The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1860-11-02
The Executive Address and Our PrOhibi.
tor. LiUUOr Law.
The following extract We clip from the col
umns of the Vermont Pot,iot:

TORY Liquor Law.
The following extract we clip from the COL
umns of the Vermont Pd,iot:
"On the subject ofthe restraining and reg
ulatlng the traffic in liquors, Governor Fair
banks is less wise, in our judgment. than ex-
plcIt and confident He assumes tina; the
present cruelty stringent laws on the subject
mark the fixed policy of the State. This is
Governor Fairbanks opinion and he quotes
the grave authority Of FIX. Governor Hall, to
sustain 1t. These eminent gentlemen may
oe correct but if thev are, so much the
worse tor the State We believe conscien-
uousiy that these sumptuary laws unenviably
distinguish an unwise and vindctive policy,
"a policy as unjust to citizens as tits demon
ailzlng, and as it is discreditahe and DANA
glng to the State. We acknowledge there
are evils growing out of the traffic in liq-
uors. 1T you will have it SO. the traffic itself
IS evil. But 1t is an evil of long Standing
1t is social evil and it cannot be prevent
ed or cured by harsh remedies but it is ca
sy to aSgravate it by harsh remedies. We
DO not believe that the liquor laws on the
statute books will permanently disfgure
those books Before long. more liberal
spirit Will prevail and wiser AMI more hu-
name sentiments will take the place of those
which now do not lessen BY one gill the
quantity OF liquors used but which do bring
rldituir upon the State. and drive men to e.
wade the laws. at the same time that a class
OF spies and ln'ormers is called out. which is
the shame and the pest of the community"
lpon Whomsoe.er the editorial mantle of
the Patriot has fallen, it seems destined to
sustain It's unenviable notoriety, as shee,
determined in its opposition to all move
ments towards moral retorm-oppositior
sometimes tacit often open and avowed.-
Occasionally it gives an Indifferent, grudgins
support to measure which good men favo,
like "damning with faint praise This i,
never does with hearty good will.
Vice and crime, though they set no limi,
to themselves. generally choose rather to con
ceal their gha>tly features under the more
pleasing garb of virtue, than stalk forth il
their own native nideousness. THE devi
who sleeps not and troubles all things" knows
we'll that immortality which dwells in decen
ces and hides its head behind veil of ex
ternal iespectableness. is more dangerous
than that which fauntS its deeds in the fare
of the world. Indifferent to, or gloryr,s in
its own shame.
But corrupt humanity is sometimes less
wise; exposing an open front in defence of
depravltv. Our brother Of the Iot,iot. with
unblushing etfrontery, adopts the latter
course. lie admits the evil because he must
but denounces the law which Restraints il
heaping upon it a score of explctives, such
such as 'cruelly stringent" "unwse and vim
dlctlve,' unjust" ''demoralzng. 'di>credit
able and damaging" and so on ad hhit..a.
1t is Impossible to believe that any san,
man entertanS such sentiments as are here
expressed. They outrage decencv. Hi,her
to the Patriot, with all its rottenness, ha.
displayed more "mcthoG in its Madness
Not unfrequently has it reminded US of the
man IN the play. personating Iago and the
Moor. having half his face lamp blacked, ant
turning now the eclipsed and now the lumin
Gus side to the audience. as the exigences of
the dialogue demanded Now it has strppef
itself ofal suhtifuges and appears in its owl
native detormity. an advocate for the trafti,
in that deadly poison which snaws at III,
heart of our nation like a deep remorse.
The effort to throw di>credt upon the law
can or y be characterized as putrie-pun,
even among lis own puny kind. Its author
must be either in his first or second child
hood
He may as well forbid the sea obey III,
moon.as attempt to turnback the tide ofpub
lie sentiment in Vermont upon the subject O
prohibition. The law has been tried, prove,
and approved. If it has anv weakness it i
that Of clemency and the suggestion of
our worthy Governor that The illegal vende
should be ''madc responsible to injured par
ties for the consequences his illegal traffic
is worthy the consideration of our Ieyisla
tors. 1t is an established principle of law
that man is responsible for his act whic!
occasions in jury to his fellow, though it b.
no: the prcAimate Cause Of such injury. ever
when that act is not criminal but merely ON
of negligence. \ very Slight expansion of
this principle and it would reach the case a
bove alluded to. without tie aid of an express
statute.
One is not always responsible for his imbc
cilty, hut he is for his duplici,v or willfu is
norancc We would not have believed tina
even the Hdtriot would have had the ;cmeri
ty to rail at our prohibi.ory law as "cruell
stringent Cruel towards whom? Has tn
poor slave to an appetite which burns within
him like an unquenchable fire, and which i
strengthened by indulgence, beyond who's
reach the law has placed the means of graft
, flying it, ground for complaint Are hi
wife ard children, upon whom his indulgence
, has entailed long lire of woes. wronged
that they are protected against this destroy
ins angel of domestic happiness ? Let then
answer. BY what law of political econon,,
can 1t be regarded as "unwise" in a state t,
raise It's fallen sons from position OF degra
da'ion and want, into respectable and inhu
ential citizens, thereby diminishing taxatiol
for the support Of pauperism and crime p