The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1916-12-26
CHARLES 7. LASS|TtR
'. N. c. A. SPEAKER
Former Opponent of Prohibition De-
clarcs should Be General Cooper
alton to Give Law Fair Trial.
REAL TEST OF EFFICACY.
Petersburg Lawyer Says Crucial
Period VIII Come When Present
stored Stocks Bought Before No.
vemiper I Have Become Exhausted.

petersburg, Va. Dec. Eo.-Hon
Charles Trotter l1assister, president of
the local Chamber of Commerce and
one of the best-known members of
the Virginia bar, addressed the mems
meeting at the Y. NJ. G. A. at $3.50
O'Clock Sunday afternoon on The
Sanctions of a Self-Imposed Law"
Invitations had been extended Mr..
Lassiter to address the mems meet
ing on several occasions and pressure
was finally brought to bear sufficient
to secure his consent
Due to Indictment weather and the
fact that many who attend the mems
meetings regularly were out OF the
city, the attendance was not as large
as was expected. but those present
were forcibly impressed with Mr.. Las
siters' convincing address in behalf of
law enforcement through the absolute
cooperation of the general public.
He spoke as follows:
Text OF Speech.
Sanction means that part of law
which infiicts penalty for it's viola
ton or bestows a reward for Its OBJ
servance.
Penal sanctions are such penalties
as are imposed for the commission of
crimes and in this State may be: %
fine. or CD forfeiture, or 60 inn
prisonment with or without hard
labor. or 90 death.
'The consensus OF opinion of civil
lied men considers the violation of
certain laws as nahum in Sc. that is to
say, evil in itself. while the violation
of certain other laws Is considered
nahum prohibitum, that is to say. evil
because 1t is forbidden.
LAS examples OF the first class may
hn ,rIn
arson and larceny, while OF the sec
ond class may be mentioned attempt
ing to practice law without a revenue
license. or wearing a bright colored
ribbon on the Lords day. or manu-
featuring. using, selling, offering for
sale, transporting for sale, keeping
for sale, or giving away OF ardent
spirits.
Among civilized peoples there Is
practical agreement that offenses OF
the first class are. in the nature OF
things. evil in themselves, and that
offenses OF the second class are evil.
not in and of themselves, but because
they are prohibited by law
1T Is evident then that. while some
people may regard the manufacture,
sale and use of ardent spirits as being
evil in itself, without regard to wheth-
err or not there is any abuse, the great
majority of people will. upon calm
reflection. agree that, in and Of itself,
there is no more evil IN manufactur-
ing corn into liquor than in manu-
featuring corn into meal. The evil
consists in the abuse ad not in the
use.
A Far Reaching Act.
Zone OF the most revolutionary and
far-reaching acts was enacted by the
General Assembly OF Virginia and ap
proved by the Governor on. the 10th
day of March. 1915. This act, which
has quite a long title. goes by the
popular name OF the prohibition act
The purpose OF this act Is to make
unlawful the manufacture and sale of
! ardent spirits, and except within very
narrow limits, makes it unlawful to
| use or give away ardent spirits.
| Very severe penalties are prescrib-
cd for the violations of the provisions
OF this act Not merely fine. for
| fixture and Imprisonment in jail, but
even confinement in the penitentiary
may be prescribed for the violation of
certain OF its provisions.
These penalties are the sanctions
which the Legislature has seen At to
prescribe. and the question which ap-
peals to my mind is. Will these pre-
| eCTlDcO Sanctions diOHe De eleCtlNe 10
secure the enforcement OF this law?
The body OF our criminal law Is
derived from our English ancestors.
| and it's history is an open book for all
men to read. From the earliest times
| until now the history of our criminal
I law reveals the fact that obedience to
| law has not been in proportion to the
| severity OF corporal punishments.
| Severe Punisllmcnts.
| Not very many years ago. In
| England, a man was deprived of life
| for the offense of stealing a sheep
| worth about $3.50. or banished from
his home and family to Australia for
hunting upon the preserves of an
| other.
The tendency OF modern penal
legislation has been in the direction
of lessening the severity of penalties.
and the result has justified those
whose chief aim 1t has been to re-
form. rather than to destroy. the Of
fender. One OF the golden sayings OF
/ Epictetus is this: Which of us does
not admire what Lycurgus the Spar
tan did? A young citizen had put out
his eye, and been handed over to him
| by the people to be punished at his
| own discretion. Lycurgus abstained
from all vengeance, but on the con-
trary instructed and made a good man
of him. Producing him in public in
the theater. he said to the astonished
Spartans: II received this young man
at Your hands full of violence and
wanton insolence; l restore him to
Won in his right mind and Il to serve