Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1858-03-11
Orange County Temperance Society.

you, Tor publication In your paper, a short ac-
count of the doings of meeting Of the friends
of temperance in Orange County, held at East
Randolph on Wednesday, the 9th of February.
The exercises commenced on Tuesday evening,
when the meeting was called to order by the
President, B. W. Dyer, followed by prayer.
Two addresses were delivered--one by Rev.
Mr.. Davis of Bethel, and one by Mr. Rufas
Nutting of Randolph
The exercises on Wednesday morning were
opened with prayer by Rev. Mr.. Scott of Will
Jamestown, after which the subject of County
Commissioner was taken up and discussed by
Rev. Mr. Whittemore, Mcssrs. Scott, Parish
and others. Mr.. Scott thought the law pointed
out explicitly the duties of the Commissioner,
while some were inclined to the belief that un-
der the present state of things it mattered not
50 much about commissioners, from the fact
that the law was not stringent enough, inasmuch
as that under the provision for " medicinal pur-
poses, so many people were sick, necessarily
requiring IA greater amount of alcohol as a
and the audience listened to an address from Mr..
Ezra Walker of Chelsea, designed as an answer
and in opposition to the one delivered by Rev.
Mr.. Whittemore at q previous Convention Mr..
Walker advocated the middle ground, that al
coho has as good right to existence as any
other substance in Nature that it was no good
reason for alb ,ishing it because it was misused
and abused. Mr.. Walker sarguments were con-
sidered very ingenious, and to the minds of
"a portion of his audience, no doubt, conclusive
and unanswrrable, while to the minds of others,
his positiorrappeared an untenable one, his ar
guments invalid, and his conclusions exceeding
ly lame.
Mr.. Whittemore made some remarks in reply
as intending to support his former position
that taking all things into consideration, all
that can be brought forward in favor of alcohol,
and everything that can be adduced against it,
that the only reasonable consistent conclusion
then was to Ganish it from the ,rorM. lie also
endeavored to answer the arguments of Mr..
Walker, and to prove that his position was one
that would not stand when weighed in the bal
anco Of truth.
Remarks were made by Messrs. Davis, Parish,
Seaver of Wiliamstown, and others, when the
Convention adjourned for dinner
At the afternoon session the exercises were
opened with prayer by Rev. Mr.. Bemis, and
music from the choir. The following resolution
was then discussed
Resolred That this Convention is ready to
take the broad temperance ground that alcohol,
for every purpose, ought to be banished from
the world,
Mr.. Scott admitted that it was necessary in
every work of reform to have engaged in in both
radicals and conservatives. and illustrated the
idea by reference to train of cars; the enri-
neer being the radical while the brakeman were
the conservatives to keep the radical engineers
from rushing on to ruin. He thought the time
had not come for this Convention to say that it
will abolish alcohol; thought that if liquors
did more hurt than good as beverage, thew
should be abolished as such. The idea that
they are an evil as beverage, does not touch
them as to their legitimate use He extolled
our present prohibitory law, and thought there
was great want of energy in putting it in
force, and dereliction of duty in putting in men
as agents who do not come up to the spirit and
letter of the law. No agent in the State of
Vermont comes fully up to his acquisitions
he did not claim that the law was perfect but
only execute it, as il was, and no liquors would
go out that would make men drunkards, or keep
them so. He thought that some reformers were
too sure that they were right, and that they never
erred, We failed to agitate the subject enough
and properly; in order to have good iaw tenn
perance, we must have good moral temperance.
Many young men in every community are going
to ruin because those moral principles have not
been impressed upon their minds; people had
gone to sleep on this subject, and we cannot
bring them up to their true position while We
are trying to 60 farther. He thought this Con-
vention had never been ready to adopt the pres
ent law; If SO, we should have no trouble in
NNSN"ehS ~ az Outc
MIR. Whlttemora made some remarks, He al
luded to the argument of Mr.. Walker in his ad
dress, that alcohol had as good right to an ex-
lstence as anything the Creator had made
Query, did the Creator, or man make alcohol?
Ed. FREEMAN land asked what there WAS in
Nature that did not exist in accordance with
liked laws; thought there were many substances
IN Natnro that were good for nothing in and of
themselves, but that We were justified in remoy
ing all nnissnees in the world, notwithstanding
they may exist in accordance with the laws of
Nature; else the farmers would have no right
to pull the weeds from their gardens, OF to seek
to eradicate any noxious weed from their farm
lie was ready to grant all the ground the advo-
Gates OF rum claimed; but they thought the,
scale would be more than overbalanced when the,
Dement'S and evils were placed in them, and the
preponderance would be for the destruction Of
alcohol lie thought the present law had been
executed as well az the majority Of our laws,
Out the reason why we could not execute it bet
ter was, because it was not efficient enough.
Mr.. Seayer of Williamstown thought that
when we admitted that alcohol did more hurt
than good, we shall, if we are sane. be ready to,
Danish it from the world. lie admitted that ia