The Evils of Liquor Traffic
I REGARD the liquor traffic as one of the worst; in view of the evils that follow in its train, the worst of all crimes. It destroys manhood; it breaks up families; it fills our jails and State prisons with criminals of every grade. It is the foe of progress, of industry, and of Christian civilization. The victim of the drink habit is more than his own enemy; he is a menace to society. Because of this it becomes the duty of the law to take the traffic that endangers his citizenship in hand and deal with it in the most effective manner possible. Certainly this cannot be done by giving it the dignity of the public sanction, and placing it upon the same footing with honorable and legitimate commerce.—Governor Burleigh, of Maine.