Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1859-12-31
SITE TEMpER1NcE SOCIETY

The annual meeting Of the Vermont State
Temperance Society was held at Middlebury,
on Wednesday and Thursday of last week.
The following are the officers elected for the en-
suing year; President, w. c. Kittredge Of
Fairhaven Vice Presidents Rev. L. ID. Steb-
bins OF Burlington, Hon. James ID. Bell of
Walden, Jason Steele, Esq, of Windsor; Sec
rotary, b. i. Winslow of pittsford Treasurer,
John b. Page of Rutland; Auditor Zimri
Howe of Castleton Executive Committee, Rev.
A. Walker, James Barrett w. A. Burnett, DR..
l.. Sheldon, Rev. c. A. Thomas, John Howe,
Jr., i. Parker
The following resolutions were considered
and adopted
Resolr'a That the practice Of our local liquor
agents ol selling intoxicating liquors to men for pur-
poses not contemplated by the statute is subversivc
Of the great end we aim at friends Of temperance
and should receive the indignant rebuke Of an in
JuIed commui y and should be visited by the penal
ties provided by law.
Ros0ired That the Executive Committee be re-
que,ied 10 prepare bill, making such notifications
OF our prohhiory law rs shall require prosecutions
for is inimctiun 10 be conducted ut the expense Of
the State; aud all fines imposed to be paid into the
Siat Treasury; and that the to be presented to
the Legislature at its mex; session for its consdera-
ton.
The Executive Committee made q report of
the condition of the cause of Temperance
throughout the State, in which they considered
each county separately. OF Windham County
they report as follows;
From Windham County the report is a sad
one. In reply to the inquiry, as the law gen
orally respected and enforced ?" the answer is.
Broken with impunity--liquor sold daily, opcn-
~ and very rarely is the law enforced To the
question. Is there apparently any increase of
drinking among the young. and at social gath
erings? the answer is, believe there has been
an increase of drinking among our young men.
and even boys, in the last two Years The
opinion is expressed that the Temperance cause
has made no real advance in that part Of the State
for twenty !ears. and that drinking is regarded
a more respectable thing now than it was
then. In Brattleboro' the clergymen are en-
deavorng to rouse their congregations to their
peril, aud it is hoped that the effort will not be
in vain"
They sum up the results ascertained as fol-
lows
And what are the results to which we are
brought With the exception of a few local
tues, the testimony is uniform, that so far as
open and defiant violations of it is concerned.
Ati' 10" - >ltNAtAs ana iIut II Is regarded
with favor by large majority of the commu-
nifty. Take the State through, open drinking
is seldom seen, and drunkenness Of rare occur
ence. On the other hand. with two or three
exceptions, the testimony is equally uniform.
that while the law is outwardly respected, it is
secretly brokeni that the habit Of drinking.
especially among young men. i alarminsv on
the increase; that the enemies of temperance
and our law are untirnsly. and by the most in
genious devices. at work to eyade and violate
the law and that, in many cases, they have be-
thrown off pll disguise and buy and sell in
open day. While this is so, the friends of tenn
perance have, apparently, been in a profound
slumber. In some localities the law has been
promptly and thoroughly executed. and has ac-
complished its work in suppressing all open
sales but take the State as a whole, what was
said of one county may be said of the State-it
seems to be struck with total paralysis on the
subject