MAINE REVIEWED.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1273, 31 October 1911, Page 6

MAINE REVIEWED.

WHAT TOOK PLACE UNDER PROHIBITION. A COMPREHENSIVE ARTICLE. (From "Tho Scotsman," Thursday, Sept teniber 11, 1911.) To mako poopla virtuous by Act of Parliament has over boon ono of tho daydreams of unpractical politicians. Tlkj doctors of Maino, U.S.A., have just voted for repeal of the Prohibition Law, which is ]>art of their Constitution, and which renders illegal for ever tho manufacture or sale of intoxicating iiquor within tho boundaries of tho State. Among all the Now England States which were, iu the temperance agitation of tho middle of last century, induced (o adopt Prohibition in a spirit that suggested tho living puritanical influence of Pilgrim Fathers, Maino was tho first to begin, and llaine lias been tho most reluctant to change her views. It is sixty-five years since Maino set tho example of Stale prohibition of liquor. Vermont followed in 1852, Connecticut in 1854, Now Hampshire in 1855, and later Massachusetts and Rliodo Island; but they all, after an experiment of shorter or longer duration, gave it up. In other States tlifl prohibition of liquor by law was tried and a bail-' doned—lndiana, Michigan, lowa, Nobraska, South Dakota, may bo cited ai examples of good intentions paving tin way to common-tense. Even New York State was induccd to follow the teetotal load in 1855; but, thanks to (he ititricacies of American law, the edict was declared unconstitutional. Among the faithless Maine lias long stood faithful, But only in a technical and legal sense; be-' cause liquor has always been obtainable in Maine, and the question arose whether Prohibition was a fact or a fraud. On this subjcct Mr. Joseph Rowntrce and Mr. Arthur Shcrwell, who must bo regarded as among the most sane and sincere of. temperance reformers, have spoken with no uncertain voice. It should, of course, be prefaced that under the Constitution of tho United States tho regulation of the liquor traffic is left to tho Stato Legislatures. In Maine the law has long been a dead letter. This does not mean merely that pooplo in that State may easily buy and eonsumc spirituous Liquor; there is a tax actually imposed by tho Internal Revenue authorities upon tho liquor sold, and regularly collected by tho officials. Such a state of things is MANIFESTLY DISHONEST. It amounted, iu the words of Messrs, liowntrec and Sherwell, to "the open and shameless violation of tho Prohibition Law, long 'winked at,' which had lat tcrly bocomo 'au intolerable scandal.'" Sooner or later the divergcnco between tho letter of tho law and tho habits of the people had to be adjusted. Mahomet and tho Mountain had conio together. The Rev. S. l'\ Pearson, a Gospel Temperance Reformer of largo activities, secured election as SherifT over both tho Republican and Democratic candidates in 1901-1902. He was a sincere and even ' a fanatical reformer, bent on putting tho law into execution, and ho died of heart diseaso in a strenuous struggle to achicvo enforcement. liis own public statements aro on rccord, and tliey show that ha found on his election 1900 that "then? aro 233 licensed [i.e., permitted] salcom and drug stores in tho city of Portland to-day." Portland is tho chief city o£ the State of Maine. "This number," ha added, "is run openly, and altogether there aro 41G rum-sellers." And later Sheriff Pearson confessed—"Wo fouud in' Portland 239 places paying for the Internal Revenuo Tax receipt." Another elfort at the enforcement of tho law was niado by Sheriff Pennell in 1903-5. Thoi • common and disreputable liquor shops' were raided and shut up; but hotels and bottling establishments wcro given certain facilities, and even saloons, on payment of an irregular licenso i'eo and submission to supervision, were permitted to soli liquor. Sheriff Pennell made no concealment in bis public speeches of tho fact that ho SANCTIONED ILLEGALITY. "So long as 1 am Sheriff of this county [Portland! 1 will use the samo discretionary powers in tho enforcement of tho liquor law as I do in tho enforcement of any othor law. You know the impossibility of enforcement to suppression. I feel," ho concluded, "it my duty to make tho trallic as harmless as possible." In 1905 Senator Sturgis, backed by tho Republican party, induced the State Legislature to pass an Act superseding tha powers of tho Sheriffs of the counties in their interpretation and application of tho liquor law. A commission took over tho duty of administering tho lair. It drovo Sheriff Pennell, who was nothing if not honest, into the camp of thosa who would repoal tho law altogether rather (lutn have tho system of "pocket peddlers," "kitchen bars," and irregular "drinking clubs" revived. After nino months' experience of strict enforcement of the Sturgis Act—wo quote again from Messrs. Howntroo and Sherwell—"tho arrests for drunkenness in Portland amounted to 1525, or 28 per 1000 of tho population, a ratio that is nearly throo times as high as the ratio in Liverpool, aud slightly more than threo times aa high as tho ratio iu London." Such a state of things in the chief city os a State which has for over sixty years by law prohibited the manufacture and Kilo of intoxicating liquor requires no comment. The plebiscite or referendum of Monday in tho State of Maino has been brought about mainly by tho direct action of the Democratic parly, which carried tho State elections last autuniy, and which has for some timo made ro submission of tho Prohibition Law a prominent plank in its platform. Tho Republican party .had hold Maine for fifty years; and tho liquor question had bccomo an accepted political issue. When the State elected a Democratic Governor, Democratic Senators, and Democratic Representatives, the question of resubmission was inevitable. Tho new Stata Legislataro promptly gavo tho uecowsvry permission for a vote of the people, and the Bill parsed through all its stages with little difficulty. Tho success of the referendum, however, must bo held to rest on deeper bases than mere party advantage. There is a permanent aud praiseworthy natural fooling, wherever the ideas of liberty and citizenship aro realised, that tho law should be repealed as a bad law. That has long been tho feeling of a large proportion of the citizens of Maine State, especially in tho cities where evasion is flagrant and notorious. ... It is inconsistent with accepted notions of lionost government that a strict; and stringent law, touching tho daily habits and comforts of tho pcop'.c, should be maintained on pnp:T and ignored iu practice; and Maine's refeivndum of Monday lias put an cud to such a state of things.*