Rum Riot Part 5: Conclusion
Discussed in this Post
Republican Political Control in Maine
Loopholes in Prohibition Laws
Following Years
Today the irony of Neal Dow's prosecution for violating the Maine Law is well noted. It is not much emphasized that he was acquitted, in a court he helped establish and by a judge he helped appoint, with what amounts to an apology. Two or three years later Dow was nominated to represent Portland in the state legislature. His one-time enemies declined to nominate anyone to oppose him. He relates the incident as conveying a popular vindication and personal compliment.
In the meantime, anti-Republican and anti-Maine Law forces made liberal political use of the riot in the next election cycle, attacking Dow personally and the Republican party for its association with him. However, the repeal of the Maine Law in the next legislative session, far from being the end of Prohibition implied in some general overviews, led to a re-enactment within two years. In the interim the Republican party became the dominant party in Maine politics. They would hold that power for the best part of a century.
I wrote earlier about the Irish feeling targeted by the Maine Law, and I think I showed how that was politically true. I just want to finish by pointing out some loopholes in the law that made it socially true also.
The “mechanical or medicinal” loophole has already been noted. In modern dollars, Dow’s $1600 would buy about a thousand bottles at Three of Strong. That’s a lot of medicine.
The original law made sales in lots of less than 28 gallons illegal, so the wealthy could buy in bulk, no problem. The next iteration applied only to domestic sales, so the wealthy could import case lots of French wine or British gin, no problem.
Later, as it was a crime to buy or sell but not to possess liquor, an elaborate private club culture arose. Portland’s Cumberland Club had a locker room. The rules stated that the lockers belonged to the member. The intent was to shield the club from charges of being in the liquor business.
The lockers remain in the Club. I took the picture last year.
Some subterfuges were available to the less wealthy too. A pickle or a wedge of cheese was sold at an inflated price, accompanied by a free drink — the law banned only the sale of alcohol.
Last February, in my talk at Three of Strong about the King’s Pines, a subtext was the way a law that was disdained, winked at, and capriciously applied led to general disregard for the law in general. Interestingly, the same can be said of prohibition in Maine. Had the forces advocating national prohibition looked at the Maine Law with a clear eye, they’d have seen it more as a cautionary tale than a model.