Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1873-05-22

any, would be granted by them, and, so
far as they could control the matter, left
with the people to decide at the ballot
box the question of license or no license.
This experiment brought out, however,
the great fault with ''local option" either
as question of policy, for the regulat-
ing or prohibiting of the sale of intoxi-
eating liquor or as temperance meas
ure. This might not have been as APP
parent, as it would have been if left to
the several towns instead of the counties.
During the continuance in force of this
law, some counties elected temper
ance commissioners or, as they were
then called ''no license commissioners,
while other counties had boards who
would grant licenses to almost every ap-
plicant. The result was that, in most
cases, it was but short distance for any
one to travel in order to reach place
where he could obtain a supply of liquor,
without asking anyone to violate the law
on his account. 1t was not often, how
ever, that person was obliged go much,
if any, out of the way for this purpose,
for its effect upon the suppression of
groggeries was not appreciable. There
was another trouble found in the want
of stability or uniformity in the action
of the same county at different elections.
A county, voting against licensing one
year, would generally decide the other
4 l,o ~,
| the minds Of keepers of respectable eat
ing houses, who intended to obey the
law, as to their exact status. As tenn
perance measure it resemblcd our Rut-
| land registration law. Under this law it
| will be remembered that, in order to vote
! for State or county officers, the voters
name must be registered by the proper
! officers. If the name is not properly
registered and the person is very anxious
TO exercise the right of suffrage, he, un-
| der the general law of the State, can do
| so in any. of the neIghboring towns, our
registry laws to the contrary notwith-
| tion law" in the majority of towns
/ where licenses were refused, the neigh
boring town would supply enough to
! more than make the average equal. This
will probably be the experience every
where In fact. during the existence of
our county licensing system, in many
cases. inns and eating houses were open
ed in out-of-the-way places, on cross
roads and elsewhere, in order to accom-
modate their thirsty ueighbors, who
were deprived of their accustomed bev-
crages at home This proving a failure
the law was repealed, in 1896 and the
| question of ''license" or "no license" re-
ferrcd to the people of the whole State,
to be decided at the annual town meet
ings. Under this law, if the majority of
the whole vote polled in the State was
for license, the assistant judges of the
County Court were required to grant L;
censes ''to all such persons as shall make
application therefor, and who sustain
good moral character If. on the other
hand. the vote of the State was for "nO
license then the judges could license
/
appreciated by the civil au-
thority of the town" to sell ''only for
medicinal, chemical and mechanical pur-
poses" The workings of this law were
also unsatisfactory one year there would
be no licenses granted, and the next year
the State would be flooded with rum.
The failure Of this system led to the first
attempt at prohibition, and, with it, was
incorporated another trial of . local
option" The selectmen, by the law of
1850. which repealed that of 1916, were
authorized tolicense ''any suitable person
or persons, not exceeding two in mum
Der. to sell Intoxicating liquors in their
respective towns, for medicinal, chemi-
cal and mechanical purposes only, nm
less the towns should, by vote, decide tc
undertake the business themselves, hy
means of agents similarly appointed.
The . local option" of this system con
sisted only in the "option" left to the
several towns to conduct the business by
their own agents, and at their own risk
of profit or loss, or by agents selected IL
the same manner, but without any re-
sponsibility on the part of the town
In either case, 1T was the imperative
duty of the selectmen to appoint one ol
two agents to sell for medicinal pur
poses. ETC., in each town. In either
case, also, the selectmen had discretion
to license persons, who should be author
lied {" to keep victualing house, shor
or cellar, or inn, and therein ''to sell, o.
not to sell, small beer or cider. This
, statute prohibited, also, all sales of in
toxicating liquors :" for the purposes o.
drinking" and, in fact, for all purposes
r except for medicinal, chemical or me
chanical.' This was our first actually
prohibitory" law in reference to th'
sale of liquors as a beverage-or to b.
used for the purposes of drinking
was. also, the last that contained any
: thing of g local option in it, and thu
being, as we have shown, only OF tn
! infinitessimal degree we remember, 0
5 course, that our present law provides TO
the election of commissioner of licenses
. as 1t is sometimes called, but, under tn
1 law, an honest, honorable commissioner
] by whomsoevcr elected, has but on
! course to pursue. The act of 1850, di'
not satisfy the temperance men, an
t was, also, naturally opposed by thos
e taking the other view of the question
: and it, therefore, remained in force bu
g two years, being repealed by the Legis
a lature of 1859. Then was engrafted o
7 our statute books the extreme prohib
, tory. or "Maine law" system, providin
severe penalties for the manufacture 9
)" sale of intoxicating liquors, and proVle
: ing for the search, seizure and desfru(
D ton of the same, when found "unde