The voice of freedom. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1839-1848, 1846-04-16
BRANDON, Thursday April 16, 1916.

6 like is it TO a certain other temper who
"goeth about as a roaring lion seeking
whom he may devour /"
The excuse which some vendors of in
, toxica,ing drinks m~ake--viz: that they
e do not sell 10 d~runkards or those who are
r now drunk, is the most flimsy of all apol.
ogies for wrong doing. Why, it is a far
4 less evil to sell 10 a drunkard than 10 sell
! to a comparatively sober man. The drunk.
: ard is already ruined in all probability
But the comparatively sober man may be
kept safe, if he is not tempted to go in the
} way of destruction. LwouId do neither /;
but if were obliged to choose which |
| would do, | would certainly sell a gallon
TO an aged %drunkard, sooner Than a single
glass 10 a hitherto virtuous and sober
young man. The latter, | have no doubt,
would be the greater crime in the sight of
God-however human opinions or human
laws might regard it.
There is, there can be no excuse for sell
ling spurious liquors as a beverage, nor
for furnishing the means for doing 1t. 1t is
wrong in itself-it is quitting a stumbling.
block or occasion 10 fall ia a brothers.
wav.n
Sd. All who lend their aid and influence
in giving licenses 10 sell intoxicating Ii
quors 10 be drunk as a beverage, are
chargeabIe with the guilt of "putting a
Stumbling block or occasion to fall in their
brothers way"
The whole system of licenses is a bad
one-it is vicious in itself and always was.
Alicense 10 do a wrong thing cannot make
1t right. But it has the effect of quiet,
ing the conscience of him who is engaged
in the wrong doing, and OF preventing the
community from Riding itself of a nuis-
ance. If there were no licenses 10 sell
spirits, and if there never had been any,
there Is more than one house in this viii
lage which might be indicted at common
law as a public nuisance, and be suppress
ed as a pest in society, But under the
sanction Of a license, that is made LAWFUL
which is IN itself iniquilous, and is the
mother of denominations. And the public
mind, under the influence of the license
system, has been so trained and corrupted
that it bears and s~uslains the evil.
Just look at the matter. 1t was always
known that the free and promiscuous sale
Of intoxicating liquors was an evil against
which society should guard itself. Hence
laws were made against it. No man has
a right 10 sell without a license. In re-
gard 10 other articles of traffic it is not so.
Any man, who can furnish them and find
purchasers, has a right TO sell flour or
meat, or any other article not injurious 10
the consumers. But if he would sell an
article which IS injurious TO consumers,
he must obtain a license TO do it. And
thus law is made TO sanction wrong doing.
It holds its broad shield over the man, who
is destroying individuals and injuring So
ciety. And it makes the man feel content
ed while committing the wrong it quiets
his conscience, for he pleads that he Is on
Iy doing what the law sanctions.
There never was a greater mistake in
the matter of Legislation than that of the
granting Of licenses to sell spurious liquors
10 be drunk as a beverage True, in the
origin Of this mistake there was some apol-
ogy for it. In the early settlement OF our
country, it was not known how great
would be the evils of licensing the traffic.
Then there was 40 common and general
habit of drinking spirits in the community.
1t was only done occasionally and at inter-
vals-on festival occasions and the like.
Then, too, spurious liquors were so dear
lha, very few could afford to buy, and
these only at particular times. There
was no such thing known in the commu~
nifty as the daily and constant guzzling at
the intoxicating cup, as if it were as free
and plenty as water. And then, too, there
) was some meaning in the law which APP
pointed "sober and discreet men" 10 sell
the article-men who would do it judi
%ciously and with prudence-men who
would withhold it when necessary, and
would not suffer n fellow>man to ruin
; himself, through their instrumentality,-
These were the circumstances in which
} the system of licenses arose, and there was
some apology for it. Ignorance Of what
; would be the consequences might at least
e be pleaded.
S But we have seen the consequences
y and felt them through every vein and
r nerve of the body polite. And we have
: seen these consequences TO be moral and
2 physical debasenenl, disease, ruin, death.
= We have seen what was intended 10 be a
J restraint on drinking, the very means of
. increasing it a thousand fold. We have
, seen ii become the great temptation to
: drink-the very means of alluring to their
? ruin those who would otherwise be sober.
t We have seen the man who deals it out TO
2 others, instead of being the sober and dis
l.. Greet man whom the law originally in
tended, sometimes drinking freely himself
: and caring very little how much others
drank, if only they could pay for it. We
have seen it become, not as was intended ,
: The rsSkrnininn inAnenca and G~e gMLaLing