The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1911-02-23
The Resubmission Question.

To THE EDITOR OF THE JOURNAL:
There are three sides to this question
of resubmission. The prohibitionists be-
lieve that the law is right in principle;
and if enforced as other laws are, and
all hypocrisy done away with, there
would be no question as to its righteous
ness in the minds of all right-minded
citizens. One class of resubmissionists
believe in it because they are confident
that the law will be so strongly reaffirm-
ed that there will be no question as to
public opinion, and the officers will not
hesitate to strictly enforce the law. An
other class believes that the law will be
repealed, and that license, or local OPP
ton, which is the same, will take its
elements: One believes that with well
regulated license law conditions will be
very much better than they are now;
and the other hopes that by resubmission
a license law will be obtained whereby
they may pursue traffic condemned by
the laws Of God and held in contempt by
every person of any self-respect-a traf-
fic not considered fit to be carried on in
the vicinity of our churches or schools; a
traffic which is the only one the courts
have decided to be ground for libel to
accuse one to be engaged in if he is not
engaged in it; traffic that the courts
have decided cannot be made honorable,
however much it may be sanctioned by
law In the discussion of this question
this latter class is not to be taken into
consideration. For a class that would
make merchandise of the honor, the
morals, the peace, the safety, the health,
the happiness, the virtue and the man.
hood of our people, is to be regarded as
menace, and detrimental to the general
welfare.
After an extensive inquiry among all
classes of our citizens in many of the
States, both among teetotalers and drink
ing men, ! have yet to find man but
will admit that if we could have pro-
hibitory law that can be enforced as
other laws are, it would be far the best
law we can have on the subject. So
there are but two classes of our citizens
that are responsible for the non-enforce-
ment of the law-our hypocritical officials
and rumselers. Now if our officials are
proud of the company they have chosen
to train in, | do not suppose we ought to
envy them the honor they hope to gain
by the choice. If then, as stated above,
well-enforced prohibitory law is admit
ted by all respectable citizens to be the
best law, what prevents US having that
law enforced? There are l6 sheritfs in
the State. There is no doubt but that
they can all control their deputies, if they
try. There are 40 mayors and chiefs of
police that can, or ought to be, able to
manage their police forces and see that
they do their duty, and there are less
than 40 judges of our Supreme and mu-
nicipal courts which the law says shall
sentence with fine and imprisonment
every party guilty of breaking the law.
Now take al of these: judges, county
attorneys, sheriffs, deputies, mayors,
chiefs Of police and policemen; they may
number 500 men in the whole State, cost
ing the State hundreds of thousands of
dollars annually, and having the whole
power of the State behind them-a band
of men who are supposed to represent
the brains, the honor, the manhood, aye,
the very authority of the State, and what
is the problem before them? 1t is to
bring to justice band of less than 800
degraded, cowardly, sneaking outlaws,
against which is, or should be, the hand
of every self-respecting, lsw-abiding
citizen Now does any one for one mo-
ment doubt, that if everyone of these
employees of the State-and they are but
employes-w would do their duty as faith
fully as the laboring man in the factory
or on a farm, that our beloved State
would be in fact as dry as covered
bridge?'
For more than generation it has been
drilled into our people, through the press,
from the pulpit, from the stump, and
from the bench, that fine and imprison-
ment should be the penalty of every
liquor dealer; and if every judge would
without fear or favor impose that SEN
tence, which every law on the statutes
demands, it would Immediately reduce
the number of liquor dealers 80 per cent.
That would leave but 10 per cent of the
work that the officers now have to do,
and who doubts but that they could easily
cope with it, and that the liquor law would
be as satisfactorily enforced as any other
criminal law? Can the judiciary, the
municipal officers and the shrievalty feel
proud to know that the 100000 law-abid-
ing citizens of our State are charging
them with being in league with the small
minority of less than 1000 criminal liquor
dealers? Can it be conceived that the
boards of health and physicians of the
State would neglect or refuse to combat
and stamp out threatened epidemic of
dphtheria or small pox? How can it be
possible that any court or officer can side