THE PROHIBITIONIST.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XII, Issue 3858, 15 July 1891, Page 2

THE PROHIBITIONIST.

Published by the courtesy ofihe Editor of Wairarapa Daily under the auspices of the New Zealand Alliance for the prohibition of the liquor traffic, Masterton Auxiliary.

When ratepayers demand the entire e.etinction of all places for the sale of liquors their prayer should be granted. —Charles Buxton, Brew. r.

[Communications tor tliis column musl be addressed to "The Prohibitionist,' care of Ed'tor of Wairarafa Dail*.]

A common objection is that " prohibition has been a failure." There is, of course, no statute law which is not sometimes violated. The real question involved is, " What are the results of the legal prohibition of alcoholic beverages, compared with ordinary legislation ?" The experience of Maine, the pioneer State, covers now a period of a quarter of a century in connection with prohibitory legislation. We present the evidence of those thoroughly qualified to testifiy. In 1872, Governor Perham writes : "In regard to the effect of the Maine Law apon the liquor trade iu this State, I think it safe to say that it is very much less than before the enactment of the law, probably not onetenth as large. In some • places liquor is sold secretly in violation of law, as many other offences are committed against the statutes and the peace an J gocd order of society ; but in large districts of the State the liquor traffic is nearly or quite unknown, where formerly it was earned on like any other trade." The Hon W. P. Frye, member of Congreßsfrom the Lewiston district, and ex-Attorney-General of Maine, (1872) writes: " I can and do, from my own personal observation, unhesitatingly affirm that the consumption of intoxicating liquors in Maine is not to*day one-fourth so great as it was twenty years ago j that, in the country portions of the State, the sale and use have almost entirely ceased, that the law itself, under a vigorous enforcement of its provisions, has created a temperance sentiment which is marvellous, and to which opposition is powerless. In my opinion, our remarkable temperance reform of to-day is the legitimate child of the law."

The Hon. Lot M. Morrill, United States Senator from Maine, writes: " I have the honor unhesitatingly to concur in the opinions expressed in the foregoing by my colleague, Hon Mr Frye."

Tbe Hon J. 6. Blaine, Speaker of the House of Representatives, writes: " I concur in the foregoing statements; and on the point of the relative amount of liquors sold in Maine and in those States where a system of license prevails, lam very sure, from personal knowledge and observation, that the sales are immeasurably less in Maine."

The Hon. Hannibal Hamlin, United States Senator and ex-Vice Presidentof the United States, writes : " I concur in the statements made by Mr Frye. In the great good produced by the Prohibitory Liquor Law of Maine no man can doubt who has seen its result. It hab been of immense value."

The Hon. John A. Peters, the Hon. John Lynch, and the Hon. Eugene Hall, members of Congress from Maine, substantiate the foregoing testimony.

The Hon. Benj. Kingsbury, Mayor of Portland in 1872, and four exMayors, concur in a statement concerning the diminution of the liquor traffic in the State of Maine, and in the city of Portland in particular, that, "as the result of the adoption of the policy of prohibition, * e have to say the traffic baa fallen 08 very largely in relation to that there cannot possibly be any doubt. Many persons with the best means of judging believe the liquor trade now is not one-tenth ashrgeasit wasformerly. The diminution of the trade is very great, and the favourable effects of tbe policy ot prohibition are manifest to the casual observer."

Other city officials of Portland—judges, City Clerk, Treasurer and others—testify that the liquor trade is greatly diminished, and is "not one tenth of what it was prior to tbe adoption of the Maine Law." Twelve well-known clergymen of Portland, representing the Corgrega. tional, Baptist, Protestant Episcopal, Methodist Episcopal, Unitarian, and Universalist Churches, in 1872 unite in the declaration that the trade for intoxicating liquors has heen greatly reduced by the Maine law. They say : • "In this city, tbe quantity Bold now is but a small fraction of what we remember the sales to have been, and we believe the results are the same, or nearly so, throughout the State. If the trade

exists at all here, it is carried on with secrecy and caution, as other unlawful practices are." The Hon Wro. S. Putnam, an exMayor of Portland, awowedly opposed to the principles of prohibitory laws, says: " I must in candor state I have h?d good opportunity to observe the condition of the State in the matter of the use and sale of intoxicating l'equors for several years past, as compared with some other States where there are no prohibitory laws, and am ceriain that the rural portions oi Maine are, and have been, in an infinately better condition with reference to the sale and use Oi such liquors than similar portions oi other States referred to, and are, aud haye been, moreover, comparatively free from bol'n the sale and use; and this mußt fairly be considered the result of prohibitory legislation* . . . The law is probably enforced, even in large towns and cities, as thoroughly, at least, as any othpr penal statute." The Hon. J. S. Wheelwright, Mayor of Bangor, in 1872, writes: ". . The law is being enforced throughout the State as never before, and with wonderful success. No resident of our State can have any doubt, that the liquor has been greatly sappressed tind reduced." Concurring in this statement are the names of Aldermen for 1871 and 1872, the City Clerk, the Recorder, and Judge of Probate.

The Hon. Wolcotfc Hamlin, Supervisor of Internal Revenue for Maine, writes, 1872 : "In the course of my duty as internal revenue officer, I have become thoroughly acquainted with the state and extent of the liquor traffic in Maine, and I have no hesitation in saying that the beer trade is not more than one per cent, of what I remember it to have been, and the trade in distilled liquors is not more than ten per cent, ot what it formerly was. Where liquor is sold at all, it is done secretly 'hrough fear of the law."

Fifteen clergymen, pastors of Free Baptist churches in different parts of the 6tate of Maine, unite in the state* ment, 1872, that, " the liquor traffic is very greatly diminished under the repressive power of the Maine Law."

The Rev. A. Dalton, Rector of St. Stephen's Protestant Episcopal Church of Portland, writing of the results ofs the Maine Law, June, 1872, says : " Many in the humble classe of society particularly, have correct views, and form good resolutions, which they carry out successfully when not solicited to drink by the open bar. Many wives have assured me of the improved condition of their families through the greater restraints put upon their husbands. Families, whose homes are in drinking neighbourhoods, or in streets where formerly were many drunken brawls, have gratefully acknowledged the happy change wrought by the duo administration of the law suppressing tippling-shops." The Hon. Q. G. Stacy, Secretary of State, Hon. B. B. Murray, AdjutantGeneral, Hon. J. J. Eveleth. Mayor of Augusta, and Joshua Nye Esq. late State Constable, unite, 1872, in the following ; "If we were to say that the quantity of liquors sold here [Augusta] is not one-tenth so large as formerly, we think it would be within the truth ; and the favorable effects of the change upon all the interests of the State are plainly seen everywhere."

The Overseers of the Poor of Portland, Hon. John Bradford, Chairman, unite, 1872, in saying " if liquor shops exist at all in this city, il is with secrecy aud great caution, and the same thing is true generally throughout the State. The favourable effect of iliis policy is very evident, particularly in the department of pauperism and crime, whi'e the population of the city increases, pauperism and crime diminish; and in the department of the police, the number of arrests and commitments is very much less than formerly." These important testimonies, addressed to Hon Neal Dow, and others of like import, which we have not space to quote, are conclusive that Prohibition is not a failure in Maine. General Dow, who is known as " the father of Maine law," corroborates these testimonies. In 1853 he wrote : " At the time of the enactment of the law, rum-selling was carried on openly in all parts of the State. In Portland, there were between three and four hundred rum-shops, and immediately after the enactment, of the law, not one. The wholesale trade in liquors was at once annihilated. In Portland, large numbers of men were reformed. Temptations were in a great measure removed out of the path of the young and inexperienced."