No. 12. S

1851.

[ No. 12. ]

REPORT of the Committee on Expiring Laws, respecting the License Laws.

The committee on expiring laws, to whom was referred so much of the new constitution and Governor's message as relates to the sale of intoxicating liquors, and sundry petitions upon the same subject, respectfully report, that they have given to the subject their most serious and careful consideration, with an anxious desire of discharging the thankless task so imposed upon them, in a manner that should meet with the approbation of the Senate, and subserve the public welfare in that regard. At every point of their inquiry your committee have felt themselves surrounded with difficulty and embarrassment.

The action taken upon the subject by the late Convention that revised the constitution of our State, and the large number of petitions that have been presented at this session of the Legislature, and the respectable character and high standing of most of the petitioners, afford sufficient proof that the public mind is deeply exercised in reference to the sad and deplorable effects produced by the sale of intoxicating liquors, upon the happiness of those individuals subject. ed to its blighting and withering influence, as well as upon the geneal prosperity of the country at large.

But the vague and indefinite provision incorporated into our new constitution, as well as the various and conflicting views expressed by those who have petitioned the Legislature upon the subject, would be sufficient to satisfy your committee, had they no other proof, that the public mind is wholly unsettled in respect to the best remedy to be applied to effect a termination of the evils complained of.

The experience of every age, but more particularly that of the present, reminds every honest mind that any revolution for good, in the morals of any community, in order to be permanent, must pro

ceed from an actual change in the public mind; that any positive stat ute law calculated to restrain the natural inclination of the mind, and compel mankind to be more humane, upright and moral, will remain ba: a dead letter upon the statute book, unless it is preceded by and in accordance with public sentiment; and that any law, however right, which meets with such a fate effects more injury than good, as it encourages the evil disposed to violate all law.

But a greater obstacle than the unsettled state of public opinion, in the judgment of your committee, is presented in opposition to legis lation upon the subject at the present time.

The new constitution provides that "That the Legislature shall not pass any art authorizing the grant of license for the sale of ardent spirits or other intoxicating liquors." It ts difficult to determine whether this provision was intended to prohibit the passage of any new laws upon the subject, but keep the present laws in force, to be administered as before, as it does not direct or recommend a repeal of existing laws; whether it was designed to abrogate that portion of the license laws, as well as prohibit others respecting granting license to the traffic, but keeps in force that part which prohibits the traffic without license, and thus establish a perfeet and perpetual prohibition thereof; or whether it was intended simply to remove from the traffic the obsticles thrown in its way, as well as deprive it of the sanction afforded it by the license laws, and thus leave the traffic open and free to those desiring to engage therein, subject only to the common law provis ions against the erection of nuisances, and the penalties for the violation of natural rights. From the debates and vote upon that provi. sion, it appears that it received the support of many in favor of wholly prohibiting the traffic, many in favor of leaving it open and free, and others in favor of the present license laws.

It is evident, therefore, that the Convention which revised our constitution. aware that the public mind was much exercised in respect to the evils of intemperance, and that some action would be expected of it in that regard, was signally happy in the conception of a provision so applicable to the present unsettled state of the public mind; one which, until a construction should be given it by the courts, could be interpreted to suit all the conflicting theories upon the subject.

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Your committee believe that some prohibiting enactments, that shall be effectual in removing some of the grevious evils flowing from the traffic in ardent spirits, are desirable and called for—although they do not arrive at that conclusion so much from the numerous and highly respectable names that have endorsed the representations and complaints contained in the petitions upon that subject, as from their own observation; for they are aware that a toc accommodating spirit, in respect to lending names to petitions, prevails in this Statethat many good citizens will often, for accommo lation, sign petitions endorsing sentiments which they would condemn the Legislature for carrying out. Upon some of the petitions referred to your committee are the names of some gentlemen who your committee are satisfied not only believe the plans recommended in their petition for remedying the evils complained of, are entirely impracticable, but who would visit the Legislature with their severest censure, should it attempt to carry them out; and that there are many others, who, though they would not exhibit opposition to the prayer of their own petition to the same extent, nevertheless, by their daily habits, their facetious conduct towards, and their patronage and encouragement extended to, those engaged in the traffic, furnish satisfactory proof that the sentiments of their petition are no index to their real opinions. That a large proportion, however, of the several thousand highly respectable citizens who have signed the petitions presented upon that subject, are really at heart believers in and devotedly attached to the sentiments of their respective petitions, your committee do not entertain a doubt, as conflicting as they may appear, and that they will deserve your consideration. Without first knowing, however, what construction will be given to the constitutional provision referred to, by the Supreme Court of this State, and what its effect upon the traffic, without any other new provision of law, would be, your committee have been in doubt as to what is the duty of the Legislature in the premises. If the Legislature held annual sessions, your committee, in view of the danger of coming in contact with the construction that may be given by the court to the constitution, by their attempting to meddle with the license laws at the present time, would have recommended that no action should be taken upon the