03.09. How Can We Secure and Enforce the Law We Need?

How Can We Secure and Enforce
the Law We Need?

THOSE who have just entered the temperance work, generally know how to remove the evil of intemperance; but those who have been in the field twenty years, as has the writer of this, have had plenty of opportunities to witness their own folly, and plenty of time to reconsider many of their positions. It is no time for lovers of the cause to bandy words or fling insinuations respect­ing motives that are sinister. And yet with shame we are compelled to confess the weakness mani­fested among ourselves, from which we have more to fear than from all other causes combined. Our enemies are doing much to prevent the enactment and enforcement of wholesome laws in relation to the traffic in intoxicants. But our pre­tended friends are doing much more. This has always been true; it is the history of all reform­ations. The battle has to be fought by a few cour­ageous men and women, who have to meet an organized and united enemy, and also to arrange for their own invalids, who never have any ability to resist the enemy. If they were only dead they would be out of their own misery and our way. But no, they will neither live nor die for the good of the country. Whisky men can give three mill­ions to influence our general election; but if we were to ask a large class of so-called temperance men to make any reasonable expenditure of means for any such purpose they would absolutely look at us a second time. Up to this time we have not made any effort that is worthy of the cause we plead.

Liquor men have been united and consistent; they have paid their money freely, and have evi­dently influenced legislators, judges, jurors, and officers of every grade and rank by their free dis­tribution of mammon. True, we have provoked this liberality by endangering their craft. But we speak of facts, and not of moral qualities. To call these men liberal because they have given great sums of money for the purpose of having the priv­ilege of continuing in their work of ruin, is to com­mit a serious blunder. But though there has not been one noble impulse in all they have done, yet we are not to be blinded to the fact that what they have done and are now doing have a potency to in­fluence our law-making and law-executing powers in their favor. And though, for the good of man­kind, the little that we have done for the cause of temperance is many hundred times the amount ever performed by rum-sellers, except for selfish ends, yet we are frank to confess that we have manifested but little of that good sense and liberal effort that the world had a right to expect of us. We have been wont to expect too much from the justness of our cause, without the proper means of bringing it before the people.

Again: Our professional men have been unwill­ing to take any certain position on the subject. Editor, doctor, lawyer, and politician of every grade and rank, for fear of losing patronage, cus­tom, or votes, either indirectly favor rum-sellers, or do so little as to be almost wholly worthless to the cause which they pretend to love. Many of these would be glad to work in the interests of the temperance cause if they were only sure that it would immediately triumph. Now the man who will rent a building for saloon purposes, who will sign a license bond, publish a whisky advertise­ment in the columns of his paper, or manage a case in court for a saloon-keeper, vote for a license law, or for a party that supports it, in all or any of these ways assists the cause of the drunkard-maker, and, in so far, helps to ruin the country.

Even preachers have trimmed their sails before the popular breeze. They have feared that the church coffers would be empty, that their popu­larity would be endangered, and their audiences diminished, if their pulpits should give any certain sound in opposition to the death-dealing traffic. Many of them are entirely too religious for any such worldly considerations.

I do not speak of all preachers, nor all of any other class, for many of these are men of prin­ciple and common sense; have love for God and love for men, and are not too religious or too political to do their duty; but I speak of many in all these classes, who, by reason of their selfish unwillingness to assume just responsibilities, are a standing disgrace and an immense clog to the temperance reformation. The present political parties are a hindrance of fearful proportions to any effective legislation against the whisky business.

They occupy no position on this question. A man may be just as good a Re­publican or Democrat either, when drunk as when sober; and, I am sorry to say it, about as apt to have the support of the leaders of these parties for any office that he wishes, if he is in the habit of drinking as if he were a sober man. Both of these bodies are hopelessly divided on the ques­tion. Hence neither can take any definite stand on the subject and live. It is impossible, there­fore, that either of these parties as a national organization should give us any effective legis­lation in the matter. Up to the present time they have indicated their worldly wisdom, in satisfying the temperance element, by enacting a law that, on the surface, shows a willingness to suppress the liquor traffic, but inwardly is wanting in every element of vital energy. Thus they have aimed to quiet all, giving to one class a law, and assuring the other that the law is impracticable, and there­fore impotent to hinder their trade. This is espe­cially true with every license law that has been enacted; and, up to this time, we can hardly say that prohibition has been fairly tried in a single State except Maine. Not that these legislatures are wanting in the ability to frame a just and effect­ive law, but they have had to save their parties. Not only so, but the executive offices are filled by these same parties. And whatever may be the individual desires of the men elected, they are made to know that they are the representatives of a party whose policy is to have no position, and take no action, looking to the suppression of the liquor traffic. Of course we now and then get a man elected by one of these parties who will be true to his convictions, whether he pleases his po­litical masters or not. But such a man is doomed to a short political career. The wire-workers of the party will not favor his second nomination. Most men, knowing these things to be so, and hoping for a continuation in office, will do as little as they can, for fear of offending one wing or the other of the party that elected them. Hence the condition of the political powers that now are, will probably continue, as in the past, to prevent both the enactment of righteous laws on the sub­ject, and their enforcement when enacted.

I do not now stop to ask what kind of a law we want, and pass over the ground of stringent license or local option. Here, again, I must take it for granted as, having already been established, that we want a total prohibition of, the manufacture, importation, and sale of anything that can intox­icate, except as alcohol may be needed, or thought to be needed, for medicinal or mechanical pur­poses, and that such prohibition should be in the Constitution, so that it will remain. The only question that is now before me is, How can such a prohibitory law be obtained? If this law can be obtained without the creation of a new political party, I should favor it, because it would save time, labor, and much expense. But if not, then we must inaugurate new measures. At this point we are kindly reminded of all the difficulties attending such an effort. In behalf of my ears, however, let me beg to be excused. I know what these difficulties are. I know they are numerous and great; but that is not the issue. Can we secure the desired law by the parties now in existence? If we cannot, then the questions of ease and preference are out of order. There is but one other course left, and that is the inaugu­ration of a new party. Do you say that we are not even then sure of success? That may be, but we will not know till we have done all we can in that direction. Hence the effort will as surely be made as that we are in earnest on this subject. And it will as surely succeed as that prohibition­ists love humanity and the prosperity of their country more than they do their present political parties. If the present organizations are to be used, I would recommend the following course:

The effort has ever been made by scheming politicians to make it appear that the only safety of the people is in remaining in full communion with the party. Generally, the dear people are to be defended by the good old party, and if the party should fail, the country would run to ruin. Ordinarily this has its desired effect, and temper­ance men go to the polls to "choose between evils." Having befooled us year after year in this way, they feel confident of future success on the same plan. The saloon men and the brewers stand by their business and vote for no man who will not legislate to suit them. Their spirit may be seen in the following quotations, which I have clipped from the most reliable sources. As they have appeared in many of the papers throughout the country, they will not be denied. The Abend Post, their organ, says:

"The compulsory Sunday weighs like an Alps upon our good city of Detroit. All citizens who are not in the ranks of the fanatics and hypocrites look with envy to other places (as St. Louis, Chicago, Cincinnati, and Milwaukee), where Sunday is a day of recreation to the laboring classes; a day on which the workman, resting from his every-day task, goes out a pleasure-walking with his family, or visits a hall to refresh himself with a cheering draught, to listen to the sound of music, and to gossip pleasantly with friends. But this, so beneficial and reasonable a method of spending the day, is for­bidden the people of Detroit, through a law prepared by fools and distorted visionaries.... To shake down this Alps is the endeavor of the German citizens, but there is little prospect of success.... The Supreme Court construes the law in harmony with the views of the hypocrites; and the municipal govern­ment, notwithstanding the popular expression, is not authorized to concede the open Sunday saloon—that provision having been stricken from the law by the last Legislature.

"Under such circumstances, what is to be done? The Agitation Union has given a short, energetic answer: Direct’ opposition against this outrageous law! and a test case to be made by holding a picnic at Arbeiter Hall next Sunday!

"We cannot say we think this will reach the desired end. Free-thinking Americans want the necessary cour­age in the matter, and but little can be expected of them; and since the whole English press inclines to the side of the temperance hypocrites, our opponents will have occasion to denounce the movement as exclusively a German one; thus rousing the prejudice of nationality." The picnic was held, and several arrests were made, and a mob, headed by two attorneys, tried to force the release of the prisoners, but failed. The ringleaders of this picnic and the mob were convicted of conspiracy. The Brewers’ Congress in Cleveland, Ohio, passed the following resolution:

"Resolved, We are against all laws which infringe on the natural rights of man, such as temperance, Sunday, and other prohibitory laws, since they are unworthy of a free people."

Brewers’ Congress of Buffalo, New York:

"Resolved, That this Congress now protest against the action taken in opposition to the malt liquor interest, by temperance agitators and prejudiced legislators.

" Resolved, That we regard the invitation to vote for a temperance fanatic as an insult.

"Resolved, That sooner than cast our votes for any of those apostles of bigotry and intolerance, we will war with all political predilections." At the Brewers’ Congress in Cincinnati, in June, 1875, the following was passed:

"Resolved, That when restriction and prohibitory enactments exist, every possible measure be taken to oppose, resist, and repeal them.

"Resolved, That politicians favoring prohibitory en­actments, who offer themselves as candidates for office, be strenuously opposed." The Brewers’ Congress in Chicago, and other places, have passed similar resolutions. A few weeks ago the temperance work was begun in Wheatland, Iowa, and the beer men be­coming enraged, organized a League, and adopted the following as their basis of action:

"We, the undersigned, citizens of Wheatland and vicinity, hereby organize ourselves into a club for the purpose of working against the most fanatic Blue Rib­bon prosecution, and to labor to repeal the Maine liquor law now in force.

"SECTION I. Only through our representatives in Des Moines is it possible to change the law; therefore, be it

"Resolved, That we pledge ourselves to vote only for candidates who have courage, and are willing to ener­getically further our interests.

"SEC. 2. Resolved, That we stand and act together on all important public questions, irrespective of party, without regard to nationality, and that we discard all jealousy.

"SEC. 3. Resolved, That for the purpose of reducing the expense account to the State, through the many liquor prosecutions, we agree to be careful in the selec­tion of our county officers, namely, clerk, sheriff, supervisors, and township trustees; especially to charge trustees to be careful in the selection of men to serve as grand jurors.

"SEC. 4. Resolved, That we will work against any temperance prosecution, and that we, in the transaction of business, will give preference to members and friends of our association." The saloon-keepers of Chicago held their annual meeting last year (April, 1878), at Aurora, Turner’s Hall, John Feldkamp in the chair, and adopted the following pledge, which they should require candidates for city offices to sign before giving them their support:

"The undersigned hereby declares that he is opposed to all so-called temperance, and that if elected to the Common Council he will not vote for any ordinance prohibiting the sale of liquor on Sundays, or to minors, or at any time between the hours of 5 o’clock, A.M., and 12 o’clock at night, or for any ordinance which is calculated to injure the legitimate traffic in intoxicating liquors."

Selling on Sunday and to minors is what they call legitimate traffic. The threats of these men are something more than idle bluster. Their money is in the issue, and they will vote as they resolve. Knowing this, politicians will not legislate contrary to their wish, unless it shall be demanded in the same way by a number superior to the rum power. Hence a blind marriage to either of the parties now before the people is certain defeat to the cause of prohibition.

If we remain in the present parties, I recom­mend that we give them to understand, at the outset, that unsoundness in any candidate on the question of prohibition, will cause us to remove his name from the ticket. If we would do this, and stand by it, we would find relief.

Someone will say: "You will break up our party." That may be, but the party that stands in the way of a righteous law ought to be broken up.

I am told, again, that we have gained nothing yet by the inauguration of a new party.

This, however, is only partly true. In the States where the new party movement has been pushed with any reasonable determination, concessions have been gained, and in the municipal elections in our cities we have had all our gains by the new party movement. Hence, I can see no reason for any alarm at any want of success in this way; for where it has been tried with any sort of thorough­ness it has succeeded. Now, when we can carry a majority of our towns for prohibition, it would be easy to carry the whole country for it, since seven-tenths of the farmers in all our Western States demand that the traffic in rum shall be dis­continued. It is only by political trickery that the license system is bound upon our people.

More than twenty years ago, the people of the State of Iowa voted for a prohibitory law of the strictest kind, and would adopt it again, by an overwhelming majority, if the opportunity was granted. Free this question from the possibilities of affecting the parties of the day, and prohibition would carry in any State in the Union. In any one of the Northwestern States it would receive, at the lowest calculation, three votes out of every five, if not two out of every three. Thus we can see what our parties are worth to us at this hour. They are simply furnishing the machinery by which a very inconsiderate minority are binding the dead carcass of licensed robbery upon the honest yeomanry of our country. We are now at liberty to make our choice, either to remain the cowardly, cringing slaves of political demagogues, or rise up in the strength of our God-given man­hood, and in the use of our sovereignty, cause the business of drunkard-making to be driven from the land.

One of the modern tricks of political manipu­lators is to work up a large mass-meeting for tem­perance, at which (either by having managed to have none present who cannot be controlled to their liking, or by running in a large amount of picked material), they can secure the adoption of some resolution to the effect that the temper­ance question can only be dealt with by moral means. Then they can use this as whitewash for the party through another campaign, while they truckle to the whisky interest.

They sometimes insult us by saying: "Our party stands upon its record." There is no party, as such, that has any definite record on the sub­ject of prohibition. The temperance workers in Maine and Vermont succeeded through the Re­publican party. And yet that party in the State of Iowa has dared to sell out for the German vote. The first thing, almost, that the party did when it came into power was to repeal the prohibitory law that had been offered the people by the Dem­ocratic Legislature. If a man in Maine should say that he stood by the record of the Republican party in that State, I would understand him to mean that he favored prohibition. But when he says I will stand by the record of the party in Iowa, I understand him to favor the licensing of saloons for the sale of ale, beer, wine, and what­ever else may be smuggled through, under the pretense of selling these commodities. In my opinion the time has come for an advance all along the line. Any delay will be a weakness and an injury. In many counties the temperance element is strong enough to control the dominant party, and elect the representative and senator over the loss of all the rum votes that will be given to the opposite candidate. In such counties we may work with the parties if we prefer. There are other counties in which we must bring out a separate ticket, as neither party will give us a true prohibitionist to vote for. In such cases we may defeat the Republican party and elect a Democrat. Be it so. If that party shall persist in selling out the interest of the State for a few beer votes, it ought to be defeated. We have petitioned these leaders every year for ten years to give us just one chance to vote on this subject, and our entreaties have been answered by repeated injuries. Hence, it seems to me, that it is time for us to rise from slavery to a party that dares to insult our inno­cence longer. But whether the time has come to introduce an independent party or not, or whether it is better to work in the old party lines, we must not be so wedded to any party as to support any man for office who will not vote and work for the prohibition of the liquor traffic. No music must decoy us, and no lash drive us from this work of removing drunkard-making from our land. No temperance effort that leaves the people under its influence, satisfied with the existence of saloons, can be of any permanent benefit to the cause. And no political party that persists in sell­ing out our sobriety and civilization, for a few thou­sand rum votes, can be anything else than a curse to the country. Here is my creed:

I am reminded that Hon. Neal Dow says that the Republican party has always had in its plat­form the policy of prohibition. Here is just what he says about the party and the law:

"At first it required some courage, persistence, and fidelity to duty, on the part of municipal authorities, to carry through this law, regarded then as so extraor­dinary and revolutionary. Large pecuniary interests were destroyed by it, a most lucrative trade was over­thrown, and many influential men of sensual habits were touched and offended by it. And the politicians generally, of high and low degree, the ward caucus-men, and the county-convention men and grog-shop orators, felt themselves wronged and insulted by it.

"By all these people who generally run the political machine, who set up statesmen and pull them down at will, it was thought an intolerable wrong that they should be summarily set aside, and that a law should be passed without consulting them, and only in the general interests, and with no reference to the will of party hack politicians or to the interests of any party. These men generally assumed an attitude of active and bitter hostility to the new law of prohibition; and it was only after many crushing defeats by the people at the ballot-boxes that these men abandoned their opposition, and came into the new movement as prohibitionists par ex­cellence, and assumed to lead it; precisely as the pro-slavery politicians came into the triumphant anti-slavery movement, as its special friends and leaders, carrying off all the honors and fruits of the victory they did not help to win.

"Now the Maine law in Maine is executed as easily and as promptly as any of our other criminal laws, and with no more friction in our courts or elsewhere than with our laws punishing smaller offenses against the general good; namely, robbery, house-burning, outrages of whatever sort against property or persons. The re­sult of this policy of prohibition has been to drive out of the liquor trade every man with any claim to a decent character, leaving it entirely in the hands of a few of the lowest and vilest of our foreign population, who carry it on secretly, on a very small scale, and only in our larger towns and cities. The men in Maine now engaged in this great crime against society are literally of the dregs of the people. I do not think it is doing them any wrong to say that they would as readily rob, burn, or murder for money, or for passion, if the penalties on detection were no greater. As the result of the Maine law, the liquor traffic is absolutely driven out of more than three-fourths of the territory of the State. It is entirely unknown in all the rural districts, in all the smaller towns and villages, and exists only on a very small scale in the larger towns, and only in the low, bad parts of them.

"The Republican party in Maine has always had in its platform the policy of prohibition and the vigorous enforcement of laws to that end, as its most prominent feature. This party owes its ascendency in Maine chiefly to the hearty endorsement of that policy, and a with­drawal from it would be instantly followed by its over­throw. No considerations of State or National policy, aside from the question of supreme importance, would be sufficient to induce the temperance men of Maine to support or countenance any political party which should oppose or ignore the great question of prohibition of, and annihilation to, the liquor traffic." The following is the present plank in the Re­publican platform for the State of Maine on the subject:

"Temperance among the people may be greatly pro­moted by wise prohibitory legislation, as well as by all those moral agencies which have secured us beneficent results; and it is a source of congratulation that the principle of prohibition, which has always been upheld by Republicans, is now concurred in by so large a ma­jority of the people, that it is no longer a party question, the Democrats having for several years declined to con­test it." From this it appears that prohibition is no more a Republican policy in Maine at the present time than it is a Democratic policy. And when Mr. Dow says it has always had the policy of prohi­bition, it should be remembered that Maine had a prohibitory liquor law some four or five years before the Republican party was born. Repub­licans in Maine who have held to prohibition have been successful in controlling their party. It does not follow, however, that the Republican party everywhere can be so directed. The party man­agers will evidently look in the future, as they have done in the past, to the probabilities of success, just as they did in Maine when they favored pro­hibition. In some of our Western States they may have to be defeated before they will know that temperance men will not suffer themselves to be insulted longer.

Mr. Dow writes to the National Prohibitionist, of recent date, the history of the movement in his State. He says:

"As some of your able contributors to the National Prohibitionist differ on Modes of Action, a few words upon Maine Modes of Action’ by which we were successful in our endeavor to prohibit the liquor traffic and drive it from the State, may help to solve this question. One of our ’modes of action’ will be found necessary everywhere. The people must be thoroughly instructed and convinced that the liquor traffic is in deadly hos­tility to every public and private interest. The watch­word must be ’No compromise’ with wrong, and accept nothing short of entire prohibition of this crime of crimes.

"We have driven the open dram-shops out of Maine. To accomplish this, meetings were systematically held all over the State; in small towns, villages, and rural districts, as well as in the larger towns, and occasionally large, central, open-air meetings, at some convenient spot. At all these, the point was to prove to the people, by a thousand illustrations of the fact, that the grog-shops were inconsistent with the general good; that more mischief, misery and ruin come from them than from all other sources of evil combined; at the same time that no possible good of any sort can come from them to the State or people.

"In doing this, some persons with no pay, not even of their expenses, traveled everywhere over the State, furnishing their own transportation, and the people came out in great numbers, and of all parties, to hear them. Short, condensed tracts were prepared, and these were scattered freely everywhere by these travel­ing missionaries. The people were taught that there was no possible way by which the liquor traffic could be over­thrown, except by an absolute refusal to vote for any man or any party who would not respond to the popular demand for protection from the grog-shops.

"Our people were so well indoctrinated in this re­spect, that old politicians, who believed themselves to have a prescriptive right to any elective office they might desire, were voted down and turned out ignominiously, though belonging to the party with a large, regular majority.

"One of these gentlemen, of high position and char­acter, was so badly beaten (by 20,000, though he con­fidently expected a majority of that figure), that he immediately left the State and never returned.

"I am confident that in all our Northern States, and in many of our Western, Middle, and Southern States, the temperance men are numerous enough to command success even now, if unitedly they will resolve not to vote for any man or any party that will not respond to their wishes in this matter. Such a policy, if adopted, must be pursued with an inflexible determination to accept no compromise short of the entire prohibition of the liquor traffic."

It is probable that we will have to pass through the same experience in all the States before we reach a prohibitory law and the means of enforcing it. And any adherence to party that will cause a neglect of this one question will be so much of a hindrance to our cause. So far as I can now see, it will be necessary in most of the Western States to form a new party. The parties now in existence, made up of both elements, feeling unwilling to take a definite stand in the matter, will delay the nomination of can­didates till it will be too late for prohibitionists to do anything by way of an independent movement. In the meantime it is understood between the party leaders and the beer men that no harm shall come to the rum-trade from their party. And after these late nominations temperance men have noth­ing to do but to submit to the rum-policy.

We must not pledge ourselves beforehand to the support of either party, unless that party shall first pledge, by platform resolution, to sup­port the cause of prohibition.

We are sometimes given to despondency. But when we think of the lethargy and thoughtless indifference on this subject a few years ago, and compare the public sentiment of those times with the activity and energy manifested in the matter today, we have reason to thank God and take courage. And yet we do not expect that time alone will remove the evil. We are fully convinced that, while we are gaining ground, we must con­tinue to fight until the last saloon is closed and the last distillery ceases its operations.

Public sentiment has already decided, and all men know that the sale of alcohol is an abomin­able business. Once our taverns had bars--they all had them; indeed, tavern and whisky were nearly synonymous terms. Every public gather­ing had to be disgraced with rum. A man could not harvest without whisky. It was thought to be indispensable, in wet weather, to keep a man dry; in dry weather to prevent him from being too dry; in hot weather to cool him, and in cool weather to warm him! For wounds, bruises, and snake-bites, it was the only panacea. But the world advances. Alcohol has been convicted of all the crimes known to history. It has been dis­missed from the harvest and the public gathering; in the respectable hotel it has no longer a place. It has been crowded out of the public walks and elbowed out of decent society. If it exists in con­nection with the hotel, it is put off down in the cellar, or out of the hearing of respectable guests. If a man opens a saloon on the street, he puts a screen in the door for the simple reason that it has become so disreputable to attend such places that young men would not go there unless there was something to protect them from the public gaze. On the other hand, temperance is becoming popular. Almost all men now claim to be tem­perance men. If the saloon-keepers of the nation were to come together in council, the first reso­lution that they would likely pass would be that they are in favor of temperance. They would only claim that they differed from other men in the manner of promoting the good cause.

Long years of warfare may yet intervene be­tween us and victory. The enemy is crafty and powerful; he is entrenched behind several billions of money now invested in the rum business, and has the assistance of the depravity and infidelity of the age. We have many weaklings among us. They are no account to us. Their counsel is al­ways for compromise, which to us is ruin. But with all these disadvantages we will succeed. The cause is God’s, and must go forward. I believe that the child is now born that will see the de­thronement of the rum-king, when husbands will be sober, when wives will be happy, when chil­dren will be cared for; when our penitentiaries will be empty; the fountain of idiocy, insanity, outrage and moral impurity will be dried up; when the highways of sin and folly shall be brought low, and the rough and uncultured ways of humanity shall be made smooth; when those living in the valleys of poverty and despondency shall be lifted up to the enjoyment of the glad day of sobriety, industry, virtue and peace. When that day has come, then shall there be one grand song of joy. On the morning of the beginning of the year of Jubilee, ancient Israel stationed her trumpeters within hearing distance of each other all over the land. The sound of the first blast from Jerusalem announced that all servants were free. These notes of freedom swept from hill-top to hill-top till the whole land was full of the bugle notes of liberty. So it will be when our enemy shall be deposed. The shout of joy will pass round the earth, and we will hear it said that the kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our God and his Anointed. THE END