland: Mr.. Speak
| er and Gentlemen of the House:
wish to have my position in this mat
ter clearly understood. The problem Of
| enforcing the liquor law in a city
should imagine from what I have been
able to gather differs considera bly, from
| the problem of enforcement in the
towns. 1 am told by several of our
| county attorneys that with manda-
| tory Jail sentence a man brought into
court for this crime will invariably
| fight his case, do all in his power to
bring 1t before a jury. Nov, when the
court can give him either a fine or i'm
| prisonment it has been the experience
| in the enforcement of the law in the
cities that the men will pay their
| fines and not fight. Back in 1892
or 1898. when this law was put
| on tile Statute books of the state of
Maine. that is, during tie period when
| it did mean compulsory Jail sentence.
| TIE county attorneys in the more pop
| ulous districts found it almost mpos-
| law. l haven't any question in my
own mind but that the joker which the
gentleman from Waterville has 50 de-
rided vas put on to enable the county
| attorneys in the more populous district
| to secure conviction. Believing that
this is true. and knowing how the law
| originally worked and that it actually
| intcrferrcd with the enforcement.
| believe that this law making a manda-
tory Jail sentence will actually inter-
| fere with the enforcement of the pro-
hinitory law, and therefore 1 do not
wish to tie the hands Of our county at
| tcrneys, and l oppose this law in the
| best interests in my judgment of en-
| forcCment.
Mr. MARSHALL Of Portland: Mr.
| Speaker. I am opposed to this law: and
| | have been opposed to it always. AS l
understand the matter under consid-
| Grafton is the indefinite postponement
| Of the so-called Hastings bill 1 do not
believe that it is fundamentally
sound. I do not believe that it will
work as the trainers of the law have
no doubt honestly believe it would
work. 1t applies to the old and to the
young. to those hardened in crime and
| to those who are new. the first offend
| or. do not believe that the county at
| tOrneys and the courts can get convic-
lions under any such proposition. in
| a great many cases; I do not believe
| that il is right / believe the court
| should be allowed to exercise it's dis
erection as it does in all other matters
I do not believe that it should be placed
| in the same category as murder in the
| first degree where punishment is abso-
| lutely fixed by statute; in all other
| cases. as I remember it, coming down
from murder in the second degree down
| through the category of crime the
court is allowed discretion in the mat
| ter of imposing sentence. This always
| has beer the law and / think it always
| Should be the law. OftentimeS juries
will not convict. especially when they
know that man has got to go to jail
perhaps he ought to and perhaps he
| ought not to- 1 believe in the enforce
ment of the law. 1 believe in the en-
| forcemcCt of the liquor law. I have no
use for the rum shop neither have l
| any use for the rumseller, but do be-
| livve that we now have enough rum
| legiSlat ton upOn our statute books I do