Note and Comment

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jul 13, 1911

Prohibition in Maine

An unusually strong influence is being exerted at the present time to break down the laws of the State of Maine which prohibit the sale of intoxicants. Untruthful reports of drunkenness in Maine are circulated broadcast through the agency of the powers that are trying to nullify and destroy the prohibition law of Maine. A report purporting to come from Bangor, Maine, and copied largely in the press of the country, tells of the death of a certain man in an unfrequented part of the city of Bangor, supposedly through the drinking of a large portion of a keg of ale. This is set forth as a terrible example of the futility of the prohibition law, and the harmfulness of its working. The report states that there is nothing to prevent liquor being shipped into Maine by parties from the outside, and says: “This is done continually, and shows the absolute uselessness and absurdity of the law.” But it does not show the uselessness and absurdity of the law; it shows the lawlessness and cupidity of the liquor interests, which ship liquor into the State of Maine for the purpose of breaking down the law, and causing it to appear obnoxious and inconsistent. Before asking for a change in the law and condemning the law, these liquor interests ought themselves to show a clean record in the matter of the observance of the law. The demand for a change in the law comes with poor grace from those who have persistently flouted the law, and that for the sole purpose of gain at the expense of virtue, sobriety, prosperity, and even life itself. If one keg of ale sold in defiance of the law resulted in the death of the party mentioned, what may Maine not expect if the law is abolished, and the concerns that produce and distribute such death-dealing beverages are permitted to work their will, unhindered save by the mere payment of a license?