How Prohibition Prohibits.
The Independent refers to the Christian Mirror's account of "Portland's rum-hole,"—the hole through which the liquor captured by the police of the city is poured into the sea, and goes on as follows:— "That paper now reports another 'rum-hole,' that into which the State sheriff pours the liquor he has seized. The Mirror reports the seizures lively, and denies that there are any open liquor shops in the city. The deputy sheriff declares that there is not an open place where liquor is sold known to the officers. There are such apparent establishments, with counters and bottles, etc., but the bottles are all empty, and they are 'shams, kept for the very purpose of creating the impression that liquor is openly sold, and that prohibition does not prohibit in Maine.' Doubtless in these cases there are bottles and casks concealed somewhere; but they task the ingenuity of the officers to find them, and are, therefore, not open saloons. In the sheriff's office alone (the Police Department is additional) the following is the official report of work done in Portland from January 1, 1883, to August 1, 1884:— | Gallons rum seized |
1,275 |
|---|
| " gin |
95 |
| " whisky |
2,088 |
| " brandy |
26 |
| " wine |
130 |
| " ale |
36,373 |
| " lager beer |
8,138 |
| " porter |
31 |
| " Bass ale |
14 |
| " cider |
55 |
| Total gallons |
48,225 |
| No. of distinct seizures |
1,197 |
| No. of cases appealed |
154 |
| Fines paid |
$11,900 |
| Persons discharged |
70 |
| Persons committed to jail |
19 |
"This does not look like an absolute failure, even in Portland."