Newspaper Page Text
Whiskey and Its 'Effect Upon Crime
IF you ask me what is primarily the
cause of more crime than any other
thing, or combination of things, my
only answer could be —WHISKEY.
In my experience as a prosecuting offi
cer of the state, I have come directly
in contact, within the past two years,
with over two thousand criminals of
both races; of this number the cause
1 -
of their trouble was traceable to whiskey in eighty
five per cent of the cases.
Particularly all of the crimes against the per
son, such as murder, assault to murder, assault
and battery and the numerous crimes in the same
category, are rightfully charged to over-indulgence
in whiskey.
Very recently in my circuit, in one of the “dry”
counties, there came on to be tried three murder
cases, and in the trial it developed that the de
fendant and the deceased were in attendance upon
what is commonly known throughout the prohibi
tion counties as “beer drinkings.” The result was
that three kegs of beer were directly the cause of
depriving these men of their liberty for life; and
the cause of untold suffering to families of the
slain.
In all cases where the state introduces evidence
to show intoxication at the time of the commission
of the act, the defendant will always introduce
evidence showing his general character for peace
ableness; on cross examination of this witness the
truth is told that he was a good, quiet citizen until
he got well under the influence of intoxicants, and
then he was unreasonable, over-bearing and a gen
eral “bully.”
Recently, on a visit to the county chain-gang in
my home county, I had a very fine-looking young
man say to me; “I am in better health than I
have enjoyed in seven years; I am sorry for ray
mother’s sake that I w’as convicted of stealing
from my employer, but there was nothing to blame
for it but whiskey; this ordeal was the best
thing on earth for me; I have gotten all of the
whiskey out of my system, and when I get out
of here I will go to work and make a man of my
self.”
The great trouble with the use of whiskey in
this day and generation is its impurity. This stuff
or concoction they are selling through the country
is running men wild. The working poorer classes
who infest the second and third-class barrooms of
the state no more get an article of pure whiskey
than you could get from the Mexican loca weed.
This thing they call rectifying whiskey has made
about as many graves, and caused about as much
suffering as the Civil War. With very few ex
ceptions I venture the assertion that absolutely
pure whiskey is as hard to find in the poor man’s
bar as a fully-developed set of jaw-teeth in the
mouth of a setting hen.
The people who drink this stuff become slaves
to it. You say, “Why don’t you quit?” The an
swer is they cannot quit. It is like stopping the
cocaine or morphine fiend. It is a disease just
as much a disease as yellow fever, typhoid or any
other malady. Our preachers and sober men lose
patience with men who drink. They say it is lack
of manhood and back-bcne. But it is not; the
power of resistance is destroyed by this stuff they
call liquor. It has made demons of tender-hearted
and affectionate men. It is causing thousands of
men to forget and desert that which was nearest
and dearest to them before they acquired the
habit.
Let the State of Georgia pass an act appointing
twelve experienced chemists to examine at will the
whiskey in the bottles and barrels of the dealers
throughout the State of Georgia, and one-half of
the people in the business would either go out of
it, or increase the price one-third instanter.
The State of Texas, some ten or twelve years
ago, made provision for persons committing crime
pfter having been under the influence of whiskey
Uy William Schley Holvard, Solicitor General Stone Mountain Circuit.
The Golden Age for May 9, 1907.
as an habituate; the defendant can file his plea
of non compos mentis at the time of the commis
sion of the act on account of the habitual use of
whiskey. This plea can go to the jury, if proven,
that they may take it in mitigation or extenua
tion of the crime committed. Texas found out that
whiskey of today and whiskey of twenty years
ago were two different and distinct articles. So it
is all over the country. Read the signs in front
of barrooms and see what manner of men are
running them, and after reading the signs stop
and think. This is enough said on this subject for
any sane man.
The people in position to know all, tell you that
whiskey is no longer under the control of men,
but whiskey is controlling men. It is responsible,
unquestionably, for at least one-half of the crime
committed in our state.
Is there a remedy? Can we have prohibition?
If so, how?
Before we consider the remedy let us briefly
discuss the argument of the other side.
We no longer have the defiant “blind tiger” to
deal with. Those who operate them have long since
discovered there is no profit in such a business,
and the judge of our circuit has given every offender
for this offense to understand that he shall never
profit by such traffic. So we, for a fair discussion
of the evil, must admit that the “blind tiger”
furnishes but a very small portion of the whiskey
to the consumer.
As the law now stands in Georgia there is no such
thing as local option or prohibitory laws. There
can be no such under the present system. The man
who wants whiskey can get it in loss than six
hours from any point in Georgia, and he gets it.
In all counties in our state it is an evident fact
where local option has been voted, that a majority
of its citizens desire the whiskey traffic driven from
its confines. A majority of the people of Georgia
have long since decided that whiskey must be taken
from her people, and yet the majority’s will has
been almost totally defeated.
When I was in the Georgia Legislature, the very
strongest argument heard from members who were
advocating the establishment of local dispensaries,
was that the large cities of Georgia were shipping
whiskey into their counties by the train load, and
that the large cities were reaping the revenue, and
the moral effect was the same now in that particu
lar county as it was before whiskey was voted
out, and if the people were going to get whiskey,
let them get it at home, and let the county get
the benefit of it for their roads and schools.
When I take a retrospective’ view of the situa
tion I remember that the retail dealers of the large
cities did not raise their voice in protest against
the bill for the establishment of dispensaries gen
erally over the state when such a bill was pending.
Tn fact, if they did anything it was in favor of the
bill for their establishment. The reason for this
was palpable —nearly every county in Georgia
which was then, and is now, in favor of prohibition
would have fallen a victim to the “better roads
and better schools” argument wfiiich we have heard
so often
There is but one method by which the people of
Georgia can enjoy local option, and that is to pro
hibit the shipment of whiskey and other intoxi
cants into counties in which the sale is prohibited
by local option or high license.
The argument against this bill will be that the
state will lose such great revenues, and other states
will reap the benefits. They will tell you that
people are going to have whiskey, and that they
would send into Alabama, Tennessee, South Caro
lina, North Carolina or Florida and get it, and you
could not prohibit it on account of Inter-state
Commerce law’s. Congress now has a bill pending
before it to meet that very situation. It is my
understanding that it is receiving serious consider
ation and able support. This bill provides a pun
ishment to be inflicted upon the consignee of intox-
icants, and lhe carrier shipping or conveying whis
key into states where, by law, the sale is prohib
ited.
When these laws are enacted five-eighths of the
state will be at the back and by the side of the
leaders of prohibition to lend a helping hand in
driving whiskey from the state. It is one of the
most natural things on earth for the fellow to
help take away from the other that which he can
not enjoy himself.
A drunken man twenty years from today will
be a curiosity. Just as it was twenty years ago,
a drink of mean whiskey was nowhere to be found.
Take my word for it: if the whiskey problem is
solved as it should be, crime will be diminished to
such an extent that three-fourths of the money
expended in running the courts of the state will
be saved. Where you now hold two weeks of court
trying criminals, you can easily get through in a
few days. Take the money thus saved and put it
on your roads, and put it into the minds and hearts
of your children, and when they have grown to
be sober men and high-minded women, you will
have the blessed privilege of enjoying the consola
tion that the misery of good women, and the suffer
ing of little children did not contribute one penny
to the good roads you ride over, or one dollar to
the education of your children.
Prohibition, absolute prohibition, will come as
surely and as completely as the rays of sunshine
cover the glorious fields of this sober-minded old
state.
Only Thee.
Sy Margaret A. 'Richard.
None to whom to go when sorrows
’Compass me;
None on whom to lay life’s burdens —•
Only Thee.
None to whom to look for comfort
When friends (lee;
None on whom to lean when weary —
Only Thee.
/ *
None to whom to haste when Satan
Tempteth me;
None through whom to know resistance—
Only Thee.
None to call upon when darkness
Falls ’round me;
None to whom to go when lonely —
Only Thee.
Oh, with love for thee, my Savior,
So fill me,
I shall want, shall need, no other —
Only Thee.
•5 *
After a few weeks at boarding school Alice wrote
home as follows:
Dear Father: Though 1 was homesick at first,
now that I am getting acquainted, 1 like the school
very much. Last evening Grayee and Kathryn (my
roommates) and I had a nice little chafing-dish
party, and we invited three other girls, Mayme and
Carrye Miller and Edyth Kent. I hope you are all
well at home. 1 can’t write any more now. for I
have a lot of studying to do. With lots of love to
all. Your affectionate daughter. Alyss.
To which she received the following reply:
My Dear Daughter Alyss: I was glad to receive
your letter and to know that you are enjoying your
self. Uncle Jaymes came the other day, bringing
Charls and Albyrt with him. Your brother
Henrie was delighted, for he has been lonely with
out you. I have bought a new gray horse whose
name is Byllye. He matches nicely with old Freede.
With much love from us all. I am.
Your affectionate father, Wyllyam Jones.
The next letter from the absent daughter was
signed “Alice.”—Woman’s Home Companion,
11
