The Rutland daily globe. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1873-1877, 1874-02-28
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The week which closes to-day has afford
ed much food for contemplation, some for
regret and more for encouragement. 1t
has been. in part, week of undue and, in
our judgment. unnecessary excitement
That there has been, or would be, any re-
sistance to the enforcement of statute
law OF this state we do not, and cannot be-
llevc. What has been the cause of this eX-
element and fcrment ? One week AFRO,
this afternoon, in pursuance Of warrants,
duly and legally issued, sundry parcels of
liquor were seized from persons who were
charged with keeping the same for sale
contrary to law. There was no excitement
to speak Of, that day or the next. Mon
day afternoon. further searches and seizures
were made, and upon this day, there was
a large crowd gathered, composed of boys
who wanted to 'see the fun" and about as
many more men, part of whom were mere
idle spectators, and others hardly knew
what they did want. Aside from the
throwing Of n few missiles, no rotous
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. hNiN anu lHt NlDIt
crowd could have been dispersed, at any
time, by one-half of the regular police
force of the village. This is evident from
the fact that, later in the day, few point
ed words from Deputy Sheriff Sanderson
did disperse the crowd. This is not the
first time that the search and seizure clause
Of the liquor law has been put in force In
two instances at least, double the amount
of liquor, in value and, we believe, in guam
tty-has been seized and destroyed. In
no former instance, has the least ripple
of excitement been caused by such enforce
ment. Why was there any nowf We do
not state it by way of justification or ex-
cuse, because it afforded no justification OF
excuse for unlawful proceedings, but be
cause in dealing with causes we must state
facts The first cause of excitement was
that the regular officers of the law were
not called upon 10 execute it. 1t is true
that specially appointed officers have all
the authority and are entitled for the time
being 10 the same respect as are those who
are known to be regular officers. This,
then, while it explains, does not excuse.
In our judgment, and we presume all
others in their calmer moments will see il
in the same light, the cause of temperance
which every good citizen has at heart,
would be better promoted if the law was
quietly, persstently, continually enforced
IN tl.n rlp,. ,.r;tt
element, If we have officers who will
not imparIially execute all laws alike, til,
remedy is with us-we can remove them
Another cause Of the excitement was tn,
prevalent belief that the officers engaged
in enforcing the law, knowingly vioatet
the provisions Of the law they were en-.
forcing, other laws, as well as the state and
national constitutions. Whether this was
true or not, we can express no opinion
Moreover, we believe 1t would he imprOp-
er to 10 so, because the question is to be
adjuaicated in the courts Upon another
alleged cause of the excitement that is,
that certain obnoxious persons were APP
pointed spccia ofiicers-we have nothing
to say more than that it furnished no ex.
cuse or justification for unlawful proceed
ings, but that, at the same time, il it is
true, the community and the cause of TEN.
pcrance would have been better subserved
by other appointments or the use of the
instrumcntalilics pointed ont by the law.
SO much for the excitement. During it,
continuance, while we recorded the facts as
they occurred, we believed, and still be-
lieyc, that we should have been derelict In
our duty as a journalist, if we had said
anything TO fan the flame We cannot
conceive why we should, day after day,
urge the officers TO discharge their duty in
the enforcement of one law more than an
other. Others may do so, but we shall not
We have, repeatedly, taken the position
that all laws should be impartially obeyed
and imparlally enforced that it is of no
consequence whether the law is of little or
great Importance, it must be respected
that passing by, without notice, prosecu-
ton or punishment, the violation of one
law inevitably leads to general lawlessness.
To us, and they ought to he to every one,
all laws arc like, so far as obedience of and
respect for them is concerned The motto
of every officer should be that, while they
remain on the statute book, every lao must
and shalt be obeyed and enforced They
must be enforced and obeyed every day
alike. Herein has been the trouble. There
is no citizen of Rutland, who judges by
personal observation, the police reports in
the newspapers or the reports of the county