MASSACHUSETTS. 



481 



luir mi Sii!,dav, or to minors or other unsuitable 



This Mil, which was mad,' \,-r. 

 in its pro\i-ioiis I'm- tin- thorough regulation 

 of tins 'kin. 1 nf tratlir. in the hope of etl'.-ctin^ 

 ith tin- opponents of tin- lieeii-c 

 n, \vas ivjVctcd h\ tic.- Legislature, and the 

 old law snlfered to remain in force. 



This subject continued to agitate tin- minds 

 of th.- people, and the State constabulary force, 

 to whom the execution of the law was Jn- 

 I, continued to enforce its provisions \\-Jth 

 in all parts of tin- State until after the 

 election in November. There were seizures of 

 liquor to the amount of 92,658 gallons during 

 the year, of which 46,805 gallons were de- 

 stroyed, 11,337 gallons were returned to claim- 

 ants by order of the court, 5,468 gallons turned 

 over to the agents of the State, and the remain- 

 der, 411,048 gallons, awaited the orders of the 

 court. At the end of the year, the State 

 Me had caused some 8,000 coses to be 

 brought in the various courts of the Common- 

 wealth against persons employed in the illegal 

 sale of liquor, in most of which pleas of guilty 

 had been entered or verdicts rendered. The 

 operations of the constabulary force had not, 

 however, been confined to seizing liquor and 

 clo-ing grog-shops. Gambling-implements had 

 been destroyed to the value of fifteen thousand 

 dollars, and numerous lotteries, houses of ill- 

 fame, and other illegal institutions had been 

 suppressed. An attempt to break up a gam- 

 bling-establishment in Westfield, in the early 

 part of October, was forcibly resisted, and a 

 serious riot ensued, in which a citizen of that 

 place was killed by a pistol-shot from one of 

 the officers of the constabulary force. The 

 expenses of this' department for the year reached 

 the sum of $125,430.48, while the receipts from 

 lines sale of confiscated liquors, etc., amounted 

 to $246,027.19, .leaving a balance to the credit 

 of the State of $120,596.71. 



This question of regulating the sale of liquor 

 had a visible effect upon the political issues in 

 the State, the support of the prohibitory policy 

 heinu' generally attributed to the dominant 

 party; but the division of the people upon this 

 question did not coincide altogether with the lines 

 separating political organizations. A move- 

 ment was made in the Republican Convention 

 in September, formally to repudiate the policy 

 of prohibition, as essentially a part of the plat- 

 form which that party occupied on questions 

 affecting the interests of the State. The follow- 

 ing resolution was offered and referred to the 

 ' nittee on Resolutions, but not reported by 

 them for adoption: 



Resolved, That the Republican party of Massachu- 

 setts exacts no other test of membership than faithful 

 adherence to the principles from time to time set forth 

 in the resolutions of the State and National Conven- 

 tions ; that in view of the vast importance of the pres- 

 ent national issues, it hopes that differences of opinion 

 upon matters of State legislation will not impair the 

 citi.-ieiiey and strength of the party as a political or- 

 ganization ; that it lureliy dix-laiins all responsibility 

 for tho enactment and retention of the present pro- 

 hibito^ry liquor law, and will not permit it to be un- 

 VOL. vii. 81 



dentood that the support of that law U an essential 



part ni 'tin- dutie> of i In- Republican* of thU Common- 

 wealth: l)iit that it recognizes tl- .'lit of 

 :IH-MI|MT -i tin- ]>urt\ to advocate and vote for 

 a law of prohibition or regulation, as his individual 



judgment shall <\\ 



The resolutions of tho Democratic party al- 

 lude to the subject in the following language: 



Resolved, That we dUti not ly affirm and avow with- 

 out reservation the traditional di-nioi-ratic principle 

 of opposition to all legislation that infringes upon the 

 private rights and liberties of the citizens; and we 

 illy oppose tho extraordinary and odious meth- 

 od of the enforcement of the laws by systems of 

 espionage and by subsidized spies and informers. 



In the interval between the.two conventions 

 of these political parties, on the 17th of Sep- 

 tember, the friends and advocates of pro- 

 hibition met at Worcester and organized a 

 State Temperance Convention, at which the. 

 Rev. Dr. Eddy, of Boston, presided. The Hon. 

 Henry Wilson, Senator in Congress from Mas- 

 sachusetts, addressed the assembly in an elo- 

 quent appeal in behalf of the cause of temper- 

 ance. On the subject of the prohibitory law 

 he said : 



To the convention he would say do up your work 

 well to-day. Resolve it, write "it upon your door- 

 plates that you may use all the power and influence 

 you possess to cause that the next Legislature of Mas- 

 sachusetts shall keep upon the statute-book that law 

 which was put there many years ago, and which he 

 hoped would stand as long as grass grows or water 

 runs. 



It would be folly to overlook the great fact that 

 there is much power engaged in the license move- 

 ment, that there are powerful men eniragcd in regu- 

 lating and controlling it. Let us appeal to the heart, 

 to the conscience and reason, to the higher and bet- 

 ter sentiments of the people, and if the people of 

 Massachusetts are what we claim they are, they will 

 see to it that right and true men fill the chairs of the 

 Senators and Representatives next winter, and that 

 we have a Legislature true to the cause of prohibition. 



Among the resolutions which were adopted 

 by this body, the following are selected as 

 relating to the subject of the proper legislation 

 touching the sale of liquor. The other reso- 

 lutions relate to the evils of intemperance, and 

 the importance of united efforts for its sup- 

 pression. 



Resolved, That the licensing of any crime or moral 

 evil is based upon a principle destructive to society, 

 and cannot be defended on any plea of public neces- 

 sity, nor by any law of Christian ethics ; that the 

 license laws designed to regulate the sale of strong 

 drinks have proved a failure both in this country and 

 in Europe ; that instead of restricting the sale, they 

 only tend to render respectable what is really dis- 

 honorable, and make the ousiness a fearful monopoly, 

 produce a revenue to the Government from the woes 

 and miseries of drunkenness, and thus involve every 

 citizen in the guilt and shame of a traffic, the only 

 legitimate products of which are public dishonor, 

 domestic misery, intellectual degradation, and spirit- 

 ual death. 



Resolved, That the prohibitory law of 1855, having 

 In en thoroughly tested bj the courts, sifted in its 

 general features and in its minutest details, and sus- 

 tained by the highest legal authorities in the land, 

 should remain on tho statute-book, and be supported 

 by all the power of the Commonwealth ; that its en- 

 forcement is practicable, reasonable, and essential; 

 that any modification that would impair ita efficiency 



