Show LIQUOR LAWS the prohibition party of ohio recent a detato convention the fact that such a party can exist at all allows that the world contains a iiorio of im ables because prohibition wherever tried haa proved to be impracticable in practice the theory of preventing by law men and women and youth themselves on the altar of intemperance ie a pretty one but it has been demonstrated that the only way to save the drunkard from the consequence of an uncontrollable appetite for intoxicating liquor is to place him out of the reach of temptation by this we do not mean to ba understood der stood that the so called whisky cures are not what they are claimed to be or notwithstanding proclamation the 0 o learned medicos that is no specific for the liquor the fact re kalns that tens of thousands of apparently incurable basea of drunk have yielded readily to medical treatment and resulted in cures in ninety nine ont of a hundred cases the people of ohio are too sensible to ever again give prohibition a trial more than forty years ago the temperance element succeeded in incorporating into the ohio constitution a provision that no license to traffic in intoxicating liquor ahall hereafter bo granted in the state the consequence according to our authority was a reign of free ohio it was estimated that while this provision oi the constitution was supposed to bo operative there were more than places where liquor was sold contrary to the fundamental law reform was brought about lv the passage of a tax law which the courts construed to be not a license athin tha meaning of the constitution thi law imposes a tax of a year upon every saloon keeper and any man can sell liquor alio can pay tills tax or who can induce bome brewer or distiller to make him hig agent and to pay the tax for him which is a very common practice alio number of saloons paying the tax la now about and the total revenue last year was the amount of the tax which was at first for and beer saloons and for where hard drinks were eold was increased in 1888 to a uniform figure of and an attempt will now be made to raise the or at least the immense advantage of a tac law over the license system is set forth with great force by an ohio correspondent of a new york paper under the tax law political influence and pecuniary corruption is eliminated while under a license law the excise board which de ciden who eliell be licensed possesses a power which is invariably used in large to political in fluency or to secure large bribes enciso boards or boards oi aldermen who can grant or withhold licenses at their discretion almost invariably abuse their power either to kielp th e party which they represent or to put money in their pockets in shape of bribes accepted from applicants under the ohio tax law the assessor returns the number of saloons and their proprietors ae he does the number of horses or any other item of taxation and there is not even a board of equalization to which lie can appeal f a man sells liquor he must pay the tax and if ho can pay the tax ho can sell this tax law is popular with both arties and it would take a complete revolution in public sentiment to make a legislature repeal it or declare it un j constitutional ohio is satisfied with lier tax law while the license system is constantly attacked for alie reasons we have mentioned viz it is so easily perverted into a powerful instrument of political influence and pecuniary borrup 1 tion |