The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1919-02-07
CIGARETTE LAW.

CIGARETTE LAW.
Drastic penalties are provided in a
bill that recently passed the senate
for the sale or giving away to minors
under eighteen years of age of cigar
cites. This law should pass the house
and then it should be enforced This
having been done the legislature
should repeal the law which forbids
the sale Of cigarettes to persons over
the age of eighteen years. 1t is and
has been for many years virtually a
dead letter on the statute books. 1t is
openly defied. The law has probably
never stopped the purchase of cigar
cites. 1t has been just about as easy
in the cities to get them in spite Of the
law as it would have been had there
been no such act.
To have any criminal statute on
the books, a perfect dead letter. is to
bring all other statutes into disre-
pute. The law is openly violated and
its violators seldom if ever punished
because it has little or no public SEN
timent behind it, The great majority
of men smoke. They may be wrong in
doing so, but it is fact that proba
bly, something like eight out of every
ten among the male members of So
ciety use tobacco in some FORM They
use it openly. They do not sneak
about to smoke or chew They have
never seen any immoral results from
the use of the weed. The great major
ity of the wives and sweetheartS not
only do not object to its use but fire.
quently admit that they rather like
the odor.
Probably majority of men who
smoke do not use cigarettes, but
it is bit hard to get a man who
smokes pipe or cigar or enjoys
"chaw' to punish the man who sells
cigarettes to some neighbor who pre-
fers tobacco in that form. 1t is very
doubtful if to the mature man the use
OF cigarettes is any more harmful
than the use of strong smoking tobac-
co. Many men have tried tobacco in
every form and will testify that the
cigarette does least harm.
In any event there is no sort of gen
eral sentiment now against the rse of
cigarettes. There was much more sen
timent against the sticks few
years ago than there is today. More
cigarettes were used during the past
year in America than ever before
thousands of dollars were freely Civ
en- in Tennessee to furnish them to
the soldiers and sailors. Fathers
would not have contributed to cigar
cite funds or sent them to their sons
If they had thought for a moment
they would have an immoral influence.
The American army was better sup.
piled with Smokes than any army
in history and no better army ever
wore a uniform. Under all these cir
cumstances it is small wonder that
sentiment against the sale of cigar
cites is inconsequential and the law is |
openly defied with full public APP
prevail.
One of two things should occur. |
The law should be repealed or it |
should be strictly enforced There
may be harm in the use and sale of
cigarettes but there is much more
deadly harm to the body polite in hav-
ing criminal statute on the books
that is daily and hourly openly disre-
garded by a majority of the people of
the state without any sort of censure
being visited upon them. Such condi-
lions must inevitably breed contempt
for all laws and then we shall have
no protection for either life or prop.
erty.