Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1871-01-05

suffered since the passage of the prohibit
tory law, because the friends of temper.
ance had and still relied on the law as
force TO be used instead of relying on
moral suasion, they had turned over the
whole matter to the police and made lit
ton. He was as much in favor of law as
any one was, but if this meeting would
resolve itself into a committee and go
through the whole community and circu-
late the pledge, great good would be &C.
complished. Work in temperance as you
would in religion-you would not turn
this over to the police-and why temper
snce. The hotels, he understood, were to
open Monday, they had done foolish act
and undoubtedly felt they had-why ag-
gravate them, it would do no good.
William A. Burnett said that that kind
of argument had been used and met time
and time again and years and years ago.
1t was the argument that was used before
the law was passed, but what was the re-
suit rum was drank and sold as freely
moral suasion or argument having any
effect on the rumseller in this enlightened
age, and that was the reason why the
law was enacted. A man that in this day
and in Vermont will sell rum for dollars
and cents is past all argument and is lost
to all sense of decency or propriety-the
only way to re 1ch him is by the strong
arm of the law. If 1 wished to, could
tell why feel so strongly on this subject,
but it is not necessary. He thought as
much of Bates and Cramton and the other
rummies as any one else did, but they
must stop selling. Moral argument had
gone by, and the only way to reach them
was by the strong arm of the law and by
touching their pockets. These hote
keepers. in other respects, are good men,
but their business in selling liquor is per-
fectly contemplate, and must be stopped.
MIR. Simons again took the floor and
said that the time was probably within
the memory of all of his age when rum
was sold openly, and nearly every family
had its drunkard. Strong and earnest
men took hold of the matter, some as
Washingtonians and soma in other forms,
and it was banished from stores, houses
and hotels. He remembered when be first
became voter and cast vote in favor of
a prohibitory law, that an old father in
temperance had told him that the danger
to the temperance cause was that they
would rely on laws and not on moral
suasion, and he thought this was the
trouble now He was in favor of the pre-
sent law, bu' - not 81 -, u relying
on it too much. What it Waited is ear
nest effort. It is said there are f0rty
places where liquor is sold in Rutland -
if so, there must be large number of
drinkers for it would not be sold unless
it was profitable. Take hold of it and
make it unpopular, and in this way ban
ish it from saloons, hotels, billiard-rooms
and elsewhere.
Rev. Mr.. Hall said that Mr.. Simons
had given very good exhortation to do
certain things, but he cou.d not see what
it had to do with the resolutions He en-.
dorsed everything said by him but would
say "this we ought to have done and not |
left the other undone." There are two
kinds of suasi u ard we IA ust have them
for tvpo Kinds Of of 4hooo A.
is for the rumsellers and that ia Expressed
IN the resolutiops-you touch their pock-
cts and you reach the controlling nerve
He said there was a crisis-but it came
without any act of ours-it was common
to speak of a crisis. The speaker here re-
lated az anecdotb Of Rarnum showing
that 1t was common thing to say that
we were in the midst of a crisis-but he
thought that this was actually a crisis.
The hotel keepers thought they were
above ll!laws,and had shut up their houses
and stopped all business, and bankrupt the
people, and intending before they would
open to make the people come and beg
hem to open. This crisis can be met and
settled by adopting these resolutions and
then living and acting up to them. I
want to help those who have lost their
hedge about them SO the
Devil oenuot get at them. In reference {
20 efficacy of the law, he referred to the
Clerk of the Court of Appeals of New
FORK, who, when similar law was be-
ore that court for adjudication, besought
he Judges 70 sustain it SO that he could I
lot get liquor, and on their pronouncing it j
died of delerium tra-
mems in few days.
Rev. J. Gibson johnson, on being call
ID upon, said that the subject of temper i
nee was always solemn one to him, and
90 solemn for fippant remarks, and too /
olemn and important to be discussed and :
oasidered IN atste of excitement. Ex-
itement always, sooner or later, dies out, I
nd if the temperance question is taken I
p in excitement, when the excitement
les out, then the temperance movement
eases with IL. He wac glad that tho no.
els were to be opened, because we need
hem and also because it takes away some {
f the excitement that has become con-
ected with the temperance movement d.
Thea the hotels were closed he was sor- t
y-not only because they were needed !,
nd because it added excitement to the I
uestion, but because it also added per- .
Qualities. Four prominent men-men of
of responsibility, etc.,-were
ngaged in it, and Of course there would l
Q ardent feeling in their favor as we'll as