ure reported the
evidence to be "perfectly incontrovertable, that the good order and the
physical and moral welfare of the community had been promoted by
refusing to license the sale of ardent spirits; and that although the
laws have been and are violated to some extent in different places, the
practice soon becomes disreputable and hides itself from the public eye
by shrinking into obscure and dark places; that noisy and tumultuous
assemblies in the streets and public quarrels cease where license is
refused; _and that pauperism has very rapidly diminished from the same
cause_."

An attempt to prohibit entirely the retail liquor traffic was made in
1838, by the passage of what was known as the "Fifteen-Gallon Law,"
which forbade the sale of spirituous liquors in a less quantity than
fifteen gallons, which had to be "carried away all at one time;" except
by apothecaries and practicing physicians, who might sell for use in the
arts and for medicinal purposes.

But this law remained in operation only a year and a half; when, in
concession to the liquor interest of the State, which had been strong
enough to precipitate a political revolution and get its own men in the
legislature, it was repealed.

"But the State," says Judge Pitman, "while the memory of license was
fresh, was not to fall again under its sway. The struggle for local
prohibition was at once renewed, and in a few years license had ceased
throughout the Commonwealth. The statement may surprise many; but I have
the authority of the city clerk of Boston for saying, that 'no licenses
for the sale of intoxicating liquors were granted in Boston between 1841
and 1852.' * * * And so the chapter of license was apparently closed. It
had not only had its 'day,' but its centuries in court; and the
well-nigh unanimous verdict was: '_disgrace_--_failure_'"

So strong was this conviction in the minds of the people of
Massachusetts, that Governor Bullock, in 1861, while acting as chairman
of the Judiciary Committee of the House, gave it expression in these
notable words: "It may be taken as the solemnly declared, judgment of
the people of the Commonwealth, that the principle of licensing the
traffic in intoxicating drinks as a beverage, _and thus giving legal
sanction to that which is regarded in itself as an evil, is no longer
admissible in morals or in legislation_"

THE LIQUOR POWER IN THE ASCENDANT AGAIN.

But in 1868, adverse influences prevailed, and after all