The Mid-Nineteenth-Century Temperance Movement in New Brunswick and Maine (1954)
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The University of Maine DigitalCommons@UMaine Academic Literature and Research Reports Academic Literature and Research Reports 3-1-1954 The Mid-Nineteenth-Century Temperance Movement in New Brunswick and Maine (1954) J. K. Chapman unknown Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/maine_women_acad_all Part of the Women's History Commons Repository Citation Chapman, J. K., "The Mid-Nineteenth-Century Temperance Movement in New Brunswick and Maine (1954)" (1954). Academic Literature and Research Reports. 10. https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/maine_women_acad_all/10 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by DigitalCommons@UMaine. It has been accepted for inclusion in Academic Literature and Research Reports by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@UMaine. For more information, please contact [email protected]. The Mid-Nineteenth-Century Temperance Movement in New Brunswick and Maine J. K. Chapman The Canadian Historical Review, Volume 35, Number 1, March 1954, pp. 43-60 (Article) Published by University of Toronto Press For additional information about this article https://muse.jhu.edu/article/623202/summary [ Access provided at 14 May 2020 19:55 GMT from Fogler Library at the University Of Maine ] THE MID-NINETEENTH-CENTURY TEMPERANCE MOVEMENT IN NEW BRUNSWICK AND MAINE J. K. CHAPMAN OWHEREdid the attemptto introducetemperance into NorthAmerica during the mid-nineteenthcentury produce a sharperconflict than in Maine and New Brunswick.• In thelate fortiesand early fifties this region became a focalpoint of a crusadeagainst "strong drink," which, having begun as a religious movementof moral reform,became a powerfulpolitical force seekingto imposeits will on the community.New Brunswickhad a provincialtemperance society in 1850,•' two yearsbefore the foundingof a statetemperance society in Maine, but it was from Mainethat provincialadvocates of enforcedabstinence drew much of theirinspiration and encouragement, asthe followingpages will show. Beforethe late eighteen-twentiesthere were few in Maine or New Brunswickwho were aware of anymoral and socialimplica- tionsin heavydrinking. In olderNew Englanda reactionto in- temperancehad begunabout the turn of the century,but for a generationit wasa spasmodicand unorganized movement among clergymenwho found it difficultto savesouls whose mortal shells wereimmersed in alcohol.It foundformal expression in the Ameri- can TemperanceSociety, founded in Bostonin 1826.As laymen becameinterested in temperance,the movementgrew more secular in outlook,and excessivedrinking began to be consideredin the light of its effectsupon society. a These developments, as well as the differences which arose within the movement between "tem- perance"men and "totalabstainers," and between"moral suasion- ists"and thosewho desiredrestrictive legislation, were reflected duringthe growthof organizedtemperance agitation in New Brunswick and Maine. Here,as elsewherein NorthAmerica, heavy drinking had long beenaccepted as an integralfeature of everydaylife. Therewere severalfactors which tended to reinforcethe hard-drinkinghabits •The writer wishesto acknowledgethe usefulnessof Miss Ruth Nicholson'sre- searchin this field.See her unpublishedM.A. thesis,"Maine-New Brunswick Rela- tions1887-1849," University of New Brunswick,1958. •'JamesHannay, History o[ New Brunswick( Saint John, 1909), I, 447. aThedevelopment of the temperancemovement in the UnitedStates before 1851 hasbeen hilly describedby J. A. Krout,The Originso[ Prohibition(New York, 19•5). 48 THE ,CANADIAN HISTORICAL REVIEW of the people.Maine and New Brunswickwere frontier areas whose basicindustry was lumbering,4 an expandingindustry and one whichwas notorious for its relianceupon rum. Moreoverrum was a vital commodityin the tradeof the regionwith the WestIndies andwas received in exchangefor lumberand fish. Import duties on alcoholicbeverages provided a significantpart, indeedfor many yearsa majorpart, of governmentrevenues. 5 Of greatimportance in New Brunswick was the revenue derived from customs duties which,at leastuntil 1857,provided all but a fractionof th• funds at the disposalof the Assembly.There can be smallwonder, then, that there waslittle inclinationon the part of businessand com- mercialinterests to deplorethe existenceof a trade so basicto their prosperity,or on the part of assemblymento interferewith the sourceof provincialsolvency or with their own independence of the authorityof the Crown. Alcohol,in oneform or another,occupied an importantplace in the community.ø "Spirits, especially rum, wasvery cheap,and the duty being only thirty centsa gallon,everyone could afford to drinkit. TM A rumration was part of the wagespaid to workers,for an employerwho did not providerum found it hard to obtain 4After1820 greaterattention was paid to agriculturebut that industryhad never beenseparable from lumberhagand eventoday many small farmers in the lessfertile areascombine both occupations. 5In 1824 customsduties levied by the New Brunswicklegislature provided œ80,682out of a total revenueof œ44,670.The greaterpart was derivedfrom spirits,and rum aloneproduced œ17,000 (see P.R.O., C.O. 198/7). In 1881,duties on rum producedœ 12,000 out of a total provincialrevenue of œ82,989(see P.R.O., C.O. 193/14). Even in 1841,a year of large-scaleillicit importsof spiritsbecause of high duties (see Journal,House of Assemblyof New Brunswick,1841, 56, 152), œ20,000was collectedon spiritsfrom dutieslevied underprovincial Acts aloneand several thousand pounds under authority of Actsof Parliament(see P.R.O., C.O. 198/24). øTheamount of rum and otherspirits consumed in New Brunswickduring the earlydays of the temperancemovement may be roughlyestimated through calcula- tionsbased on the populationof the provinceand the net importsof spiritsinto the colony.For example,in 1858,with a populationof 100,000(P.R.O., C.O. 195/15), 271,000gallons of rum and42,000 gallons of otherspirits were legally available for consumption(figures given to the nearestthousand gallons), thus providing for a per capita consumption,respectively, of 2.7 and .42 gallonsfor the year. Similar annualfigures for the late twentiesand earlythirties may be calculated,the volume of spiritsimported and exported being secured from the appropriateNew Brunswick "BlueBooks," P.R.O., C.O. 198/12,18, 14, 15, 16. Thesefigures would indicate that ff all the adultmales drank, say one in sevenin thosedays of largefamilies, then theiraverage annual consumption of legally imported spirits during the periodwould be aboutseventeen gallons, mostly of undilutedrum. 7JamesHaunay, Life and Timesof Sir LeonardTilley (Saint John,1897), 214. The dutyin 1881was one shilling per gallonunder provincial Act andsix pence underAct of Parliament(P.R.O., C.O. 198/14). TEMPERANCE IN NEW BRUNSWICK AND MAINE 45 labourers.At elevenin the morningand four in the afternoona churchbell wasrung and all workstopped for the rum dole?Rum wasreported to be the chiefarticle sold in countrystores and many shopkeeperskept stocksof liquorto treat customersand induce themto buy othergoods. The little town of Calais,Maine, had nine legitimate"rum holes"and liquor was soldin many cellars withoutbenefit of licence."The use of liquorwas considered neces- saryto happiness,ff not to actualexistence .... Rumwas supposed to be an infallible cure for nearly every ill that fleshis heir to, nothingcould be doneat that timewithout its use? Everyfestive occasioncalled for heavydrinking; the fishrun in spring,a barn raising,military parades, a Fourthof July,or a "GloriousTwelfth." The lumbererswere an especiallyintemperate element in the community.They drank great quantitiesof undilutedrum, and, after the winter work was doneand the springdrive over,they "passedsome weeks in idle indulgence,drinking, [and] smoking. "•ø Sincelumbering was the main industryin both Maine and New Brunswick,the habits of the woodsmenexerted a considerableinflu- ence upon the rest of the community.Henry Clubb of Maine reportedin 1856: The lumber interestemploys many of the bone and muscle (undeveloped morally and intellectually) of society,who are kept in the forest and on the river in a semi-savagestate; away from the restrainingand refining interests of good society.They are wild men, and like certain animals (upon which they feed, by the way) are fond of swill and will root if not rung. This kind of societyhas its demandsand there are always enoughto meet them with the supply.xx It is scarcelysurprising that the peopleof Maine and New Brunswickbegan to connectthis widespread consumption of liquor with problemsof economicdepression and high ratesof crime,or thatthe advocates of temperanceexpected a great reform in society fromthe successof their crusade.Neal Dow, a prominentMaine temperanceleader, stated, "No personcould fail to noticethe generalpoverty of thisstate,... andmuch of the povertywas the directresult of the generaldistribution of the trafficin liquor."•2 "It wasthe regularthing-rum, slotlffulness, poverty and lawless- 8FredM. Dow, "The Historyof Prohibitionin Maine,"Americana, XXIII (1980), 184. 9Hannay,Life and Timesof Sir LeonardTilley, 218. •OJohnMacGregor, British America (Edinburgh, 1852), II, 802. 11HenryS. Clubb, The Maine Liquor Law: Its Origin, History, and Results, Includinga Life of Hon. Neal Dow (New York,1856), 211. l•'Neal Dow, The Reminiscencesof Neal Dow (Portland,1898 ), 176. 46 THE ,CANADIAN HISTORICAL REVIEW ness."la Dow had been director of th• Portland alms-houseand