Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1874-05-08
The Vermont Liquor Law.


The St. Adams Advertiser devoted, the
other day, column to showing that our
Vermont liquor law j. WORTHLESS and
wicked" statute. We have given fair and
candid attenton to the arguments with
which our St Adams friend supports this
position. and We submit that they do rot
establish his proposition. The Advertiser
tells u.
A. Il matter of fact the law has not only
failed in being enforced, but where enforced
with the most thorough prosecution and the
>ey,rcst penalties, it has failed to check the
evil Of lntempcrance, and the reason OF lis
failure i the instructive OPP oStlun OF human
nature to oppression.
We have heard something like this, before
Its true that the law has failed Of perfect
enforcement and 30 has every other law On
the statute book Are all worthless? 1t IL
not the fact that " here best enforced it has
failed to check mtemperance. It's demon
-trable, We believe, by positive statistics.
that the States where prohibitory laws, So
called. exist, suffer much less from intemper-
ance than any Others. Certainly through
out this State the law is an unmistakabie
check on intcmperanee-sOmetim in
greater and sometimes in less degree
sometimes. perhaps. hardly perceptible; yet
everyw here check on the traffic in liquor
and on the iutemperance resulting from the
traffic L we knew nothing in the way Of
mar direct proof # this, we should ask no
better evidence than the fact, that those
whose interest it is that intemperance be
not checked, universally desire the repeal of
the law.
Bot, again, We are told that the Law is
"despoti-m'
The prohibitory law enforced in all it,
heroic purity means compulsory total dbStl-
RcRce. that l.. no person, no matter trhdt has
degree Of intelligence. his Iteration Of moral
character, shall have the right to indulge the
exercise Of his private judgment and pur-
chase a drop Of beer, wine, or stronger
liquor in Vermont except a. medicine; or,
in other words. the Safe shall decide for me,
without reference to my moral and mental
and physical sanity. the question whether |
shall or shall not use liquor a a beverage,
that Is. the State, in face of the civilized
world, treats liquor, the use or disuse OF
which l. not n standard of moral conduct,
whatever the abuse may be. Just a. though
it was an article like obscene books. con-
traband of commerce by the common consent
of the Christian world.
We must confess to our surprise that a
Vermont editor as intelligent and well-in-
formed a. our friend of the Advertiser, can
50 misunderstood our Vermont law. Can
statute, which provides that it, prohibi-
tiOns "shall not be construed to apply
to the giving of intoxicating liquors at
private dwellings, unless given to a habitual
drunkard which provides that " nothing
in this chapter that Is in the law shall
be construed 10 prevent the manufacture
by any one. for his own use, Of any
fermentei liquor"-a law all Of whose
penalties are applied to the sale or fivH-
ishiRg of intoxicating liquors to others,
at places devoted to such sale-can tAis be
called law which means compulsory
total abstinence ?'' Our law does not uu-
dertake TO say what any man shall or shall |
ing intoxicating liquors wherever he can
legally do 50, or his keeping them in his
house, If it i strictly private dwelling, or
his using them in his discretion, or hi |
giving them to others, in his house, pro
vided only that he shall not give to a habit /
tual drunkard, and that he shall not him /
self be found intoxicated. Recognizing the |
enormous evils to society arising from the
unrestrained traffic in intoxicating beve--
ages, our law says that traffic shall not be
conducted within this State 1t also rccog-
nizes intoxication as crime and authorizes
the arrest of persons found in such state
of lntoxication as to disturb the public peace.
OF course its intent and tendency is to Re
move temptations TO drink to prevent
traffic which aims to cultivate in men the
desire for srrong drink, in order that the
traffickers may make money by supplying
1t; and thus to prevent drinking. But in
carrying ont this most worthy purpose. the
law Is careful to violate no constitutional
right. 1t does not 20 within man : castle.
unless there Is good reason to believe that
be Is making it a public nuisance il doe,
not undertake to decide for any man tie
question whether he shall or shall not Use
liquor as beverage. 1t says only to him.
You shall not sell liquor; You shall not
carry on here traffic everywhere lecog-
nized a the fruitful source of paupcri,m
and crime; and liquor shall not be >lld in
this community, except for certain specified
needIul purposes. For those purposes one
man in each town may sell. Is this treat
ing liquors Ike obscene books? Does the
State license one place in each town To sell
obscene books?
The third objection brought by he Adrer-
fiSc is this:
The prohibitory law j. dcmuralizing.
Considered an unjust Law by a large pro ,
portion oi the population, it weakens the
respect for all law. Prosecuting ATTORNEYS
testify that it demoralizes urieS. and the v
evidence Is overwhelming that it corrupts /
the officers appointed To execute il. The
general feeling is that the law is unjust. and
that man Is none the worse for break
ing it.
The AdreTtiscr M takes the general
feeling" The general feeling in our State h
is that the law l. a Just aud neeiful and k
wholesome law. Can better evidence Of o
this be asked than the fact that it la, been b
for twenty-five years the law OF our State Il
deliberately adopted and deliberately kent a
BY people not wont to submit to ''de,pot- II
sm. not fools, and not fanatics sustained tc
by all our courts, as sound and m
wise; having the almost unanimous support 90
If the Christian pulpit, and TO the inproy- a
ng and perfecting which many able and m
good men of our State have given their bet of
Efforts? liany large proportion Of the D,
population have considered it unjust, how n,
happens 1t that no man of high Standing 20
We might almost say of respectable stand 70
ng-has ever appeared before the Legisla sb
ure to advocate it, repeal, and that no at IN
emptat repeal has ever made the slightest lin
eadWay We claim only to know the people VI,
Vermont as well as our friend of the Al tw
cruiser and We say that the prevailing feeling W,
mong them Is that liquor-seling is a poor tn
lnd oil business, even where freely per- an
lifted by law; that man is commonly TIL
ne worse Tor carrying it on, and that this sh,
especially 50 where every sale involves fro
ne breaking OF a law designed for the pro- all
'ction oil the community from vice. disor- chi
er and crime. The law may be demoral;z. wb
'g 70 some prosecuting attorneys. and to sla
'me Jurles but the question is. whether il :,
he substitutes proposed for the law won1d
} any less 50. N -'O
We DO not claim perfection for our vs-. ~.
ont law. 1t is = law about which sincere ten
lends Of temperance may and do differ 10 M,
me extent. We wish /, MAS,