The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1853-01-12
EN As our columns arc open for both


For the Middlcbury Register.
MIR. EDlToR:
The liquor law passed by our
Legislature at its last session is now be.
fore me. 1t is truly "bill of pain and
penalties" If the people of Vermont
are SO corrupt as to require such law,
let them then wear with composure the
chains which it imposes. Some of its
provisions are supposed to be palpable
violations Of the constitution, and if so.
they ought not to be sanctioned by the
people. In the 22i section, it is provi-
dcd that "Whenever any person within
this State shall be found in such a state
of intoxication as to disturb the public
or domestic tranquility, any sheriff, high.
bailiff, or justice of the peace for the
county, or any constable, grandjuror or
selectman of the town in which such
person may be found, may. without war.
rant, and it is hereby made their duty to
apprehcnd such person SO intoxicated
and take and retain him in custody in a.
ny place in the county IN The discretion
OF sad oDtccr so arrcstiDg, until, in the
opinion cfthe saM officer, the person so
detained shall be capable of tcstifyinr
properly in a court of Justice This
section may be treated with far less rev.
erence than some other provisions of the
law, because it is believed not to have
been embraced in the Maine liquor law
propcr,rcquestel to be passed by the sew
enteen THOUSAND retiti) ers composed I'll
women and children. This section is
Objectionable on the ground that it de-
prives the citizen IF his liberty without
due process of law, and subjects him to
the discretionary power of petty Off
GER The liberty of the citizen is held
sacred in the eye of constitutional law.
The 10th section of our State constitu-
tion provides, among other things, THAT
no person can be justly deprived of his
liberty except by the laws OF the land,
or the Judgment of his peers and the !
9TH section of oar glorious national con. /
stitution. made by the people Of the L.
nIted States, for their benefit and pro
lection, Provides that IN, b,rsoa sail 10
deprived Of liberty or property without
due process of law"
Now, what is tie mcanin, ,fthc terms
the laws of the land, due process of law.
and judgment Of peers p The law Of
the land or bills of right, says the distiu.
guishcd Chief Justice Ruifin of North
Carolina, in an elaborate opinion, ire
plete-says Chancellor kcnt--wi,h
sound constitutional doctrines does not
mean merely an act Of the Legislature. /
for that construction would abrogatc !
all restriction OH legislative authority.
The clause means that statutes which |
would deprive citizen of the rights of
person or property, without regular
trial, according to the course and usage
Of the common law, would not be the law
of the land, in the sense of the constitu-
tion. And the judgment of his peers
means a trial bya jury of twelve men
according t, the 90 irsc Of the common
law. and even in private suits at common
law. the right of trial BY jury is prescr,-
ed in the constitution Of the United
States, where the value in controversy
exceeds twenty dollars.
The section of the liquor law above
is calculated to deprive the
citizen of his liberty, aud to subject him
to be arrested aud punished without due
process of law, to be detained in custody
at the discretion and caprice of petty
officer, and dragged from one part of the
county to the other, until he is supposed
by the officer to be in n situation to ties.
tify of whom he had the liquor. But
should he feel the force of an obligation
he entered into when he received the Ii.
luor of his friend. not to bctrly him
and expose him to the tender mercies of
this law when he let him have it, when
faint and weary, as an act of charity and
mercy; should he seal his lips in silence
his Imprisonment would be eternal.
Wing Legislators of Vermont, go on
and dig political graves for yourselves
Il you please, but tramplc not upon the
rights of the citizens. Make what laws
you please to curb the inordinate appe-
tites of men, but tear not an important
leaf from the constitution of your coun-
try. DIV.
"A wrong impression 1--WE must
presume Internationally is conveyed in
the above,as to the number of petitioners
in this state, for IA law as nearly identi-
cal with that of Maine as our circumstan-
'es will permit" The number Of petit
lioners was about $4,000 of whom
IL 500 we're legal roteys,& the remainder
women, and minors orer fourteen years
,f age
Some provisions of our law, it should
also be observed, were already incorpo-
rated in the statutes Of Maine, when their
liquor law was passed. As a whole, the
Vermont law must be conceded to be
less Objectionable than that of Maine,
and both are wanting in certain stringent
features Of tn Rhode Island law refer.
red to in the opinion of Judge Curtis
The portion of the law specially OBJ
iected to, above, is one that seems to be
popular elsewhere, and especially with
Dr. Davis Of the White River Adreyti-
ser, who, while warmly opposing the law
as a whole, gives his decided approval
to this provision. doctors disagree"
The appeal which concludes the above
shows commendable
zeal in favor of the Wing party and Of
constitutional rights As, however, we