To the Maine Legislature:
Our state has been overrun by the working class drunkards in our community. They live their lives consumed by the need to consume alcohol; and I call to you today to consider the needs and well-being of our citizens and our state.
I address the legislature on this day of June 25, 1846, to argue my support for the prohibitionist law against liquor licensing. With no laws or regulations in place to prohibit the purchase or consumption of alcohol, I have come to wholeheartedly believe that our society is facing disastrous consequences unless we stop the rampage of alcohol and its ability to flow freely through the streets of Main.
Not 15 years ago our children started drinking an average of 7 gallons of pure alcohol per year by the time they were 15years old. Americans have spent more money on alcohol each year
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We don’t put up restrictions, we build walls. We stop the wrath of drinkers and sellers of rum right in their path in order to support our own well-being.
We can no longer adopt the naïve views of groups like the Temperance Watchman of Durham who wish to advocate for drinking in moderation. Our Cristian brothers in the Protestant church lead by example as they urge this same moderation, but we can no longer sit and hope that people will abolish the evils of substance on their own.
Maine Charitable Mechanic Association was a failure. I lead this reform in order to end all liquor licensing and the support I gained from that referendum pushed me to further my attempts at prohibition. Now 6 years later, I propose this: that the Senate and state House ban the sale of alcohol in small quantities, and that any person who is in possession of alcohol be punished accordingly. In order to function, we must stop the “Grog Time” bells that allow our working staff to intoxicate themselves, and redeem the name of our beloved country.
Neal Dow,