Orleans independent standard. [volume] (Irasburgh, Vt.) 1856-1871, 1859-03-11

From the Repository.
Amount of Liquor Sold in lS9S, COntrasted
with the Sales Of 1858.

Mr.. BALLoU In communication
over the signature of Temperance, in
January number of the Repository,it was {
stated that in 1928 Vermont paid a tax
to the demon of intemperance, of Two
Millions of Dollars, which had been re-
duced by the Temperance Reform to some
Eighty Thousand-or from Sc for each
man, woman and child, to about Twenty
Five Cents. You thought both sides of
the statement monstrously extravagant,
and called for the data-whch, with your
leave, I will now submit to the public
through your columns. OF course, we
make no pretensions to more than an ap-
Proclamation to truth. And as happen
to be furnished with the statistics of Ad- |
olson County, with as much of accuracy
as is commonly obtained for estimates of
this character, shall make that County,
which contains about one-eleventh of the
population, basis of the estimate for the
State. And l know not whether that
County is above or below the common
level of Temperance.
In 1928, about the time of the organi
cation of the Addison County Temper
ance Society, and during the May vaca-
ton in AIiddIebury College, committee
Of students went through the County, or
nearly, and enquired of every merchant
the amount of his liquor purchases
With the exception of one man, in Brid-
port, they were well received, and shown
! the bills of purchase, or furnished with
the amount. or rather the number of gal
=, Ions. But. observe, they took no account
Of what was sold by the taverns-and all
the leading ones bought their liquors in
market, by the hogShead and by the bar
rel-and the County had about forty
They took no account of what was sole
by distillers to taverns and families anC
distiller for that County told me tha
he made thirty gallons day, every gal
lon of which was drank in the County,
I, They took no account of the cider bran
dy, of which some families consumed sew
eral barrels, procured from their own ap
i piles. They took no account of wine
strong beer or cider, all of which wer
9 then almost as free as water-but the
80 took simply the quantities of distilled o
alcoholic spirits as bought and sold b
- the merchants. Through the kindnes
of Mrs. Merrill, of Middlebury, l al
able to furnish these statistics and est
mates for 1928, and also to the Hon. Ds
:, Wis Rich, Of Shoreham, three years Con
missioner under the Maine law, I am il
debted for the account of sales by Agen
- in the years 1853-54-55. Itappears tn;
"a the sales are very nearly the same
amount each year, perhaps a little on tt
te,
"a ported one year and not the other,
-. have given all the towns reporting, wi
r; the year reported, so as to get the repor
.ba of all the towns having Agents. On
- half the towns have had no Agent, b
~ have bought in towns that had, or su
- piled themselves against law. II
of Agents report, not the number of gallo
ha sold, but the amount received; while Il
in statements of the merchants is the nur
ber of gallons purchased, and not t
raj amount of sales. What we now want
let show is the amount paid By consume
Gu then and now. As large proportion
res. this liquor was sold by the glass, at t
an stores and taverns, and large portion
h it choice liquor, we suppose it did not
al to consumers at an average of less tn
one dollar and fifty cents per gallon.
.r- Hence we shall set down in the followi
as table, for every gallon, one dollar a
We fifty cents, or add TO the reported gallo
,rIv sold.fifty per cent. in numbers. And s
ned ting the quantities sold by Agents nc
xed against the sales in the same towns
,ent 1928, the difference will be apparent.