Liquor problem in its legislative aspects;

Front matter

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BOSTON PUBLIC LIBRARY

Preface

For several years beginning in 1889, a group of fifteen gentlemen, who came to be known as the Sociological Group, prepared papers on subjects in sociology, which were , published in ‘The Century Magazine ” and “The Forum.” These articles were written by single members of the group, but were criticised before their publication by other members. Among the subjects dealt with were: A Programme for Labor Reform, by Professor Richard T. Ely; The Social Problem of Church Unity, by the Rev. Dr. Charles W. Shields ; Pensions and Socialism, by Professor William M. Sloane ; Government of Cities in the United States, by President Seth Low.

Meetings of the group were held from time to time in New York city, at which there was a useful interchange of opinion on various social topics. In 1893 these gentlemen decided to enlarge the number of the group to fifty, and to concentrate their attention on the liquor problem in the United States. The selection of the new members was made chiefly from Eastern cities, in order that it might be possible to procure large meetings of the committee in New York city twice a year; but there were, nevertheless, a few members from distant places, like Milwaukee and St. Louis. The members of the committee bore their own traveling expenses; but a few thousand dollars were raised by private subscription, mostly in New York and Boston, to defray the expenses of their investigations.

The present members of the Committee of Fifty are Dr. Felix Adler, Bishop E. G. Andrews, Dr. J. S. Billings, Professor C. A. Briggs, Dr. G. Alder Blumer, Z. R. Brockway, Esq., James C. Carter, Esq., William Bayard vi PREFACE,

Cutting, Esq., William E. Dodge, Esq., Rev. Father A. P. Doyle, Rev. Father Walter Elliot, Dr. E. R. L. Gould, Rey. Dr. W. R. Huntington, President Seth Low, Rt. Rev. H. C. Potter, Rev. Dr. W. I. Rainsford, Jacob H. Schiff, Esq., of New York ; Professor H. P. Bowditch, J. G. Brooks, Esq., Rev. Dr. Thomas Conaty, Rev. Dr. 8. W. Dike, President Charles W. Eliot, Dr. Edward M. Hartwell, Professor F. G. Peabody, Gen. Francis A. Walker,’ of Massachusetts ; Professor W. O. Atwater, Professor R. H. Chittenden, Professor Henry W. Farnam, Jacob L. Greene, Esq., Professor J. J. McCook, Rev. Dr. T. T. Munger, Charles Dudley Warner, Esq., Hon. David A. Wells, of Connecticut; Professor C. W. Shields, Professor W. M. Sloane, of New Jersey; President James MacAlister, Robert C. Ogden, Esq., of Pennsylvania; C. J. Bonaparte, Esq., President D. C. Gilman, Dr. William H. Welch, of Maryland; Rev. Dr. Alexander Mackay-Smith, Hon. Carroll D. Wright, of Washington, D. C.; Rev. Dr. Washington Gladden, Professor J. F. Jones, of Ohio; Frederic H. Wines, Esq., of llinois ; Professor R. T. Ely, of Wisconsin ; Hon. Henry Hitchcock, of Missouri; Rt. Rev. T. F. Gailor, of Tennessee ; President William Preston Johnston, of Louisiana. This committee, meeting in New York city on October 20, 1893, appointed four sub-committees on different aspects of the drink problem: one on the physiological aspects, one on the legislative aspects, one on the economic aspects, and one on the ethical aspects. The sub-committee on the physiological aspects of the problem began work almost at once by setting on foot several series of investigations concerning the effects of alcohol on the animal economy. The sub-committee on the ethical aspects of the problem thought it expedient to delay their work till the other sub-committees had made some progress in their respective fields. The sub-committee on the economic aspects waited until it should

1 Died January 5, 1897.

PREFACE. Vil be determined what parts of numerous desirable investigations should be undertaken by the National Bureau of Labor at Washington. The fields to be occupied by the National Bureau having been determined toward the close of the year 1895, the sub-committee on the economic aspects of the drink problem then began the prosecution of several inquiries.

The first Report of the Sub-Committee on the Legislative Aspects of the Liquor Problem is presented in this volume; and it is published under the authority of the whole Committee of Fifty, as explained in the following prefatory note by the Secretary, Dr. Francis G. Peabody : —

“This Committee, made up of persons representing different communities, occupations, and opinions, is engaged in the study of the Liquor Problem in the hope of securing a body of facts which may serve as a basis for intelligent public and private action. It is the purpose of the Committee to collect and collate impartially all accessible facts which bear upon the problem, and it is their hope to secure for the evidence thus accumulated a measure of confidence on the part of the community which is not accorded to partisan statements.

“The investigations of the Committee are carried on under the direction of four Sub-Committees, which deal respectively with the Physiological, Legislative, Ethical, and Economical aspects of the question.

“‘ By vote of the Committee of Fifty, January 10, 1896, reports made by its Sub-Committees to the whole body may be published, by authority of the Executive Committee, as contributions to the general inquiry; but to all such publications is to be prefixed a statement that reports of Sub- Committees are to be regarded as preliminary in their nature, and only contributory of facts upon which the general discussion may in the future be undertaken by the Committee as a whole.”

Vili PREFACE,

In order to bring the present volume within a suitable compass it has been necessary to condense somewhat the reports of Messrs. Wines and Koren. ‘This condensation nas caused the omission in some instances of the detailed evidence on which general statements are based; but nothing has been added to their reports, and no expression of their opinions has been even in the slightest degree modified. This inevitable reduction, however, diminishes in some instances their responsibility for the form in which the facts are presented,

Table Of Contents

INTRODUCTION é :

PROHIBITION IN MAINE AND ITS RESULTS .

Tue History oF PROHIBITION IN Iowa