The Rutland daily globe. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1873-1877, 1874-05-20

'"h'N VI ibN I'IuOi NlolllNs nv wv "
money-the root Of all evil" We have
now traced the liquor traffic to its ultimate
cause.-the selfshness of the human heart
| agree with the maXim-let Us remove the
cause of intempcrauce as thus traced, But
can Montpelier legislation do it! And
what is practically more to the point, shall
we delay to punish The effects of intemper-
ancc, till our legislation accomplishes this
miracle of grace! Now | take the position
that liquor selling can BE greatly dimln-
ished. | dare not say wholly suppressed
by judicious legislation, backed up bya law
abiding and n law-sustaining people; but
have no confidence in any human cg'sa-
ton as having the resources and power to
remove its cause. That is the prerogatvc
OF Him that made us. We temperance
people need TO come down from the lofty
assumption that VIC can accomplish all
things in this reform by the calnal wcap-
ons Of legislative warfare. All Our legis-
lalion TO this end will only mock our effects
and gibbct our imbecility. except as our
main reliance, while we legisate, and en-
force our legislation is upon power high
er than our own. We must retain God as
our leader in this enterprise, and move only
in in obedience to His mandates, if our
efforts are to be crowned This suggests
lliht Vbl Ut tlIt ll'itlpi
traffic in the use of all the instrumental-
ties, moral and legislative, which we may
employ, cannot be very rapid. This. like
all the great moral reforms which wait
upon Gods bidding more than upon mans
eXcrtions, will require lapse Of time, put
the faith Of its friends to test and require
! them to reach the summit Of victory
through great tribulation Nothing
has ever transpired which more cX-
posed our liquor law TO defeat
than the shouts that went up Oh its en-
actment That law was only the armor in
which the friends of temperance had ar
rayed themselves under God; and they
ought to have put on their battle array in ST.
lence, and with the solemnity and modcsty
of soldiers on the eve Of an impending con-
fiict. But in Cirding on the harness. they
boosted themselves as he that putteth it Off
The representations that were made in the
early agitation of the Maine liquor law
question. by the friends of Temperance,
gave many the impression that the law once
passed would be the ushering in of a new
era but alas it did not take long 20 dissi-
pate the illusion. We have since been
taughtin the school Of sorry experience that
the temperance reform under the most IA
/ voring auspices, and with the best possible
| equipment, is to be carried forward by the
/ dint of constant endeavor. Here, as every.
/ where else, the utterancc of the old Greek
/ poet is true; "rhc Gods have placed sweat
in the pathway of excellence" The words
of Rev Mr. johnson Of Rutland, in the adj.
mirabc sermon winch has been widely cir
culated, need to be remembered. 'When
we have accepted intemperance as one OF
the phases of that sin which has been and
i,, tl,a as.+,, In, 90
see that this is life struggle in which We
are engaged. It is not to be decided by a
battle. We cannot end the matter in Il
crusade, Our children after US must en-
list as our fathers did before u.s. We have
entered into our fathers victories. We must
win victories for our children, and these
victories will mark steps in the progress OF
! the race toward final emancipation from all
! sin. Meanwhile there is enough for us to
| do. The warfare is unremitting. Only
constant labor can save what we have
gained; only by constant fighting can new
| heights be reached. We are fighting in a
| lifelong war and we must leave the plan
/ of the campaign such that " men we lay down
our weapons our children can take them
up" If the spirit of these words had ruled
| in the minds of the temperance people OF
/ the state when our present liquor law was
placed upon the statute book, we should
have been saved from prolonged and APP
! palling reaction. This suggests another
/ and a
| III cause of embarrassment to the sue
cesstul operation of the law-thc lack OF
moral support.
Pcrcciving that the success of their law
was imperiled by our location and surround
/ ings as a state and the hostility of its enc
] Al, Il, 4 81 |, Al.
reaction that would follow the bad reason
ing and eXtrayagant expectations of its adj
vocates. its real and truer friends ought,
from the start, to have leagued themselves
together in one irresistible column of pow
er. They ought to have understood that
the law could possibly have no other eff
cheney than that which appertains to every
form of ordinance; that ii it is made e4ec-
tive it must be by skilltul handling. But
instead OF thus rallying, they dispersed
every man to hi, farm and his merchandise.
Still the law itself as it stood on the statute
book, was IL terror TO cyil-doers. But when
| in process of time it began to be evaded
ard enerOached upon, and atlenghth Oddly
oyerrUn and finally detied, why, it was
shametulv deserted and left to the tender
mercies of its enemies 1t was soon found
that LIQUOR dealers and their lawyers had
been studying the statute and that they had
learned the ropes and become skilled in arts
of evasion. Personal interest had sharp
cncd their wits, the love Of money was 4
gravation that cNertod IA constant pressure
against the law, Their customers were
slow to testify in the courts against then
and grand Jurors recoiled from the migrate
full service of arraigning the offenders
Whenever efforts were put forth to SCI
things to rights, only now and then mar
who voted for the law and who acknowl.
edged himself friendly to it, could be found
to act in a legal prosecution. Just here i:
found one Of the most serious difficulties
that have stood in the way of the laws tri-
umph-the want of deposit of moral pow
er and life in the body Of the temperance
community. If every friend of the temper
ancc law in the state had stood firm in hi:
hostility to liquor selling, there would ex
ist among us such fiend ofmoral influence
that no man would dare to withstand it
And it is fondly hoped that the present agi
tation may conduce, among other results
to create such fund
But pass to consider that the friends o
temperance have done worse than to fail t,
reap the fruits of their sowing; there is
form in which they have advanced to dis
honor by their own acts the law which they
enacted.
". This will appear as We now consider
what | am forced to regard rs the reason
above all others, why our law has not Sc
cured the results that were hoped for-thC
miserable work which the temperance PEG
pie of the state have made in managing ;h,
town-liquor agencies.
You are aware that our law
atiirms the doctrine of prohibition
1t declares the sale of alcoholic liquors Il,
beverage to be a criminal offence. |
withdraws from every person the right Il
sell, Having done this, it comedies tina
these liquors are needful for certain pur
poses, and proceeds to arrange method
whereby all who need them for these pur
poses, can be easily accommodated. 1t pro-
vides for the appointment of a commissioner
in each country who is authorized to ap'
point in each town in his county, with the
advise of its seloctmen, an agent who shall
furnish for the people the liquors required
Cor tt,pc LODI hp II n