The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1873-06-17


the pleadings Of equity and because law
among free people is powerless to answer
its supremacy, and impotent 10 vindicate
its authority. Per ORDER.
The Addison County Temperance So
ciety TO the citizens of AddisOn COun-
~.
We earnestly ask your attention to the
Importance of o more determined and
persistent effort for the suppression of the
illegal traffic in intoxicating drinks. That,
Notwithstanding the provisions of the
statute against it, that traffic is still
largely pursued among US is but too APP
parent to admit Of any doubt. That it
is the prolific cause of untold evil is equal
ly evident. We do not propose here to
restate the arguments and facts by which
it is shown to be a curse and a blight, to
all the most precious interests of Society.
That it allures multitudes of our young
men to ruin that it destroys the happi.
ness of many families; that it is the
fruitful occasion of crime that by far
the greater share Of the expense Of pau
perism aud Of criminal Jurisprudence is
due to its existence; that it drags multi.
tudes down to temporal destruction and
everlasting despair, all these facts are
too clearly apparent to require either
proof or illustration at our hands. Nor,
on the ether hald, are there any advan.
tages, accruing IRON its existence, to
offset against these manifold evils. 1t
benefits no one. Its history is one of I'M;
-n;-al.I ;n;,-. 81 - -Pou "ni0u
it is inscribed are written, within and
without, with mourning, lamentations and
woe.
By the law Of this State this business
is utterly prohibited, and it exists only
in defiance Of established statutes, and
in contempt Of the well settled policy Of
the commonwealth. Blu. no law, how
ever wise and necessary, can execute it.
self, aud especially is it true that no law
can execute itself which, at once, lays its
restraint upon the iinperious demands of
appetite, and comes in contact with an
unbridlcd and INSCRIPTIONS lust of gain.
We cannot hope that those whose de-
siren are gratified, or those whose Golfers
are replcnlshed by its violation will aid
in its enforcement. On the contrary we
may expect that both these classes will
resist it to the utmost, and seek TO thwart
its successful execution by every means
within their reach. 1t is then the i'm
perious duty Of every man, who aspires
to deserve the name of u good citizen, to
do what he can to make it eificacious in
promoting the great ends Of sobrlety, and
thrift. and good order, and public pros
nerity for which it was enacted. That
this traffic has so long existed, aud has SO
widely extended itself, in defiance alike
of public sentiment and the law, is due to
the apathy in regard to its suppression
which so widely exists. and the unwilling
ness Of so many to incur the odium, and
active hostility, which its persistent en-.
torcement is sure to arouse. Whatever
may have been true in the past, we be.
lieve that those, whose official duty it now
is to execute this statute, are honest and
earnest in their cndeavors to be faithful
to their trust.
But they need, and they ought to re.
ceive, the hearty sympathy, and the &C.
tive support, Of all the friends of sobrlety
and Of law. We are fully satisfied that
there is in our hands ample power for the
almost total suppression of this traffic if
only We are disposed wisely aud ener.
getically to exercise it. In such circum-
stances we cannot allow it to continue
without becoming partners In its guilt and
partakers Of its plaques.
1t is sometimes said that the rigid and
impartial execution Of this law would
prove largely deleterious to tho business
interests Of some of our communities.
We believe that such appreheDsions are
utterly groundless, and that there is no
legitimate and useful calling whose gains
would not be largely enhanced, by the
complete extirpation Of the sale of ia
toxicatiug drinks; but if it were other.
wise, and the assertions were true that
the extinction Of this trade would detract
from the success and emolument of the
other enterprises Of society, our duty
would be none tho less manifest. The
moral and social good of any community
is to be priced, infinitely above all its
material interests. Ifthese come in con.
6ict the former ought to be uniformly and
everywhere preferred. 1t were better
that grass, fit for the scythe of the now
er, should grow in all our marts of bust.
ness, and that weeds, luxuriant in their
rankness, should choke up all the paths
OF exchange, than that this destroyer
SHOULD train our sons for perdition, and
turn our homes into the novels Of despair.
Men aud Women Of Addison County.
To you we make our appeal, and we are
confident that it shall not be uttered in
vain. We call upon all of you who love
sobriety and thrift, virtue aud good order
and the fear ofGod, and who believe that
morality and uprightncss are infinitely
better for any people, than drunkenness,
and the unDumbered accompanying evils
that follow in its footsteps, to rally with
us in one earnest, and persistent, and sue.
cessiul effort to drive this accnrsed traffic
from all our borders. Per ORDER.
TIE STOKES Casa New TRIAL
GRASrED.-ADany, Lne 10 The opin-