L. A. S by L. A. S.

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Washington, D. C. · Aug 24, 1905

L. A. S

By L. A. S.

SOME time ago an effort was made by the Indiana Legislature to suppress the terrible evil of cigarette smoking by children in that State. A law was enacted known as the “anti-cigarette law.” The effort has, it seems, resulted in a complete failure. The Indianapolis correspondent of the Washington Post says: “The law is practically a dead letter, and the old law, which prohibited the sale of cigarettes to children, . . . has fallen into disrespect with it.”

The anti-cigarette law made it an offense either to sell or give away cigarettes or “makings” (cigarette paper). The law was evaded and broken down by the tobacco trust. The trust obtained names and addresses of Indiana residents from directories and other sources, and began sending cigarette paper into the State free of cost, using the United States mails for the purpose. It was not liable under the law because it was a foreign corporation. The correspondent says:—

The post-office authorities at Washington have been appealed to, but have replied that they are powerless to act; that the American Tobacco Company can not be deprived of the use of the mails, for it is doing a legitimate business; and, in any event, a fraud order would not work a cure, for that only prevents a person from receiving mail, and not from sending it out. Under these circumstances the State is powerless to enforce the statute.

Some idea of the amount of paper that is being thus freely distributed can be gained from the fact that every envelope contains seven packages or books of cigarette paper, and each book contains twenty-five sheets, a total of one hundred and seventy-five. Five bushels of these envelopes were destroyed by the local post-office officials in one day, owing to faulty addresses.

Among those who are writing to the tobacco trust for cigarette paper, and receiving the same free of cost, says the Post correspondent, are “thousands of children.”

Persons guilty of such a crime against God and humanity will one day realize the truthfulness of the Saviour’s words: “Whoso shall offend [cause to offend] one of these little ones . . . it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depths of the sea. Woe unto the world because of offenses! for it must needs be that offenses come; but woe to that man by whom the offense cometh!”

One more instance is thus recorded of the failure of legislation as a means of staying the tide of iniquity that is lowering the moral level of the nation.