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72

SECOND REASON OF REMONSTRANCE.

dation, waste of health, destruction of morals, multiplication of crime, burdensome taxes for the support of pauperism, orphanage, arrests, imprisonments, trials of court, execution of criminals worthy of death, and ten thousand times ten thousand degrading, time-wasting, God-provoking, hell-deserving, soul-destroying fruits of Intemperance!

The above fallacious claim of "Right" has been fully answered in previous arguments, and especially in the foregoing united and decisive opinion of the judges of the Supreme Court of the United States, agreeing, for incontestible reasons, in one concentrated amount of national authority, and in substance is so recorded. That each State in the American Union has the uncontrolled right to enact its own police laws for the preservation of health, prevention of crime, and promotion of public morals, according to the exigencies and demand of circumstantial occurrences. And that such police laws, enacted in statute authority, in any State of the Federal Union, are, in the very nature and necessity of the circumstantial facts and occurrences which gave them existence, to be considered, in all cases, in full force and virtue, irrespective and independent of any controlling power of existing laws of the General Confederation of National Government. Thus the Second Reason of the Remonstrance will be dismissed with the following remark: That the Three First Reasons of the Remonstrance afford incontestably convincing arguments in favor of the Maine Law statute, for the abolition of the curse of Intemperance!

CHAPTER IV.

Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, and Ninth Reasons of Remonstrance against the Statute of the Liquor Law of Maine, in the State of New York, Analyzed and Logically answered by Appropriate Conclusions.

FOURTH AND FIFTH REASONS OF REMONSTRANCE.

THE fourth reason of remonstrance against the legislative enactment of the Liquor Law of Maine, as a statute of the Empire State, is in the following words: "Because we believe, that the accustomed beverages of civilized men, interdicted and rendered unobtainable by this threatened law, are essential to the health and comfort, the social enjoyment, and the beneficial intercourse of a large number of persons in every community, and who now use them unobjectionably, and worthily for these desirable purposes."

The fifth reason is as follows: "Because man, as a superior, social, and moral being, exercising a rational intel ligence and choice as to what is most beneficial and agreeable to himself, can no more be confined by restrictive legislation to the drink of the inferior animals, than to their food and clothing; and requires neither medical nor legislative prescriptions for the ordinary preservation of his health, and recuperation of his strength, nor the example, either of drunkards or reformed drunkards, to protect their morals."

The amount of the above reasons, connectively, will

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now be analyzed. By "accustomed beverages," understand all kinds of intoxicating liquors, such as rum, brandy, gin, whiskey, wine, or by whatever names they may be called. Now, if the Liquor Law of Maine-"the threatened law" -should become a statute of the State of New York, "beverages essential to health, comfort, social enjoyment, and beneficial intercourse"-"beverages," comprising all kinds of intoxicating liquors, "would be interdicted by this threatened law, and rendered unobtainable," even by "civilized man," except only for necessary uses, which the Law of Maine specifically designates, and for which the law in question makes abundant legal provision.

Hence, drunkenness and all its attendant woes, sorrows, degradation, delirium tremens, self-murder, and all other such like "healthful comforts, social enjoyments," and sources of" the beneficial intercourse of a large number" (doubtless, the "beneficial intercourse" of thousands of thousands of liquor manufacturers and traffickers, and the destructive pleasures of consumers of alcoholic poisonous beverages) would all be exterminated by the interdictions of the threatened law-the Liquor Law of Maine-if adopted as a statute of the Empire State? What an awful calamity! Let the sober or half-intoxicated reader pause, and think of it awhile.

But there is another important source of consideration belonging to the analysis of the above remonstrative reasons of respectable citizens of New York. If the law of Maine should become a statute of New York, this "threatened law" would reduce "man"-yes, "MAN," the most "superior, social, and moral being" of the earth--to the

FOURTH AND FIFTH REASONS OF REMONSTRANCE. 75

degrading necessity of quenching his thirst with cold water, the "drink of the inferior animals!"-"cold water," such as horses, cows, dogs, cats, and what not, even down to rats and mice, drink to quench their thirst! Oh, how abominably degrading must be the "drink" of Maine Law "restrictive legislation" for the "superior, social, moral, rational being, man!" Doubtless, there are millions of such "superior rational beings" called gentlemen, lovers of "fruits of the earth," manufactured into "beverages" for their "unobjectionable and worthy use," who would snuff at a glass of cold water handed to them in a hotel with as much disdain as any species of "inferior animals," from the mouse up to the cow, horse, or even the elephant, would spurn at the offer of a trough full of any kind of intoxicating "beverages" offered by any "superior" twolegged animal "man," who himself would drink of his own free-will offering till he was drunk, and would lie down in the trough. Such gentlemen-see no need of Maine Law "restrictive legislation" to dictate what, when, where, or how much they shall drink, nor "the example of reformed drunkards to protect their morals" by any stringent laws, modeled after the example of the Liquor Law of the State of Maine. So say all respectable gentlemen who have subscribed their names with their own hands, or caused their names to be written by an amanuensis, to the celebrated remonstrance from the Empire City, in opposition to the Maine Law statute for the suppression of the customary use of intoxicating liquors, drunkenness, degradation, and ruin.

Now, let the above assumed premises, thus analyzed, be

76 FOURTH AND FIFTH REASONS CF REMONSTRANCE.

logically coupled together with their legitimate conclusions. If fruits of the earth, artificially prepared by the chemical processes of decomposition, fermentation, and distillation, into alcoholic beverages, such as rum, gin, brandy, wines, cordials, beer, cider, and all kinds of intoxicating liquors as have been thus made, recommended, sold, consumed, and stand thus attested from long-accustomed experience, proving, without mistake, that the above-described "beverages have been, and still are essential to health, comfort, social enjoyment, and beneficial intercourse of a large number of persons in every community, who now use them, unobjectionably and worthily for desirable purposes, as superior beings, exercising rational intelligence, and need not legislative prescriptions for the preservation of health, nor reformed drunkards' examples to protect morals." Yes, let it be well understood that, if the above premises be TRUE, then the logical conclusion is averred to be equally true, that all the millions of "superior beings" of the human race who have "used their accustomed beverages" till they have poisoned themselves to death, by drinking intoxicating liquors to habitual drunkenness while they lived, are nevertheless, of course, all now dead!-dead, and gone to render their account for the abuse of their assumed right to drink intoxicating poison to drunkenness, and to suicidal death "at their own personal discretion and responsibility." And, if all this be true, then, also, let a warning voice sound the dread alarm! Those who " пого use" such beverages would do better to beware of a drunkard's grave, and a drunkard's perdition, when deprived forever of all his “accustomed nutritious beverages," containing in their very

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