Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1849-03-01

On the second Tuesday OF March, the Free
men of this State will again be called upon to
vote on the question of license. 1t is generally
understood that the responsibility of vending
spurious liquors as a BEVERAGE now rests nnnn
the Freemen of the Stale. This election is I'M
like all others decided by the popular vote In
all our popular elections, party emouments-in-
dividual advantages and political preferences
have their influences. Not so in tlis expression
of the popular will. The only question to be
decided is, whether the civil authorities shall
grant license to sell spirits for any other than
medicinal and mechanical purposes. The great
argument made use of by the vendors of spirits
is, that prohibition is an Infringement upon
their rights, deprives them of the means of ac-
quIing property, and that the enforcement of
the salutary No-Lcense principle nvades the
sanctum Of their liberties. The question we
believe has been settled, that each State has the
right to control her own internal police, and
make laws for the encouragement of virtue and
the suppression of vice. Another curious argu
mont, and when all others fail, is this: we
are told that the .No-License principle will de-
stroy the temperance cause, and that there will
be more liquor used in consequence of Suppress
ing the sale Oft. Well the temperance cause
may better be destroyed by No-Lcense, than to
egalize the manufacture of drunkards and the
ruin of families. No doubt, individuals will pro.
cure spurious liquors from the market and Sc
cretly furnish it for others, and probably those
who are licensed to sell it for medicinal purpo-
ses only will abuse their trust and sell it indis-
criminately. But is this sufficient reason why
the evil should not be suppressed? AS well
then may we abolish the whole cola-Dt common
iuris prudence, because crimes are commiNea
and abuses exist under them. The sale and use
of spirtuous liquors, as beverage is admitted
even by the vendors themselves to be wrong.
Here then is principle nMBtvfd,, Shall we,
by our acts, sustain and give countehaceto that
wrong? The facts which have been collected
give us undoubted evidence that the sale of spir-
ituous liquors has doubled, and probably thrib-
bled the astyeaE. under the license system. So
that the 1hssettion sosoften' made, that there
4uzsuaasiLa-srasysys psvaes dzanls ~ n
RESTRICTING it, loses all its force! What tR6f y
the duty Of every voter connected with this sub
ect? Will they fear to express their decided
dsapprobation of the traffic at the ballot box,
because, forsooth, the yepders of this liquid,
clamor for the right of sending tic Internal in
fuenccs of rum to the firesides Of those families
who would be otherwise comfortable and happy
to take from the honest aborer his money
without giving him an equivalent, and Thereby
wrench from his family the means of sustenahce
and support? or will they yield to the wishes of
those who would fatten upon the miserable pelf
obtained by creating so much suffering and dis,
tress in community?
If all the friends of temperance would act up
to to their honest convictions, at the Ballot Boz,
there would be such decided majority in favor
of suppressng the sale of alcoholic drinks,
that our magistrates and prosecuting officers
would faithfully deal with every violation of the
license law and as result, these pestiferous
SINKS, which are the bane of society, where
many of our young men form habits that end in
a dunkard's death, would be broken up Com
mon observation has demonstrated the fact, and
almost every days experience confirms the truth,
that the daily use of sprituous liquors, as bev-
erage, is the opening gateway to loss Of health
to poverty to blighted prospects-to bleeding
hearts-to misery -wretchedness--c rime--and
death. Our Poor Houses, Jails, Prisons, and
the Scaifold are the witnesses.