Sober by act of Parliament / by Fred A. McKenzie.

  • McKenzie, Fred A.
Date:
1896
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Sober by act of Parliament / by Fred A. McKenzie. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    MAINE UNDER LICENCE. but after he left it was allowed to fall into abeyance, and in 1742 it was formally repealed by Parliament. The modern legislative movement took its rise between 1830 and 1840, when the whole of New England was convulsed by an uncompromising campaign against in- temperance. Almost the entire community seemed for a time carried away by the crusade against intoxicants. In nearly every place powerful temperance societies were formed; many gin merchants closed their distilleries, and saloon keepers put up their shutters and bade the people come and spill the contents of their rum barrels down the gutters. At first, teetotalers relied solely on moral suasion; but soon the more advanced section in Massachusetts and Maine demanded that the law should aid them by putting a stop to the legalised sale of drink. As early as 1837 a committee of the Maine Legislature on licensing laws reported that “the traffic (in strong drink) is attended with the most appalling evils to the community. . . . It is an unmitigated evil. . . . Your committee are not only of opinion that the law giving the right to sell ardent spirits should be repealed, but that a law should be passed to prohibit the traffic in them, except so far as the arts or the practice of medicine may be concerned.” At that time the traffic in intoxicants in Maine was considerable; but the saloon keepers were without any efficient organisation, and consequently could not offer any united opposition to the new move- ment. There were seven distilleries, and between three and four hundred rum shops in Portland alone. Ac- 3
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